The increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) concentration in atmosphere brings in major concern nowadays. Accordingly, a study on the volumetric CO2 adsorption by using the palm kernel shell-based activated carbon synthesized via direct activation at 850 °C for 1 h has been investigated. The adsorbents are characterized using various analytical techniques to analyze the elemental, surface, and textural characteristics. Referring to the physiochemical analysis, it verifies that the proposed activation method effectively converts the palm kernel shell to value-added activated carbon material. The synthesized palm kernel shell-based activated carbon shows comparable CO2 adsorption capacity and CO2/nitrogen selectivity with the commercial grade activated carbon. The regeneration study that has been carried out via pressure swing indicates easy regenerability and good stability after the multiple adsorption-desorption cycles. The experimental CO2 adsorption isotherm data is examined by using several isotherm models � Langmuir, Freundlich, and Sips, by using non-linear regression method. The findings reveal that the Sips model mathematically represents the CO2 adsorption, irrespective of adsorption temperature. Besides, heterogeneity characteristics of gas-solid adsorption is further confirmed through the isosteric heat of adsorption (Qst) value that decreases with increasing surface loading. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd