Explorations of Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU)  technologies for india 

Syllabus: GS3/Environment 

In News

• Recently, it has been observed that Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU)  technologies are essential for achieving India’s net-zero emissions targets, particularly for hard-to-abate sectors like cement.

Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) 

• It refers to a set of technologies that capture carbon dioxide emissions from industrial sources or directly from the air and convert them into useful products.
• It  removes carbon from the atmosphere and puts it into the economy as inputs for fuels, chemicals, building materials, or polymers.
• Unlike carbon capture and storage, where captured CO₂ is permanently stored underground rather than reused, CCU uses up the captured carbon.

Need in India 

• India has consistently been the world’s third-largest emitter of CO₂, with emissions driven largely by power generation, cement, steel, and chemicals.
• While renewable energy may reduce future emissions, many industrial processes are inherently carbon-intensive and difficult to decarbonise. 
• CCU offers a pathway to reduce emissions from these “hard-to-abate” sectors while simultaneously creating new industrial value chains.
• It also aligns with India’s net-zero target for 2070 and its push to build a circular, low-carbon economy.

Progress and Initiatives 

• India has begun supporting CCU through research funding from the Department of Science and Technology which has created a specific research and development roadmap for these technologies.
• The Union Budget 2026-27 has announced a Rs 20,000-crore scheme to scale up carbon capture, storage and utilisation across five high-emitting industrial sectors.
  • The move aims to move CCUS from pilot projects to policy-backed deployment as part of India’s net-zero by 2070 commitment.
• The draft 2030 roadmap for Carbon Utilisation and Storage (CCUS) presented by the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural gas has identified projects that can be used for CCUS purposes. 
• In the private sector, Ambuja Cements (Adani Group) is working on an Indo-Swedish CCU pilot with IIT Bombay to convert captured CO₂ into fuels and materials. 
• JK Cement is collaborating on a CCU testbed to capture CO₂ for applications such as lightweight concrete blocks and olefins. 
• Organic Recycling Systems Limited (ORSL) is leading India’s first pilot-scale Bio-CCU platform, valorising CO₂ from biogas streams into bio-alcohols and specialty chemicals.

Key risks in scaling CCU (Carbon Capture and Utilization) in India

• High Costs – Capturing and converting CO₂ is energy-intensive, making CCU products expensive compared to fossil-based alternatives.
• Infrastructure Gaps – Effective CCU requires co-located industrial clusters, CO₂ transport networks, and integration with downstream manufacturing, which are unevenly developed.
• Regulatory and Market Uncertainty – Lack of standards, certification, and clear market signals discourages investment and limits demand for CO₂-derived products.

Conclusion 

• CCUS technologies are essential for hard-to-decarbonize industries like steel and cement, where most CO₂ comes from production processes rather than fuel use.
• The ₹20,000 crore budget allocation aims to develop CCUS applications in power, steel, cement, refineries, and chemicals, helping reduce emissions
• India has taken positive steps through the development of roadmaps to achieving CCU, and their appropriate implementation will be necessary for achieving India’s goals.

Source :TH