A method for capturing carbon dioxide from a combustion source, said method comprising: capturing an output stream from a combustion source, the captured output stream comprising oxygen and carbon dioxide; processing the captured output stream with a fuel cell array of one or more molten carbonate fuel cells to form a cathode exhaust stream from at least one cathode outlet of the fuel cell array, the one or more molten carbonate fuel cells comprising one or more fuel cell anodes and one or more fuel cell cathodes, the one or more molten carbonate fuel cells being operatively connected to the captured output stream from the combustion source through at least one cathode inlet; passing carbon-containing fuel into the one or more fuel cell anodes; reacting carbonate from the one or more fuel cell cathodes with H 2 within the one or more fuel cell anodes to produce electricity and an anode exhaust stream from at least one anode outlet of the fuel cell array, the anode exhaust stream comprising CO 2 and H 2; optionally passing the anode exhaust stream through a water gas shift reaction stage to form an optionally shifted anode exhaust stream; separating carbon dioxide from the optionally shifted anode exhaust stream in one or more separation stages to form a CO 2 -depleted anode exhaust stream; and recycling at least a portion of the CO 2 -depleted anode exhaust stream to the one or more fuel cell anodes, at least a portion of the H 2 reacted with carbonate comprising H 2 from the recycled at least a portion of the CO 2 -depleted anode exhaust stream, wherein the H 2 from the recycled at least a portion of the CO 2 -depleted anode exhaust stream comprises at least 5 vol% of the anode input stream, and wherein a fuel utilization of the one or more fuel cell anodes is 60% or less, wherein fuel utilization is the ratio of the amount of hydrogen oxidized in the anode for production of electricity versus the reformable hydrogen content of the anode input, wherein reformable hydrogen content is the number of H 2 molecules that can be derived from a fuel by reforming the fuel and then driving the water gas shift reaction to completion to maximize H 2 production. capturing an output stream from a combustion source, the captured output stream comprising oxygen and carbon dioxide; processing the captured output stream with a fuel cell array of one or more molten carbonate fuel cells to form a cathode exhaust stream from at least one cathode outlet of the fuel cell array, the one or more molten carbonate fuel cells comprising one or more fuel cell anodes and one or more fuel cell cathodes, the one or more molten carbonate fuel cells being operatively connected to the captured output stream from the combustion source through at least one cathode inlet; passing carbon-containing fuel into the one or more fuel cell anodes; reacting carbonate from the one or more fuel cell cathodes with H 2 within the one or more fuel cell anodes to produce electricity and an anode exhaust stream from at least one anode outlet of the fuel cell array, the anode exhaust stream comprising CO 2 and H 2; optionally passing the anode exhaust stream through a water gas shift reaction stage to form an optionally shifted anode exhaust stream; separating carbon dioxide from the optionally shifted anode exhaust stream in one or more separation stages to form a CO 2 -depleted anode exhaust stream; and recycling at least a portion of the CO 2 -depleted anode exhaust stream to the one or more fuel cell anodes, at least a portion of the H 2 reacted with carbonate comprising H 2 from the recycled at least a portion of the CO 2 -depleted anode exhaust stream, wherein the H 2 from the recycled at least a portion of the CO 2 -depleted anode exhaust stream comprises at least 5 vol% of the anode input stream, and wherein a fuel utilization of the one or more fuel cell anodes is 60% or less, wherein fuel utilization is the ratio of the amount of hydrogen oxidized in the anode for production of electricity versus the reformable hydrogen content of the anode input, wherein reformable hydrogen content is the number of H 2 molecules that can be derived from a fuel by reforming the fuel and then driving the water gas shift reaction to completion to maximize H 2 production.