Design and Evaluation of an Artificial Photosynthesis System for Carbon Dioxide Capture and Oxygen Production from Fossil Fuel Combustion Emissions

The accelerating accumulation of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) from fossil fuel combustion represents one of the foremost environmental challenges of the twenty-first century. This paper presents the design, theoretical basis, and experimental framework of a novel artificial photosynthesis system capable of capturing CO₂ from combustion flue gases and converting it into oxygen (O₂) and energy-rich compounds, directly mimicking the biochemical process performed by trees. The proposed system integrates a sodium carbonate (Na₂CO₃) absorption tower for CO₂ capture, a thermal desorption unit for solvent regeneration, and a cobalt oxide-catalyzed photosynthetic reactor for CO₂-to-O₂ conversion. System performance is quantified using non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) sensors for CO₂ measurement and electrochemical oxygen sensors for O₂ detection. Stoichiometric analysis indicates that 1 kg of captured CO₂ yields approximately 0.73 kg of O₂, and national-scale deployment projections suggest energy savings of approximately $200 billion per year by 2030 alongside a potential reduction of 302,600 million metric tons of CO₂ emissions. Comparative analysis with existing decarbonization approaches—including carbon capture and storage (CCS), hydrogen production, and enhanced oil recovery (EOR)—demonstrates that artificial photosynthesis offers a fundamentally superior outcome by permanently transforming CO₂ into life-sustaining O₂ rather than merely sequestering or displacing it. This work establishes a laboratory-scale proof of concept and a systematic experimental roadmap for scaling the technology to industrial application.