Can two (environmental) wrongs make a right? The reaction of anthropogenic waste CO 2 and NH 3 to form NH 2 COOH

Antropogenic waste CO 2 and NH 3 both provide enormous environmental challenges. The amount of CO 2 emitted by fossil fuel power plants is now about an order of magnitude larger than the NH 3 processed by waste water treatment plants but the NH 3 production is growing faster than CO 2 production. Recent experimental and theoretical studies have established that CO 2 and NH 3 react without additional energy input to form carbamic acid, NH 2 COOH, which exists primarily as a dimer when adsorbed on a cryogenic surface. Might it be possible to react effluent streams of CO 2 and NH 3 to form carbamic acid and then to store the carbamic acid (or use it as a source for other industrial chemicals)? Can two environmental wrongs make a right? © 2010 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 2010