Advancing carbon dioxide removal in India

As the world faces the growing challenge of mitigating climate change, simply reducing greenhouse gas emissions at the source will be insufficient to achieve the Paris Agreement’s long-term goal of capping global warming at 1.5 degrees Celsius. Pivotal to meeting that target will be strategies that durably store carbon dioxide (CO₂) at or below the Earth’s surface. These include carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technologies that extract CO₂ from industrial processes, and carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions that extract it from the air. 

Aligned with the 1.5°C goal, India’s commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2070 requires innovative solutions in key sectors such as steel, cement, fertilizers and power generation, which are the major CO₂ emitters. To that end, NITI Aayog, a policy think-tank of the Government of India, is developing its national action plan on CCUS. To help NITI Aayog formulate that plan, the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and International Energy Agency organized a workshop on February 21-23 in Mumbai, India featuring experts on CCUS policy and regulations. 

At the workshop, MIT Center for Sustainability Science and Strategy (CS3) Deputy Director/MIT Energy Initiative Senior Research Scientist Sergey Paltsev participated in several expert panels and delivered a presentation on the economy-wide implications of CO₂ removal options and potential carbon utilization pathways. Based on recent CS3 publications on direct air capture, sustainable aviation fuels, use of carbon capture in steelmaking, and portfolio approaches to CDR, Paltsev emphasized the need to ensure affordability and scalability of CCUS solutions. He also called for deeper collaboration between industry leaders, policymakers and researchers to help the future of India’s climate action and enable achievement of its net-zero goal.