Patent ID: 8435479

Claim:
A process comprising: a) combustion of a fossil fuel or biomass, thereby generating heat and a hot exhaust gas containing CO 2 ; b) using said heat to produce steam from water in a steam generator; c) cooling at least a portion of said exhaust gas to produce a cooled exhaust gas; and d) reducing the amount of CO 2 contained in the cooled exhaust gas, thereby obtaining a low CO 2 exhaust gas, wherein the step of reducing the amount of CO 2 comprises: contacting an aqueous liquid phase with the cooled exhaust gas to cause at least a portion of the CO 2 to dissolve into the aqueous liquid phase and catalyzing the hydration of at least a portion of the dissolved CO 2 and producing a solution containing hydrogen ions and bicarbonate ions; and wherein said hydration is catalyzed by carbonic anhydrase or an analogue thereof.