In general, in one aspect, the invention relates to a method to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) to an alcohol. The method involves contacting a stream of flue gas comprising the CO2 from a combustion process with water mist to create a mixture of liquid carbonic acid (H2CO3) and wastewater. The method further involves extracting the liquid H2CO3 from the mixture and pressurizing the liquid H2CO3 to generate pressurized liquid H2CO3. The method further involves combining the pressurized liquid H2CO3 with a first liquid reagent in a first hydrolysis chamber creating the alcohol from combining the pressurized liquid H2CO3 with the first liquid reagent.