Carbon dioxide capture and sequestration (CCS): The Indian scenario

Abstract

Indian economic growth is accompanied by a strong growth in demand for energy. Its greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are growing at an increasing rate. A significant portion of the country’s emissions come from coal-based power plants. Given the current technological constraints, the possibility of adoption of CCS in India in the near future is not very encouraging. There is little prospect for CCS on a commercial basis in India over the next decade, at least with prevalent circumstances and cost-structure. Specially, in terms of retro-fitting CCS into old plants, the capital and operational costs seem to be prohibitive. Costs of pre-combustion and combustion carbon capture are exorbitantly high and unproven for Indian conditions (high-ash coal). The commercialization of the capture technologies is difficult in India given that the in-feed energy costs far out-weigh the benefits in return. Going forward, there are two feasible solutions for India to adopt CCS as a viable solution for its sustainable growth. One is to improve the technology of CCS so that it can work with the highash coal. China is currently testing higher efficiency gasifier which can deal with the low quality (high-ash) coal. If the experiments results are successful, the same model can be a viable option in India. Second, since India is a net coal importer, the quality of the coal imported to India is of high quality. This high quality coal allows for the implementation of CCS which presently is not feasible for Indian quality coal (But then dependence on imported coal is an issue as far as energy independence is concerned). Given the strategic importance of climate change mitigation through carbon reduction targets, (reflected in high carbon prices or other forms of policy measures) it follows that CCS will, at some point, be indispensible for India. India's dependence upon coal for electricity generation and the foreseen growth in electricity demand in the future is driving expansion of coal-based generation. The constraints to adoption of CCS in India arise from the high capital and operational costs, the lack of technical knowledge, and the logistical and infrastructural issues arising from existing challenges in the production and supply of coal and electricity, and the lack of political will-power on the issue. However, when looking at the impediments to CCS deployment in India today, we should avoid extrapolating these 15 or 20 years hence. This gives some hope that by 2030 CCS in India might be more viable.