ANNOUNCEMENTS
India’s transition toward a low-carbon economy is challenged by its substantial dependency on coal-based power generation, which accounts for nearly 40% of the country's total carbon emissions. Despite aggressive renewable energy targets and progress, coal remains critical for ensuring baseload electricity and energy security. In this context, Carbon Capture, Utilization, and Storage (CCUS) emerges as a strategic technology capable of enabling decarbonization without compromising developmental imperatives.
This dissertation explores the multifaceted role of CCUS in decarbonizing India's power sector. It evaluates current emissions trends, coal dependency, and the limitations of relying solely on renewables. The research provides an indepth review of available CCUS technologies—such as post-combustion, precombustion, oxy-fuel, and direct air capture—along with transport, utilization, and storage mechanisms relevant to India followed by a comparative analysis of various capture technologies. Global best practices, including the Petra Nova and Boundary Dam projects, are examined for their adaptability in the Indian context.
The study incorporates a detailed study in the Policy and Government Framework adopted by various countries to adopt the CCUS Ecosystem. It also discusses challenges like high capital costs, energy penalties, and policy uncertainty. Based on these findings, the dissertation proposes a roadmap for phased CCUS deployment and the development of CCUS hubs and clusters.
Ultimately, this work concludes that CCUS is not a substitute but a complement to renewable energy, essential for decarbonizing India’s hard to abate power sector. It offers policymakers, stakeholders, and researchers a framework to integrate CCUS into India's climate strategy, enabling a just and secure energy transition toward the 2070 net-zero target.
