It is a long-cherished dream: Removing the inert greenhouse gas carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and using it as a basic material for the chemical industry. This could address two major problems at once by containing climate change and at the same time reducing the dependence on oil. Physico-chemists at the University of Bonn are in the process of making significant contributions to this vision. They have discovered a new way to create a highly reactive form of carbon dioxide with the help of laser pulses. The results have been published online in advance and will soon be presented in the printed edition of the journal Angewandte Chemie.