{"id":4223,"date":"2026-10-08T08:19:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-08T08:19:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/?p=4223"},"modified":"2026-10-09T08:24:52","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T08:24:52","slug":"carbon-capture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kingmakersiasacademy.com\/current-affairs\/carbon-capture\/","title":{"rendered":"Carbon capture"},"content":{"rendered":"<table style=\"font-size: 16px; font-style: normal;\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<blockquote><p><b>SYLLABUS: Environment<\/b><\/p>\n<p><b>General Studies \u2013 : III <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><b>IN NEWS:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> India\u2019s cement footprint stands in its way to net-zero emissions<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>QUESTION: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carbon capture is likely to remain important for achieving deep decarbonisation in the cement sector. Examine<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>ANSWER: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage (CCUS) is increasingly recognised as an indispensable technological pathway for achieving deep decarbonisation in the cement industry. Unlike other manufacturing sectors where emissions stem primarily from energy consumption, the cement sector faces severe structural decarbonisation hurdles due to the chemical nature of its core production process.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><b>Chemical and Structural Imperatives for CCUS in Cement<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Dominance of Process Emissions:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Over 60% of total <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">C<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">O<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> emissions in cement manufacturing are &#8220;process emissions&#8221; generated by the calcination of limestone (<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CaC<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">O<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">3<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">CaO+C<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">O<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">) inside the kiln. Because these emissions are chemically inherent to the production of clinker, they cannot be eliminated through energy efficiency improvements or a complete transition to renewable energy.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Thermal Energy Demands:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> The remaining 35% to 40% of emissions originate from burning fossil fuels to heat kilns above 1400\u00b0C. While alternative fuels like biomass, municipal waste, and green hydrogen can mitigate fuel combustion emissions, they leave the primary process emissions untouched.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Absence of Near-Term Chemical Substitutes:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Although alternative binding materials and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) like fly ash and slag are used to reduce the clinker-to-cement ratio, their global availability is limited, and they cannot completely replace limestone-based clinker without compromising structural engineering standards.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Strategic Mechanisms and Technological Pathways<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Post-Combustion Chemical Absorption:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Amine-based solvent scrubbing captures <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">C<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">O<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> directly from flue gas after combustion. This is the most commercially mature approach and can be retrofitted onto existing operational cement plants without requiring fundamental kiln redesigns.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Oxy-Fuel Calcination:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> By burning fuel in pure oxygen rather than ambient air, the resulting exhaust gas consists almost entirely of high-purity <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">C<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">O<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and water vapor. This significantly lowers the energy and capital cost required for subsequent carbon capture and isolation.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Direct Separation Technologies:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Innovative kiln architectures heat limestone indirectly, capturing pure process <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">C<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">O<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> directly as it is released from the rock before it mixes with fuel combustion gases.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Carbon Utilisation in Building Materials (CCU):<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Captured <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">C<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">O<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> can be permanently sequestered by injecting it into recycled concrete aggregate or concrete mixing processes. This mineralisation process permanently traps <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">C<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">O<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> while enhancing the compressive strength of the final concrete product.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Key Barriers to Scale and Global Deployment<\/b><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>High Capital and Operational Costs:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Implementing CCUS can increase the capital expenditure of a cement facility significantly and substantially raise operating costs, primarily due to the intense energy requirements of solvent regeneration.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Cross-Border Transport and Storage Infrastructure:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Transporting captured carbon requires extensive pipeline networks and access to verified geological storage formations (such as depleted oil fields or deep saline aquifers), which are unevenly distributed globally.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Energy Penalty:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Running capture units increases the internal power and thermal energy demand of cement plants, potentially diluting overall decarbonisation efficiency if supplied by carbon-intensive power grids.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Global North-South Disparities:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Advanced economies in the Global North possess the financial subsidies, carbon pricing mechanisms, and technical infrastructure necessary to deploy CCUS. Conversely, developing nations in the Global South face high capital costs and immediate domestic infrastructure demands, threatening to create a global green premium divide.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Way Forward<\/b><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Policy and Carbon Pricing Frameworks:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Implement robust carbon border adjustment mechanisms, predictable carbon pricing, and targeted production tax credits to bridge the cost gap for early adopters of CCUS technologies.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Development of Shared Infrastructure Hubs:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Establish industrial carbon management hubs and open-access pipeline networks, allowing multiple industrial plants to share transport and geological storage infrastructure to achieve economies of scale.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Mandating Green Public Procurement:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Governments can leverage public works projects by specifying low-carbon or CCUS-enabled cement in public construction contracts to create guaranteed lead markets.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>International Technology and Financial Transfer:<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> Multilateral development banks and Global North partners must facilitate technology transfers and blended financing to help developing nations scale CCUS without compromising economic growth.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<blockquote><p><b>PYQ REFERENCE UPSC 2022<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Q. &#8220;What are the key commitments made by India at COP26 to combat climate change? How does India plan to achieve &#8216;Net Zero&#8217; carbon emissions by 2070 while balancing industrial growth?&#8221;<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p><b style=\"font-style: inherit;\">SOURCE: <a href=\"https:\/\/epaper.thehindu.com\/ccidist-ws\/th\/th_international\/issues\/208017\/OPS\/GN0GJNMJI.1+GPKGKQVHK.1.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Hindu e-paper &#8211; India\u2019s cement footprint stands in its way to net-zero emissions<\/a><\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SYLLABUS: Environment General Studies \u2013 : III Conservation, environmental pollution and degradation, environmental impact assessment.\u00a0\u00a0 IN NEWS: India\u2019s cement footprint [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4224,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center 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