Thermodynamic equilibria of carbon dioxide recycling via CO₂ hydrogenation were predicted by minimization of Gibbs free energy at given conditions, where all existing components were in the gaseous state, for comparison with experimental results obtained with zirconia supported copper-based catalysts. Carbon dioxide hydrogenated to synthetic fuel, i.e. methanol, was investigated at 10 bar and 150 to 400 ^oC. The CuZnZrO₂ catalyst was highly selective towards methanol at low temperatures (up to 99% selectivity), offering the highest yield of 12.6 g CH₃OH kg-catalyst^-1 h^-1. However, carbon monoxide was the product with higher selectivity at temperatures above >210 ^oC. Physically mixing CuZnZrO₂ with potassium-modified HZSM5 zeolite increased the CO₂ conversion. The synergetic effect between potassium-modified HZSM5 zeolite improved the production of methanol which can be subsequently transformed into dimethyl ether. The bi-functional catalyst allowed the synthesis of valuable products at 50.3 g kg-catalyst^-1 h^-1 (CH₃OH, dimethyl ether, and hydrocarbon), while mixing pure HZSM5 with CuZnZrO₂ was inherently selective towards hydrocarbons (up to 80%) and allowed the synthesis of valuable products at 14.6 g kg-catalyst^-1 h^-1.