Turning plentiful carbon dioxide into a chemical feedstock would wring value from the greenhouse gas. However, the traditional approach is costly and produces unwanted byproducts. Now, scientists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, led by Dr. John Linehan and Dr. Aaron Appel, designed a water-soluble catalyst for this transformation. They did so by understanding each of the steps in converting carbon dioxide to formate. They delved into the expected impact of changing the reaction conditions from a non-environmentally friendly solvent to water. Changing the conditions made the reaction favorable from an energy standpoint.