Role of Advance Carbon Materials in the New Paradigm of Energy and Environment

A paradigm shift is happening in the way we utilize energy from fossil fuels and impact our environment. Significant damage to our environment has been done as evident by global warming and deteriorating air quality index. To reverse this, stringent environmental restrictions either have been imposed (e.g. Euro-6 norms for fuels) or are to be imposed in near future (e.g. CO2 taxation). To achieve and sustain these targets, new improved materials are required which on the one hand can be made synthetically from cheap raw materials and on the other can compete with the best materials being used today. Advanced materials made from carbon have the highest potential to fulfil all these objectives. This chapter tries to summarize the salient features, raw materials, manufacturing processes and typical specifications of some of the most important advanced carbon materials, e.g. specialty petroleum cokes, spherical graphite, carbon black, carbon fibre, carbon foam, carbon nanotubes and graphene.