{"id":58227,"date":"2025-11-01T19:33:06","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T14:03:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=58227"},"modified":"2025-11-04T18:47:31","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T13:17:31","slug":"carbon-capture-net-zero-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/01-11-2025\/carbon-capture-net-zero-india","title":{"rendered":"Carbon Capture for Net-Zero India"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Ocean-based carbon capture can help India reach net-zero by 2070, turning its seas into engines of carbon removal and blue growth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What is <strong>Carbon Capture<\/strong>, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS)?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The International Energy Agency (IEA) defines CCUS as a<strong> group of technologies for capturing of CO2 from large and stationary CO2 emitting sources,<\/strong> such as fossil fuel based power plants and other industries.&nbsp;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>CCUS also involves the <strong>transport of the captured CO2 <\/strong>to sites, either for utilization in different applications or injection into geological formations or depleted oil &amp; gas fields for permanent storage and trapping of the CO2.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-background\" style=\"background-color:#fff2cc\"><tbody><tr><td><strong>India\u2019s Emission Reductions Commitments<\/strong><br>&#8211; India has launched the <strong>LiFE mission (Lifestyle for Environment)<\/strong> and <strong>updated its NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions)<\/strong> under the Paris Agreement.<br>&#8211; Under its updated NDC 2022, India pledges:<br>1. <strong>45% reduction in emissions intensity<\/strong> (amount of CO\u2082 per unit of GDP) by 2030, compared to 2005 levels.<br>2. <strong>50% of installed electricity capacity<\/strong> will come from non-fossil fuel sources by 2030.<br>3. Creating a <strong>carbon sink<\/strong> of <strong>2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of CO\u2082 equivalent<\/strong> (GtCO\u2082e) by increasing forests and tree cover.<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Ocean-based Negative Emission Techniques<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE):<\/strong> Increases seawater\u2019s natural ability to absorb CO\u2082 through addition of alkaline minerals like lime or olivine. It provides stable carbon storage for over 100,000 years.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Biological Carbon Capture: <\/strong>It involves phytoplankton, seaweed, and microalgae that absorb CO\u2082 through photosynthesis.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Ocean fertilisation<\/strong> promotes the growth of phytoplankton by adding required micronutrients, such as phosphorus, iron, or nitrogen, to specific macronutrient-rich regions of the ocean, facilitating long-term deep-ocean carbon storage.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Marine protected areas,<\/strong> including coral reefs and mangroves (8.3 percent of the ocean), are vital for ocean health.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Mangroves<\/strong> store up to <strong>1,000 tonnes <\/strong>of carbon per hectare.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>India\u2019s Potential for Ocean-Based CCUS<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India, with <strong>2.6 gigatonnes of annual CO\u2082 emissions<\/strong>, stands as the world\u2019s <strong>third-largest emitter<\/strong> after the US and China.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>India\u2019s <strong>11,098.8 km coastline<\/strong> and <strong>2 million sq. km<\/strong> Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) offer vast opportunities for ocean-based carbon sequestration.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Seaweed farming<\/strong> over 20% of India\u2019s ocean area could remove 0.6\u20131 gigatonne of CO\u2082 annually.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>OAE, when combined with aquaculture, can provide highly durable and stable carbon storage while enhancing marine productivity.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Captured carbon can be repurposed<\/strong> for biofuels, pharmaceuticals, green hydrogen, fertilizers, biopolymers, and construction materials, promoting circular carbon economies and blue growth.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>What are the Challenges?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Ecological Concerns:<\/strong> Altering ocean chemistry or nutrient balance may affect marine biodiversity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Regulatory Gaps:<\/strong> India lacks comprehensive marine carbon governance frameworks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>High Capital Costs: <\/strong>Early-stage ocean CCUS projects require long-term funding and risk mitigation.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Policy Integration:<\/strong> Embed ocean-based CCUS in India\u2019s National Carbon Capture Policy and Blue Economy Mission.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Research and Development:<\/strong> Establish pilot projects on ocean alkalinity enhancement and biological carbon farming under the Deep Ocean Mission.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Private Sector Mobilisation: <\/strong>Provide fiscal incentives and carbon credits for blue carbon restoration and marine CDR startups.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>International Collaboration: <\/strong>Partner with global CCUS hubs in Japan, Norway, and the EU for technology transfer and knowledge exchange.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.orfonline.org\/expert-speak\/oceans-of-opportunity-carbon-capture-for-net-zero-india#:~:text=Leveraging%20India&#039;s%20Potential%20for%20Ocean-based%\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>ORF<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Context<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">Ocean-based carbon capture can help India reach net-zero by 2070, turning its seas into engines of carbon removal and blue growth.<\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong>What is Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS)?<\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">The International Energy Agency (IEA) defines CCUS as a group of technologies for capturing of CO2 from large and stationary CO2 emitting sources, such as fossil fuel based power plants and other industries.\u00a0<\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\">CCUS also involves the transport of the captured CO2 to sites, either for utilization in different applications or injection into geological formations or depleted oil &#038; gas fields for permanent storage and trapping of the CO2.<\/li>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/01-11-2025\/carbon-capture-net-zero-india\" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read\u00a0More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-58227","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58227","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58227"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58227\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58443,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58227\/revisions\/58443"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58227"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58227"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58227"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}