The Net Zero Goal and Sustainability: Significance of Green Hydrogen Economy in Valorization of CO2, Biomass and Plastic Waste into Chemicals and Materials

Net zero is a massive plan to constrain the global temperature rise to less than 1.5 °C whereby annual GHG emissions must be reduced from ~36.6 Gt to less than 10 Gt by using non-carbon renewable energy sources. Green hydrogen will play a huge role in transforming C1 off gases like CO2 into valuable chemicals and materials. Both blue and green hydrogen will contribute about 24% in the renewables totaling to about 539 to 820 MMTA in 2050. (Waste) Biomass will be transformed into fuels, chemicals and materials using hydrogen and oxygen derived from water splitting. Waste plastic can be chemically recycled into several hydrocarbons and depolymerized into monomers using different techniques, and hydrogenation will be very effective in tackling plastic pollution. Hydrogen is a key component in converting waste to wealth. Green hydrogen is poised to be a savior of the world. The concept of CO2 refinery is discussed, and use of biomass and plastic waste toward hydrogen economy is described. Learning objectives: