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Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a fundamental component of all life on Earth. Due to the considerable increase in emissions, particularly industrial emissions, CO2 has, however, become a waste product and greenhouse gas damaging to the climate and, consequently, a threat to both humanity and nature. For almost 50 years, chemical research has been pursuing the idea of making the CO2 molecule useful as a raw material (Aresta and Dibenedetto 2010). Within the context of the oil crises of the 1970s, and contingent on the current need for climate protection, there has been a rise in global interest in the research and development of technologies which could make CO2 useful as a source of carbon. Several regions in Europe, but also in North America and Asia have started sponsorship programmes to support the development of such technologies (BMBF 2014, Climate-KIC 2014, US Department of Energy [DOE] nd).

The goal of these efforts is to integrate this climatedamaging gas in extremely diverse industrial production processes as a raw material. The use of CO2 would not only allow for the production of useful raw materials and products, such technologies could also emulate a natural carbon cycle (Peters et al. 2011). At the same time, they have the potential to reduce the consumption of other fossil resources and, in so doing, they might not only contribute to the extension of the resource base, but also reduce emissions whilst providing protection for natural resources (von der Assen et al. 2013). Technological breakthroughs and advancements are currently observed in carbon capture technologies in the catalysis and transformation of CO2 …