{"id":89980,"date":"2026-02-26T11:11:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T05:41:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=89980"},"modified":"2026-02-26T11:11:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T05:41:07","slug":"carbon-capture-and-utilisation-ccu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/carbon-capture-and-utilisation-ccu\/","title":{"rendered":"Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU): India\u2019s Low-Carbon Industrial Strategy"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU)<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> involves technologies that capture carbon dioxide from industrial emissions or directly from the air and convert it into useful products such as fuels, chemicals, construction materials, or polymers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Unlike <\/span><b><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/ccs-prelims\/\" target=\"_blank\">carbon capture and storage (CCS)<\/a>,<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> which stores CO\u2082 underground permanently, CCU reuses the captured carbon within the economy, turning emissions into productive inputs instead of waste.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Why India Needs Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU)<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India is the world\u2019s <\/span><b>third-largest CO\u2082 emitter<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with major emissions coming from power generation, cement, steel, and chemical industries.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While renewable energy can curb future emissions, several industrial sectors remain hard to decarbonise due to their carbon-intensive processes.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) provides a solution by reducing emissions from these \u201chard-to-abate\u201d sectors while creating new industrial value chains.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">It also supports India\u2019s net-zero target for 2070 and promotes a circular, low-carbon economy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>India\u2019s Progress on Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU)<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Policy and Research Support &#8211;<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> India has begun advancing CCU through research funding by the Department of Science and Technology, which has developed a dedicated R&amp;D roadmap.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas has also released a draft 2030 CCUS roadmap identifying potential projects.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Industry-Led Pilot Projects<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ambuja Cements (Adani Group), in collaboration with IIT Bombay and Swedish partners, is piloting technology to convert captured CO\u2082 into fuels and materials.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">JK Cement is developing a CCU testbed to use captured CO\u2082 in products like lightweight concrete blocks and olefins.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Organic Recycling Systems Limited (ORSL) is leading <\/span><b>India\u2019s<\/b> <b>first pilot-scale<\/b> <b>Bio-CCU platform<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, converting CO\u2082 from biogas streams into bioalcohols and specialty chemicals.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Global Efforts to Advance Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU)<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>European Union: Linking CCU to Circular Economy<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; The EU\u2019s Bioeconomy Strategy and Circular Economy Action Plan promote <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CCU as a tool to convert CO\u2082 into fuels, chemicals, and materials, supporting sustainability and circularity goals<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>United States: Incentives and Funding Support<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; The US encourages CCU through tax credits and public funding, particularly for projects producing CO\u2082-derived fuels and chemicals, helping scale industrial applications.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>United Arab Emirates: Integrating CCU with Green Hydrogen<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; The UAE\u2019s Al Reyadah project and proposed CO\u2082-to-chemicals hubs combine CCU with green hydrogen, aiming to decarbonise heavy industry while creating new value chains.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>China<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; China is rapidly scaling CCUS projects, particularly in coal-based power and chemical industries. It is investing in pilot projects that convert captured CO\u2082 into fuels and building materials.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Risks and Challenges in Scaling CCU in India<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Cost Competitiveness<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Capturing, purifying, and converting CO\u2082 is energy-intensive and expensive. Without policy incentives or carbon pricing, CCU-derived products may struggle to compete with cheaper fossil-based alternatives.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Infrastructure Gaps<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; Effective CCU deployment requires co-located industrial clusters, CO\u2082 transport systems, and integration with downstream industries. Such infrastructure remains unevenly developed across India.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Regulatory and Market Uncertainty<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> &#8211; The lack of clear standards, certification systems, and stable market signals creates uncertainty for investors and limits demand for CO\u2082-based products.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Way Forward<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Although India has developed policy roadmaps for CCU, successful implementation, supportive regulations, and financial incentives will be crucial to achieving long-term climate and industrial goals.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/sci-tech\/science\/what-are-carbon-capture-and-utilisation-technologies-explained\/article70675521.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">TH<\/a> | <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ceew.in\/publications\/strategy-for-carbon-capture-utilization-storage-technology-in-india?gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=21987067861&amp;gbraid=0AAAAApNTMo9MrNkX8EhOzvq280yAid0a1&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiA2PrMBhA4EiwAwpHyC-qNFYDCeSveziFRW1WzWlrL9SHBMYwAO2RVLTi3E0ucn68-zONNhBoC8I0QAvD_BwE\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">CEEW<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) helps India cut emissions from hard-to-abate sectors while building circular, low-carbon value chains aligned with net-zero 2070 goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":89988,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[5728,60,22,1888],"class_list":{"0":"post-89980","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","8":"tag-carbon-capture-and-utilisation-ccu","9":"tag-mains-articles","10":"tag-upsc-current-affairs","11":"tag-upsc-mains-current-affair","12":"no-featured-image-padding"},"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89980","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89980"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89980\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":89997,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89980\/revisions\/89997"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89988"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89980"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89980"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89980"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}