NITI Aayog endorses CCUS policy for carbon capture

02 Dec 2022 CW Team

Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) is critical to ensuring India's long-term development and growth, particularly for the production of clean products and energy, which will lead to Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

This is the conclusion of a study published by the government think tank Niti Aayog titled 'Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage Policy Framework and its Deployment Mechanism in India.'

The report investigates the significance of CCUS as an emission reduction strategy for achieving deep decarbonisation from difficult-to-abate sectors.

It outlines the broad-level policy interventions required across multiple sectors for its implementation.

As India updates its NDC targets to achieve 50% of total installed capacity from non-fossil based energy sources by 2030, 45% reduction in emission intensity by 2030, and Net Zero by 2070, the role of CCUS as a reduction strategy to achieve decarbonisation from difficult-to-abate sectors becomes important.

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

According to the report, implementing CCUS technology can be a significant step toward decarbonizing the difficult-to-abate sector.

CCUS projects will also result in significant job creation. It is estimated that approximately 750 million tonnes of carbon capture per year by 2050 can generate approximately 8-10 million full-time equivalent job opportunities.