NITI Aayog Releases study on 'Carbon Capture' and Mechanism of its Implementation in India

A study paper titled 'Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Policy Framework and its Deployment Mechanism in India' was published by the NITI Aayog on Tuesday. The importance of carbon capture, use, and storage as a method for reducing emissions and achieving deep decarbonization from challenging industries is examined in the paper.

The paper further describes the broad-scale policy changes required across numerous sectors for its deployment.

The role of Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) becomes significant to achieve decarbonization from the hard-to-abate sectors, as India has updated its NDC targets.

The new strategy stresses on achieving 50 per cent of its total installed capacity from non-fossil-based energy sources, 45 per cent reduction in emission intensity by 2030, and taking steps toward achieving Net Zero by the year 2070.

CCUS can enable the production of clean products while still utilizing our rich endowments of coal, reducing imports and thus leading to an Atmanirbhar Indian economy.” said Suman Bery, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog.

On the other hand, the CCUS initiatives are also expected to generate sizable number of new jobs. Experts predict that 750 mtpa of carbon capture by 2050 can gradually provide 8–10 million full-time equivalent (FTE) employment opportunities.

“India’s dependency on the fossil-based Energy Resources is likely to continue in future, hence CCUS policy in Indian Context is needed” said Dr. V.K Saraswat, Member, NITI Aayog.

According to the report, CCUS can offer a wide range of opportunities to transform the captured CO2 into various value-added products, including green urea, food and beverage form application, building materials (concrete and aggregates), chemicals (methanol and ethanol), polymers (including bio-plastics), and enhanced oil recovery (EOR), all of which have significant market opportunities in India.

These opportunities can further help to significantly advance a circular economy.