India and BHEL Collaborate to Develop Indigenous Technology for Carbon Capture and Utilization

In a bid to achieve its net-zero emissions goals, India has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), a central public sector undertaking, to develop indigenous technology for capturing and converting CO2 to di-methyl ether (DME). This initiative is aimed at helping India achieve its larger mitigation goals under the Paris Agreement on climate change. IICT, a research institution under the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), signed the MoU in Hyderabad.

The collaboration is part of the Ministry of Science and Technology’s efforts to support India’s net-zero emissions goals by deploying Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) technologies in sectors that are hard to abate, such as coal gasification. Coal gasification is a process that involves producing syngas – a mixture of carbon monoxide, hydrogen, carbon dioxide, methane, and water vapor – from coal, water, and air. This syngas can be used for electricity generation or converted into transportation fuels like gasoline and diesel. Additionally, hydrogen produced from syngas can help meet India’s energy needs.

To advance clean coal technologies, India has launched the Coal Gasification Mission with the goal of gasifying 100 million tonnes of coal by 2030 through surface coal/lignite gasification projects. The Union cabinet approved a scheme in January to promote coal/lignite gasification projects by public sector units and the private sector with an investment of Rs 8,500 crore. This scheme aims to demonstrate the economic and technical feasibility of gasification projects, create new markets for downstream products, and establish an additional value chain in the economy.