Dehydrogenase mediated CO₂ reduction with in situ cofactor regeneration

Poster and abstract
The rising carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentration in the atmosphere is a growing concern for climate change. Technologies are being developed for capturing CO₂ and storing it underground as a waste product. However, ideas are emerging to use the captured carbon dioxide as feedstock to produce chemicals, polymers and fuels. This new approach represents, along with the use of renewable resources and waste, one of the most promising technological solutions that contribute to carbon recycling and to reducing the use of fossil resources. Most schemes for including CO₂ as feedstock still rely on fossil fuel input for the delivery of hydrogen.
In this paper, we describe a direct enzymatic conversion of CO₂ into formic acid using NADH-dependent formate dehydrogenase (FDH) from Candida boidinii, with in situ regeneration of NADH.
Formic acid is currently used as a feedstock chemical, as food preservative, in leather processing and in textile industry, but worldwide demand for formic acid is expected to increase due to its application as hydrogen storage material and in biomass refinery.