Low Carbon Technologies (Lct) and Carbon Capture and Sequestration (Ccs) - Key to Green Power Mission for Energy Security and Environmental Sustainability

Abstract

Despite the fact that we in India have taken a giant leap forward in increasing the installed capacity from a mere I 713 MW in 1950 to over 2,54,000 MW as on date, the renewable energy sources however contribute merely 13% with total capacity of over 31,600 MW. But this contribution has a major social and economic impact on rural and remote area population. The growth of clean energy technologies for mega Power generation, such as the Solar Mega Power under Jawaharlal Nehru Solar Mission, both Solar Thermal and PV, Clean Coal Technologies, CCTs, i.e. Supercritical power plants, Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC) and fluidized bed combustion (FBC) are key to the success Green Power Mission for India. Carbon Capture & Sequestration (CCS) is considered as the frontier Green Energy technology. CCS technology is still in the demonstration phase, and it is important that India is not Left behind in this area. While there is a considerable amount of work already underway domestically, there may still be a need for research collaborations and knowledge sharing and transfer. These areas of research in CCS include development of new adsorbents, better process integration of capture equipment, and conversion of CO2 to useful products, among others. The important challenge of Energy penalty in CCS being faced world-wide, can be met through h use of Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) for supplementing steam for regeneration in a MEA and other solvent based post-combustion CCS in Thermal Power Plants. Low Carbon Technologies (LCT) and Carbon Capture & Sequestration (CCS) are key factors for Energy Security Environmental Sustainability and the same are forward in this paper leading to an opportunity for course- correction in our line of thinking in Green Power.