CO2 capture technologies: An overview with technology assessment based on patents and articles

AbstractThis paper presents the contextualized overview of the CO2 capture technology, with critical evaluation of state-of-art and technological development through patents applications and scientific articles. The scientific research and technological development and innovation of CO2 capture is mapped, providing not only an overview, but also concrete basis to define and optimize research and development (R&D) perspectives. It relates the stage of scientific, technologic and innovation development relate to the actions of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) to ensure the reduction of the global warming due to anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere. The yearly monitoring of actions is presented, focusing on scientific, technologic and innovation from governments and companies acting within various countries in an attempt to mitigate the effects of global climate change. The mapping of the capture technologies was focused on absorption, adsorption, membranes, cryogenic, enzymatic and hybrid. The capture technologies are also mapped according to the CO2 capture process (post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxy-combustion). The results are analyzed in terms of priority date, annual evolution of the patents portifolia, technology owners (country, continent, sector of society, companies, (R&D institutions), inventors and their countries, authors of scientific articles, article copyright owners, institutions and countries where the scientific research reported in the articles was performed, patent type (process, method, prototype, product, etc.), patents classification codes showing technologic trends and fields, type of gas source where CO2 is captured, type of processes and type of gas outputs after CO2 capture, details of the components and of the processes for each method capture, among other trends. The results are contextualized in terms of methods of CO2 capture processes, focusing on technology for IPCC, roadmaps, and government programs and strategies for reducing CO2 emissions into the atmosphere. All the capture technologies are growing yearly, both in patent applications and in articles. Absorption and adsorption are the most used capture technologies, post-combustion is the most used capture process, and most of the patents refer to CO2 separation and removal. Most of the copyrights belong to Elsevier and American Physical Society, USA detains 52% of the patent applications and 31% of the articles published. The other patent applications belong mainly to Germany, France, Japan and United Kingdom. The countries with more aggressive appropriation policies are France, Norway, Germany, USA and Netherland. There is a strong correlation between countries of the technology owners and clear CCS government policies. The patent applications refer to over thirty entry gas currents, being focused on combustion and post combustion processes, followed by natural gas specification. New trends like Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC), Chemical Looping Reforming (CLR) are also focused