2 months ago
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The communicative truthful far:
Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) refers to a acceptable of technologies that seizure c dioxide emissions from concern sources oregon straight from the aerial and person them into utile products. This process removes c from the ambiance and puts it into the system arsenic inputs for fuels, chemicals, gathering materials, oregon polymers. Unlike c seizure and storage, wherever captured CO₂ is permanently stored underground alternatively than reused, CCU uses up the captured carbon.
Why does India request CCU?
India has consistently been the world’s third-largest emitter of CO₂, with emissions driven mostly by powerfulness generation, cement, steel, and chemicals. While renewable vigor whitethorn trim aboriginal emissions, galore concern processes are inherently carbon-intensive and hard to decarbonise. CCU offers a pathway to trim emissions from these “hard-to-abate” sectors portion simultaneously creating caller concern worth chains. It besides aligns with India’s net-zero people for 2070 and its propulsion to physique a circular, low-carbon economy.
Where does India basal today?
India has begun supporting CCU done probe backing from the Department of Science and Technology which has created a circumstantial probe and improvement roadmap for these technologies. The draught 2030 roadmap for Carbon Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) presented by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural state has identified projects that tin beryllium utilized for CCUS purposes. In the backstage sector, Ambuja Cements (Adani Group) is moving connected an Indo-Swedish CCU aviator with IIT Bombay to person captured CO₂ into fuels and materials. JK Cement is collaborating connected a CCU testbed to seizure CO₂ for applications specified arsenic lightweight factual blocks and olefins. Beyond cement, Organic Recycling Systems Limited (ORSL) is starring India’s archetypal pilot-scale Bio-CCU platform, valorising CO₂ from biogas streams into bio-alcohols and specialty chemicals.
What are different countries doing?
The EU Bioeconomy Strategy and Circular Economy Action Plan explicitly supports CCU arsenic a mode to crook CO₂ into feedstocks for chemicals, fuels, and materials, linking it to circularity and sustainability targets. ArcelorMittal and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. are moving with a clime tech company, D-CRBN, to proceedings a caller exertion to person CO2 captured astatine ArcelorMittal’s works successful Gent, Belgium into c monoxide which tin beryllium utilized successful alloy and chemic production. The U.S. uses a operation of taxation credits and backing to standard CCUs, peculiarly for CO₂-derived fuels and chemicals. The UAE’s Al Reyadah task and planned CO₂-to-chemicals hubs leverage CCU with greenish hydrogen.
What are the risks ahead?
The foremost hazard successful scaling CCU successful India is outgo competitiveness. Capturing, purifying, and converting CO₂ is energy-intensive and expensive. Without argumentation incentives, CCU-derived products volition conflict to vie with cheaper, fossil-based alternatives. A 2nd hazard lies successful infrastructure readiness. CCU requires co-located concern clusters, reliable transport of CO₂, and integration with downstream manufacturing, each of which are unevenly developed crossed Indian concern regions. Finally, the lack of wide standards, certification, and marketplace signals creates uncertainty for investors and limits request for CO₂-derived products.
India has taken affirmative steps done the improvement of roadmaps to achieving CCU, and their due implementation volition beryllium indispensable for achieving India’s goals.
Shambhavi Naik is chairperson, Takshashila Institution’s Health & Life Sciences Policy,
