Why in the news?

  • A new report highlighted that the push given to Carbon Capture and Storage by Asian countries could threaten the climate goals of the world.

Carbon Capture and Storage

  • What is it?: It is a climate mitigation technology to capture carbon dioxide emissions from large point sources (e.g., power plants, refineries, cement and steel industries), transport the carbon dioxide, and store it underground in geological formations to prevent its release into the atmosphere.
  • Aim: Prevent significant amounts of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, thus mitigating global warming and anthropogenic climate change.
  • Mechanism:
    • Capture: Carbon dioxide is separated from gases produced by industrial processes or power plants.
      • Pre-combustion capture:  Removed before fuel is burned, common in gasification plants.
      • Post-combustion capture:  Removed from flue gases after burning fossil fuels; often used in existing thermal plants.
      • Oxy-fuel combustion: Fuel burned in nearly pure oxygen, producing a flue gas consisting mainly of carbon dioxide and water vapor; water is condensed, carbon dioxide  is separated.
    • Transport: Captured carbon dioxide, usually compressed into liquid form, is transported to storage sites by pipeline or ship.
    • Storage: Carbon dioxide is injected into deep underground rock formations (e.g., saline aquifers, depleted oil and gas fields), where it can be securely stored for decades or longer.
  • Applications:
    • Hard-to-abate sectors: cement, steel, chemicals.
    • EOR (Enhanced Oil Recovery): Injected carbon dioxide  helps extract additional oil from fields.
    • Production of synthetic fuels, building materials (via mineralisation), dry ice, and use in greenhouses.
  • Advantages:
    • Reduces greenhouse gas emissions from industries and power generation.
    • Essential for net-zero strategies, especially for sectors that cannot be easily decarbonized.
    • Can be combined with bioenergy (BECCS), leading to negative emissions.
  • Challenges:
    • High costs: Investment and operational expenses are significant.
    • Storage risks: Leakage from storage sites is a concern.
    • Limited deployment: Only a few large CCS projects are globally operational (about 40 as of 2023, capturing ~45 Mt carbon dioxide/yr).
    • India-specific issues: Lack of geological data, limited suitable aquifers for storage, need for clear policy and regulatory framework.
  • Initiatives in India:
    • NITI Aayog released a policy framework for Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage (CCUS) to help India’s target of net-zero by 2070.