Catalytic Combo Converts CO2 to Solid Carbon Nanofibers

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7. The key here is catalysis.

Catalyzed reactions take less energy than uncatalyzed.

We'd have to do an energy budget to compare the energy cost of the two catalyzed reactions in this process with the energy released by burning carbon sources - or with the energy captured by having that carbon in the atmosphere. The article says that use of catalysts reduces the temperature needed for the reaction from 1000C to 400C. That's still a lot of heat.

“It’s very unrealistic for large-scale CO2 mitigation [referring to the 1000C process],” Chen said. “In contrast, we found a process that can occur at about 400 degrees Celsius, which is a much more practical, industrially achievable temperature.”