Analysis and recommendations for European carbon dioxide utilization policies

The circular economy and the Green Jobs creation

The circular economy (CE) is a proposal for a new, more sustainable, and durable economy model. As a consequence, this pro-environmental economic model induces visible changes in the labor market which are Green Jobs (GJs). This paper is focused on the creation of Green Jobs in the CE. The GJs are most visible in the environmental goods and services sector (EGSS). This study aims to investigate EGSS among 28 European Union countries in the years 2009-2019. The adopted method was literature research complemented by the statistical analysis of secondary data from Eurostat in the linear regression method. Then, some Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and their measure were used as main indicators reflecting changes in the labor market. Results are presented as a model indicating which of the SDGs can support CE and enhance a number of the Green Jobs. Presented results contribute to the science because combine factors influencing GJs creation in EGSS, in a CE perspective. This study underlines a lack of uniform methods for measuring and forecasting the effects of Green Jobs creation and indicates future research directions.

Circular Economy and Economic Development in the European Union: A Review and Bibliometric Analysis

Increased changes in the climate and ecosystems call for a sustainable economic development, where economic growth should be compatible with the environment goals. In order to do this, it is urgent to find new ways of life and new production systems that make our ecological footprint compatible with global sustainability. The concept of the circular economy has brought relevant contributions to this problem. The central objective of the study presented here is to highlight the main insights presented through scientific literature about the concept of the circular economy within the European Union. In practice, the intention is to show what has already been done about this topic and what can/should be implemented in the future. To achieve these objectives, 144 articles were considered from the Web of Science (Core Collection) for the topics “circular economy” and “European Union”. These documents were, firstly, analysed through a proper literature review and later explored through bibliometric analysis, considering bibliographic data and the VOSviewer software. As the main findings have revealed, the increased importance of this concept within the European Union is recognized. However, this paper also identifies several challenges in the literature, namely the concentration of the identified publications in certain countries, organizations, and authors.

The Changing Role of CO2 in the Transition to a Circular Economy: Review of Carbon Sequestration Projects

Despite the diversity of studies on global warming and climate change mitigation technologies, research on the changing role of CO2 in the industrial processes, which is connected with the introduction of circular economy principles, is still out of scope. The purpose of this review is to answer the following question: Is technogenic CO2 still an industrial waste or has it become a valuable resource? For this purpose, statistical information from the National Energy Technology Library and the Global CCS Institute databases were reviewed. All sequestration projects (199) were divided into three groups: carbon capture and storage (65); carbon capture, utilization, and storage (100); and carbon capture and utilization (34). It was found that: (1) total annual CO2 consumption of such projects was 50.1 Mtpa in 2018, with a possible increase to 326.7 Mtpa in the coming decade; (2) total amount of CO2 sequestered in such projects could be 2209 Mt in 2028; (3) the risk of such projects being cancelled or postponed is around 31.8%; (4) CO2 is a valuable and sought-after resource for various industries. It was concluded that further development of carbon capture and utilization technologies will invariably lead to a change in attitudes towards CO2, as well as the appearance of new CO2-based markets and industries.