# A Review of Recent Progress of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) in China
## 4 Progress of CO\({}_{2}\) Utilization in China
### Development Status of CO\({}_{2}\) Chemical Utilization in China  
CO\({}_{2}\) chemical utilization refers to the efficient conversion of CO\({}_{2}\) into a variety of more valuable compounds through some complicated chemical processes such as catalyzed hydrogenation [98; 99; 100; 101; 102; 103], photochemical [104; 105], electrochemical [104; 105; 106], thermochemical [107; 108; 102], and hybrid methods. China's CO\({}_{2}\) chemical utilization technology has advanced in recent years, yielding considerable economic benefits. Currently, approximately 10 \(\times\) 10\({}^{4}\) tonnes of captured CO\({}_{2}\) are used for synthesizing energy fuels each year, with an output value of about 100 million yuan/year; about 10 \(\times\) 10\({}^{4}\) tonnes of captured CO\({}_{2}\) are used annually in the synthesis of high-value-added chemicals, with an output value of about 400 million yuan/year; about 5 \(\times\) 10\({}^{4}\) tonnes of captured CO\({}_{2}\) are used for synthetic materials, with an output value of 200 million yuan/year [67]. It is worth noting that the methanol [59; 109] and carbonate syntheses [110] using captured CO\({}_{2}\) have realized industrialization, and the production of olefin and fuel [111; 112] from CO\({}_{2}\) has also made significant strides. Meanwhile, industrial  
Figure 4: CO\({}_{2}\) utilization classification [97]. demonstration of syngas production from captured CO\({}_{2}\) has been accomplished [113]. CO\({}_{2}\) chemical utilization projects in China are listed in Table 5.  
Methanol synthesis from CO\({}_{2}\). China's first 1000-tonne liquid solar fuel synthesis demonstration project was successfully launched in January 2020 [114]. This project adopts the methanol synthesis from CO\({}_{2}\) hydrogenation technology developed by the Dalian Institute of Physical Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) [59]. In this project, methanol can be synthesized through three fundamental components, namely, solar photovoltaic power generation, electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen, and CO\({}_{2}\) hydrogenation. Solar energy can be converted into liquid fuel methanol with an efficiency of more than 14% [59]. The project is expected to produce 1440 tonnes of \"liquid sunshine\" methanol annually after being put into operation [115]. In addition, in September 2020, the world's first 5000 tonnes/year CO\({}_{2}\) hydrogenation to methanol industrial pilot plant, which was developed by China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), achieved stable operation and realized industrial demonstration [116]. Carbonate synthesis from CO\({}_{2}\). The energy required to synthesize carboxylic acids or carbonates from CO\({}_{2}\) is comparatively low, and the corresponding energy utilization efficiency and economy are relatively high. Therefore, the synthesis of carbonates from captured CO\({}_{2}\) is also a major chemical utilization of CO\({}_{2}\) in China. In addition to China's first industrial production plant for polycarbonate degradable plastic synthesis from CO\({}_{2}\) built in 2004 [117], China's first 100,000-tonne facility for carbonate synthesis from ionic liquid catalyzed CO\({}_{2}\) was put into operation in March 2021 and has achieved continuous and stable operation [118]. The produced carbonate (including ethylene carbonate and DMC) products meet electronic-grade standards, and the system energy consumption has been reduced by 37%, demonstrating the remarkable carbon reduction effect [110,113]. Olefin and fuel production from CO\({}_{2}\). The direct synthesis of low-carbon olefins, liquefied petroleum gas, aromatics, and other components from CO\({}_{2}\) hydrogenation can be achieved by using a bifunctional catalyst system and coupling multiple reaction mechanisms [119].