Note4Students

From UPSC perspective, the following things are important :

Prelims level: CCUS

Mains level: Not Much

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The NITI Aayog has prepared a report on the policy framework for Carbon Capture Utilisation and Storage (CCUS).

What is Carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS)?

It is the process of capturing carbon dioxide emissions and either using them to make things such as building materials (utilization) or permanently storing those thousands of feet below the surface (storage).
Capturing carbon dioxide from industrial operations before it has a chance to enter the atmosphere helps reduce emissions, as does removing it directly from the air.
The carbon dioxide is then reused or sent through an injection well deep underground where it is locked away safely and permanently.
It’s a straightforward concept that takes infrastructure and policy considerations to implement, and Chevron is committed to making it work.

Steps involved in CCUS

Capturing the carbon dioxide for storage: The CO2 is separated from other gases produced in industrial processes, such as those at coal and natural-gas-fired power generation plants or steel or cement factories.
Transport: The CO2 is then compressed and transported via pipelines, road transport or ships to a site for storage.
Storage: Finally, the CO2 is injected into rock formations deep underground for permanent storage.

CCUS has a critical role to play for the country to halve CO2 emissions by 2050.
Key challenge would be to reduce the cost of the mechanisms to implement the technology.
CCUS could enable the production of clean products while utilising rich endowments of coal, reducing imports and thus leading to a self-reliant India economy.
It has an important role to play in enabling sunrise sectors such as coal gasification and the nascent hydrogen economy in India.

Green urea: Green urea can be produced from the captured CO 2 and cost-competitive green hydrogen, from renewable energy-based electrolysis of water. Green urea can replace/complement the traditional LNG/NG-based production and import of ammonia and urea.
F&B applications: CO2 is utilized in F&B applications such as carbonated drinks, dry ice, and modified atmosphere packing; however, the scales are much lower compared to green urea.
Building materials (concrete and aggregates): There is a large market for aggregates and concrete in a developing country like India, providing a pathway for utilizing CO2 for producing building materials through concrete curing and aggregate formation. In these applications, CO2 is injected in a liquid state without any conversion, thus reducing the energy requirements.
Chemicals (methanol and ethanol): Conversion of CO2 to methanol and ethanol from CO2 is proven at a commercial scale in different parts of the world.

India’s per capita CO2 emissions were about 1.9 tonnes per annum, which was less than 40% of the global average and about one-fourth of that of China.
India needs a sustainable solution for the decarbonization of sectors that contribute to 70% of emission.

CCUS helps reduce the carbon intensity of industrial operations and is a critical component of meeting the global net-zero ambitions of the Paris Agreement.
In fact, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change notes in its Global Warming of 1.5 °C report that achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 isn’t possible without ambitious mitigation action.