CCUS involves capturing of carbon dioxide generally from large point sources like power generation or industrial facilities that use either fossil fuels or biomass as fuel.
The captured CO2 is either used in a range of applications or injected into deep geological formations like depleted oil and gas reservoirs or saline aquifers.
“CCUS will play a critical role in helping India achieve its ambitious net zero emissions target by 2070,” Saraswat said while speaking at a conference on Meeting NetZero Target – Indian Embarking on CCUS Mission.
According to a report from the NITI Aayog back in 2022, when the discussion around the technology started gathering pace in the country, CCUS will be key in decarbonizing the industrial sector, which is hard to electrify and hard to abate. The concept has gathered momentum in the last two years because of its advantage in decarbonizing the power sector, given India’s present reliance on coal for meeting over 70% of its electricity needs.
As per the report, even if India can substantially green the grid and meet the target of 500 GW installed capacity of renewables by 2030, there would still be a need to meet the baseload power demand from fossil fuels or other dispatchable sources.