Frontiers, opportunities, and challenges in biochemical and chemical catalysis of CO₂ fixation

The article discusses opportunities and challenges in biochemical and chemical catalysis of carbon dioxide fixation. All biological systems must extract energy from their environments to carry out the metabolic processes associated with life itself. Living organisms have evolved to exist in an amazing variety of environments, and they can use and interconvert energy from a variety of sources. The enzymes required to carry out these important metabolic pathways have evolved over billions of years, and they use readily abundant materials from the environment to achieve these important energy conversion processes. All of these metabolic pathways involve the storage and utilization of energy in the form of chemical bonds, and our ability to carry out these same transformations in a controlled and productive manner, independent of natural biological systems, will be critical to the future energy security.