Methods of Indirect Conversion of CO2 to Methanol

The promptly increasing CO2 concentration in the atmosphere causes a major climate change, requiring effective way of its mitigation. The indirect conversion of CO2 to methanol via syngas is a promising strategy to control greenhouse gas emissions and produce valuable feedstocks and chemicals. This chapter focuses on different indirect CO2 conversion methods to methanol, multistep processes that involve capturing of carbon dioxide, intermediate formation of syngas, type of catalyst used, and then hydrogenation to methanol. Indirect conversion of CO2 involves two steps: the production of syngas which is known as a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen followed by methanol integration and catalyst-based hydrogenation of CO2. The economic feasibility, the effectiveness of different methods, development, and optimization of catalysts along with reaction conditions are thoroughly discussed in this chapter. The chapter concluded with the direction of suitable methods to convert carbon dioxide into methanol along with the future research development in the methodology to reduce greenhouse emissions and advance the production of sustainable chemicals.