Centre is working on a national mission to provide sops for CO2 capture

The Centre is working on a national mission that will provide financial incentives to promote carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) to help the country achieve its ambitious net-zero goals.

The Union power ministry, NITI Aayog and the office of the principal scientific adviser to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) are working on the mission, said NITI Aayog member V.K. Saraswat at the sidelines of the 32nd annual general meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce in India (AMCHAM India) in New Delhi on Thursday.

“We now need to come out with a mission mode approach, and that is why the government is proposing that we launch a CCUS mission in which viability gap funding (VGF), carbon pricing and taxing mechanism, carbon trading and subsidies in terms of PLI can be provided to reduce the carbon footprint,” he said earlier while addressing the event.

He said one of the mission's features would be to support the setting up of pilot plants that can capture 500 tonnes of CO2 per day.

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In a presentation during the event, Saraswat showed that the region-wise CO2 storage potential in India during 2030-2050 across western, southern, eastern, north-eastern and northern regions would stand at 388.9 gigatonnes, 80.58GT, 76.3GT, 47.2GT and 7.65GT, respectively.

"CCUS technologies will be critical in helping India achieve its ambitious net-zero emissions target by 2070. As a nation, we must prioritize the development and deployment of CCUS solutions across our industrial and energy sectors. Collaboration with international partners like the US will be key to accelerating innovation, increasing deployment and driving down costs," he said.

He said the need for government support in the form of tax credits may be assessed on a case-by-case basis.

He said that CO2 capture capacity of about 361 million tonnes per annum (mtpa) is under development globally. As of 2022, the global CCUS market size was $2.49 billion, and an annual growth rate of 13.3% is expected during 2022-2030.

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He said carbon capture alone accounts for about 75% of the net CCUS cost.

CCUS involves CO2 capture, usually from large industrial sources like power generation or other industrial facilities that use either fossil fuel or biomass as fuel. If this is not used on-site, it is compressed and transported by pipeline, ship, rail, or truck to be used in a range of applications or injected into deep geological formations such as depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers.

This technology can be retrofitted to existing power and industrial plants, allowing their continued operation. It is expected to play a crucial role in achieving the global net-zero targets. It's gaining momentum in India since the government has set an ambitious target of achieving net-zero emissions by 2070.

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According to the International Energy Agency (IEA) website, although CCUS deployment has been behind expectations in the past, momentum has grown substantially in recent years, with over 500 projects in various stages of development across the CCUS value chain. "Nevertheless, even at such level, CCUS deployment would remain well below what is required in the net-zero scenario," it said.