Barriers and enablers towards commercial-scale deployment of CO2 capture, utilization and storage in India

The role of CO 2 capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) is becoming increasingly clear for the Indian energy and infrastructural systems. Beyond integrated assessment modelling efforts, several policy roadmaps and technological advancements have emerged over the last decade. Without reiterating these developments in detail, this perspective seeks to identify the key barriers and enablers that could scale up CCUS in India. We articulate how the development of different suite of approaches within the CCUS umbrella have been somewhat fragmented. While technology development is necessary, it is not sufficient. Here, we may think of a combinatorial evolution model of growth to identify cross-cutting directions to move the needle on CCUS in India. In particular, we highlight four key planks: financing mechanisms, system integration (particularly via hubs and clusters), human resources, and legal dimensions. While these are not exhaustive, we consider these elements are critical for scaling up CCUS from hundreds of tonnes of CO 2 per day to tens of millions of tonnes annually.