Technology atlas / Electrochemical reduction
Electrochemical CO₂ conversion
An electrolyser uses electricity to reduce CO₂ at a cathode to CO, formate, ethylene or other products.
Technical reference · Updated 2026-10-10 · No current-news claim
Where the carbon goes
Depends on the product: CO or formate for fuels re-release carbon; multicarbon products used in materials hold it longer.
Conceptual process flow · left to right
- 01CO₂ conditioning
- 02Electrolyser stack
- 03Gas / liquid separation
- 04Product purification
- 05Recycle
From chemistry to process
- Feedstocks
- CO₂, Water, Electricity
- Products
- CO or other products, depending on catalyst and reactor
- Catalysts
- Silver-based systems for CO; copper-based systems for multicarbon products
- Conditions
- Specify electrolyte, full-cell voltage, current density, electrode area and operating duration together.
Performance & demonstrated scale
Laboratory and larger systems must be assessed individually; no universal pathway TRL is assigned.
1.571 t CO₂/t CO theoretical
1,914 Ah/kg CO theoretical
Economics
Faradaic efficiency alone does not specify electricity consumption: full-cell voltage, current and production rate are needed.
Climate considerations
Include electricity and replacement materials; track carbon leaving every outlet, not only the desired product.
CCU Reality Check · pathway assessment
What remains to be demonstrated?
This initial assessment separates process knowledge from the evidence needed for a commercial conclusion. Missing information is left unresolved.
| Dimension | Assessment and evidence gap |
|---|---|
| CO₂ feedstock availability | No site-specific supplier, volume, purity guarantee or delivery contract has been verified. |
| Capture and delivered cost | Not quantified. Capture, conditioning, compression and transport need separate boundaries. |
| Energy and hydrogen demand | Theoretical stoichiometric or thermodynamic values are shown above. Actual process energy and feed losses remain scenario assumptions. |
| Catalyst and reactor performance | Silver-based systems for CO; copper-based systems for multicarbon products. No plant lifetime or sustained performance is verified here. |
| Product separation | The process flow identifies separation stages where relevant; a quantified separation duty and cost remain unavailable. |
| CAPEX and OPEX | No plant-specific capital estimate or complete operating-cost dataset is attached. |
| Minimum selling price | Not calculated. Capital recovery, utilization, financing and a complete operating boundary are required. |
| Fossil benchmark competitiveness | No verified regional benchmark comparison. Calculator benchmark values, where shown, are illustrative. |
| Climate performance | Include electricity and replacement materials; track carbon leaving every outlet, not only the desired product. |
| Scale-up bottlenecks | Carbonate formation and carbon losses; Membrane durability and flooding; Scale-dependent electrode uniformity; Dilute product separation. |
| Customer and offtake readiness | No qualified-customer or executed-offtake evidence is attached to this pathway profile. |
| Policy dependence | Not assessed for a specific project or jurisdiction. Do not assume subsidies or certification eligibility. |