Carbon dioxide in Earth's atmosphere initial carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of the young Earth was produced by volcanic activity, modern volcanic activity releases only 130 to 230 megatonnes of carbon dioxide each year. These natural sources are nearly balanced by natural sinks, physical and biological processes which remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. For example, some is directly removed from the atmosphere by land plants for photosynthesis and it is soluble in water forming carbonic acid. There is a large natural flux of into and out of the biosphere and oceans. In the pre-industrial era these fluxes were largely in balance. Currently about 57%
Carbon dioxide reforming the commercialization of this process is that the hydrogen that is produced tends to react with the carbon dioxide. For example, the following reaction typically proceeds with a lower activation energy than the dry reforming reaction itself: Typical catalysts are noble metals, Ni or Ni alloys. In addition, a group of researchers in China investigated the use of activated carbon as an alternative catalyst. Carbon dioxide reforming Carbon dioxide reformation (also known as dry reformation) is a method of producing synthesis gas (mixtures of hydrogen and carbon monoxide) from the reaction of carbon dioxide with hydrocarbons such as methane. Synthesis