Technologies and perspectives for achieving carbon neutrality

Fang Wang; Jean Damascene Harindintwali; Zhizhang Yuan; Min Wang; Faming Wang; Sheng Li; Zhigang Yin; Lei Huang; Yuhao Fu; Lei Li; Scott X Chang; Linjuan Zhang; Jörg Rinklebe; Zuoqiang Yuan; Qinggong Zhu; Leilei Xiang; Daniel C W Tsang; Liang Xu; Xin Jiang; Jihua Liu; Ning Wei; Matthias Kästner; Yang Zou; Yong Sik Ok; Jianlin Shen; Dailiang Peng; Wei Zhang; Damià Barceló; Yongjin Zhou; Zhaohai Bai; Boqiang Li; Bin Zhang; Ke Wei; Hujun Cao; Zhiliang Tan; Liu-Bin Zhao; Xiao He; Jinxing Zheng; Nanthi Bolan; Xiaohong Liu; Changping Huang; Sabine Dietmann; Ming Luo; Nannan Sun; Jirui Gong; Yulie Gong; Ferdi Brahushi; Tangtang Zhang; Cunde Xiao; Xianfeng Li; Wenfu Chen; Nianzhi Jiao; Johannes Lehmann; Yong-Guan Zhu; Hongguang Jin; Andreas Schäffer; James M Tiedje; Jing M Chen

doi:10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100180

Technologies and perspectives for achieving carbon neutrality

Innovation (Camb). 2021 Oct 30;2(4):100180. doi: 10.1016/j.xinn.2021.100180. eCollection 2021 Nov 28.

