Apparatuses and methods for removing carbon dioxide and other pollutants including heavy metals from a gas stream are provided. The methods include obtaining a water-condensate from the flue-gas stream; obtaining a chloride salt; admixing the salt with water, steam, or both to produce a solution; electrolyzing the solution to produce a hydroxide and chlorine gas; admixing a portion of the hydroxide with the flue-gas stream to produce carbonate products, bicarbonate products, or a mixture of carbonate and bicarbonate products in an admixture; separating said carbonate and/or bicarbonate products from the admixture, thereby removing carbon dioxide from the flue-gas stream; adding a portion of the hydroxide to the water-condensate to change the pH of the water-condensate from acidic to basic, resulting in precipitation of the heavy metals; and passing the water-condensate through a filtering medium.