CO₂ - Baustein des Lebens und Treiber der globalen Erwärmung

For hundreds of millions of years, nature uses carbon dioxide in photosynthesis as a vital building block of life. The compound is also an essential part of the carbon cycle and is co-responsible for the transport of carbon between Earth's spheres. However, over the last years CO₂ has been closely associated with global warming since the immense emissions from mainly the burning of fossil resources has led to a vast increase in atmospheric CO₂-levels. Therefore, not only a reduction of emissions on a global scale is crucial but also a trend towards renewable resources is clearly visible and necessary due to depleting fossil resources. In this context, the use of CO₂ as an abundant resource in the chemical industry can contribute its share. Kohlendioxid ist als einer der Haupttreiber der globalen Erwärmung populär. Hier soll auch die oft vernachlässigte und dennoch essentielle Bedeutung von CO₂ für das Leben auf unserer Erde dargestellt werden. Ein besonderes Augenmerk wird auf die Möglichkeiten der Chemie zur Fixierung und Nutzung von CO₂ gelegt.