Authors

Fang Wang^{1

2}, Jean Damascene Harindintwali^{1

2}, Zhizhang Yuan^{3

2}, Min Wang^{4

2}, Faming Wang^{5

6

2}, Sheng Li^{7

2}, Zhigang Yin^{8

2}, Lei Huang^{9

10}, Yuhao Fu^{1

2}, Lei Li^{11

2}, Scott X Chang¹², Linjuan Zhang^{13

2}, Jörg Rinklebe¹⁴, Zuoqiang Yuan^{15

2}, Qinggong Zhu^{16

2}, Leilei Xiang^{1

2}, Daniel C W Tsang¹⁷, Liang Xu^{18

2}, Xin Jiang^{1

2}, Jihua Liu¹⁹, Ning Wei^{20

2}, Matthias Kästner²¹, Yang Zou^{13

2}, Yong Sik Ok²², Jianlin Shen^{4

2}, Dailiang Peng^{9

10

2}, Wei Zhang^{23

2}, Damià Barceló²⁴, Yongjin Zhou^{3

2}, Zhaohai Bai^{25

2}, Boqiang Li^{26

2}, Bin Zhang^{11

2}, Ke Wei^{27

2}, Hujun Cao^{3

2}, Zhiliang Tan^{4

2}, Liu-Bin Zhao²⁸, Xiao He^{29

2}, Jinxing Zheng^{30

2}, Nanthi Bolan³¹, Xiaohong Liu^{23

2}, Changping Huang^{10

2}, Sabine Dietmann³², Ming Luo^{5

2}, Nannan Sun^{33

2}, Jirui Gong³⁴, Yulie Gong^{35

2}, Ferdi Brahushi³⁶, Tangtang Zhang³⁷, Cunde Xiao³⁴, Xianfeng Li^{4

2}, Wenfu Chen³⁸, Nianzhi Jiao^{39

40

41}, Johannes Lehmann^{42

43}, Yong-Guan Zhu^{44

45

2}, Hongguang Jin^{9

2}, Andreas Schäffer⁴⁶, James M Tiedje⁴⁷, Jing M Chen⁴⁸

Affiliations

¹ CAS Key Laboratory of Soil Environment and Pollution Remediation, Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Nanjing 210008, China.
² University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
³ Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dalian 116023, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory for Agro-Ecological Processes in Subtropical Region, Institute of Subtropical Agriculture, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changsha 410125, China.
⁵ South China Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510650, China.
⁶ Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou 511458, China.
⁷ Institute of Engineering Thermophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
⁸ Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou 350002, China.
⁹ International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals, Beijing 100094, China.
¹⁰ Key Laboratory of Digital Earth Science, Aerospace Information Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100094, China.
¹¹ State Key Laboratory of Coal Conversion, Institute of Coal Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Taiyuan 030001, China.
¹² Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB T6G 2E3, Canada.
¹³ Shanghai Institute of Applied Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201800, China.
¹⁴ Department of Soil and Groundwater Management, Bergische Universität Wuppertal, Wuppertal 42285, Germany.
¹⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Forest Ecology and Management, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Liaoning 110016, China.
¹⁶ Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China.
¹⁷ Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong, China.
¹⁸ Beijing Institute of Nanoenergy and Nanosystems, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 101400, China.
¹⁹ Institute of Marine Science and Technology, Shandong University, Qingdao 266273, China.
²⁰ Institute of Rock and Soil Mechanics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430000, China.
²¹ Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research - UFZ, Leipzig 04318, Germany.
²² Korea University, Seoul 02841, Korea.
²³ Chongqing Institute of Green and Intelligent Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chongqing 400714, China.
²⁴ Catalan Institute for Water Research ICRA-CERCA, Girona 17003, Spain.
²⁵ Key Laboratory of Agricultural Water Resources, Hebei Key Laboratory of Soil Ecology, Center for Agricultural Resources Research, Institute of Genetic and Developmental Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shijiazhuang 050021, China.
²⁶ CAS Key Laboratory of Plant Resources, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100093, China.
²⁷ The Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100029, China.
²⁸ Department of Chemistry, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Southwest University, Chongqing, 400715, China.
²⁹ Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China.
³⁰ Institute of Plasma Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Anhui 230031, China.
³¹ School of Agriculture and Environment, Institute of Agriculture, University of Western Australia, Crawley 6009, Australia.
³² Institute for Informatics (I), Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63110-1010, USA.
³³ Shanghai Advanced Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 201210, China.
³⁴ Key Laboratory of Surface Processes and Resource Ecology, Faculty of Geographical Science, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875, China.
³⁵ CAS Key Laboratory of Renewable Energy, Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou 510640, China.
³⁶ Department of Agro-environment and Ecology, Agricultural University of Tirana, Tirana 1029, Albania.
³⁷ Key Laboratory of Land Surface Process and Climate Change in Cold and Arid Regions, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China.
³⁸ Shenyang Agricultural University, Shenyang 110866, China.
³⁹ Joint Laboratory for Ocean Research and Education at Dalhousie University, Shandong University and Xiamen University, Halifax, NS, B3H 4R2, Canada, Qingdao 266237, China, and, Xiamen 361005, China.
⁴⁰ Institute of Marine Microbes and Ecospheres, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361101, China.
⁴¹ State Key Laboratory of Marine Environmental Science and College of Ocean and Earth Sciences, Fujian Key Laboratory of Marine Carbon Sequestration, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, China.
⁴² School of Integrative Plant Science, Section of Soil and Crop Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA.
⁴³ Institute for Advanced Studies, Technical University Munich, Garching 85748, Germany.
⁴⁴ Key Lab of Urban Environment and Health, Institute of Urban Environment, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1799 Jimei Road, Xiamen, 361021, China.
⁴⁵ State Key Laboratory of Urban and Regional Ecology, Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100085, China.
⁴⁶ Institute for Environmental Research, RWTH Aachen University, Aachen 52074, Germany.
⁴⁷ Center for Microbial Ecology, Department of Plant, Soil and Microbial Sciences, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI 48824, USA.
⁴⁸ Department of Geography and Planning, University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3G3.

Abstract

Global development has been heavily reliant on the overexploitation of natural resources since the Industrial Revolution. With the extensive use of fossil fuels, deforestation, and other forms of land-use change, anthropogenic activities have contributed to the ever-increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHGs) in the atmosphere, causing global climate change. In response to the worsening global climate change, achieving carbon neutrality by 2050 is the most pressing task on the planet. To this end, it is of utmost importance and a significant challenge to reform the current production systems to reduce GHG emissions and promote the capture of CO₂ from the atmosphere. Herein, we review innovative technologies that offer solutions achieving carbon (C) neutrality and sustainable development, including those for renewable energy production, food system transformation, waste valorization, C sink conservation, and C-negative manufacturing. The wealth of knowledge disseminated in this review could inspire the global community and drive the further development of innovative technologies to mitigate climate change and sustainably support human activities.

Keywords: carbon capture and utilization; carbon footprint reduction; carbon neutrality; carbon sequestration; climate change mitigation; renewable energy.

Publication types

Review