Carbon capture and storage (CCS) options for co-production of electricity and synthetic fuels from indigenous coal in an Indian context

India has the second largest population in the world and is ranked number six in terms of CO2 emissions generated from fossil fuels. A large portion of its power plants is old and inefficient, and it is expected that India in the coming 10–15 years will need to upgrade and extend its power sector significantly. This may give rise to new initiatives that bring the harnessing of indigenous coal in a green manner into question.This article takes into consideration opportunities of emerging polygeneration schemes intended (mainly) for the electric power sector with inclusion of additional yields like synthetic fuels, chemicals and heat. Reference is made to European-based initiatives pertaining to the capture and storage of carbon dioxide (CCS) — especially a Sino-European project COACH1 that is operated under the auspices of the European Commission and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). Some main principles of COACH have been transferred from the EU-based DYNAMIS2 project, although in a different setting. Both projects emphasise technologies and options that can be realised by 2012 (and beyond) for co-production of hydrogen and electricity via pre-combustion decarbonisation from fossil fuels with safe geological storage of the CO2. It is believed that the European Commission – in due course – will make provisions for similar arrangements with India.A main challenge of CCS – in any context – is the techno-economic aspect of fuel penalty and cost. In addition to the higher investment cost, an energy potential corresponding to 20–30% additional fuel is inherently sacrificed in order to isolate and compress the CO2 stream before it can be injected into a permanent sink. For this reason CCS is entirely policy driven rather than motivated by profit.Although CCS is far more costly and requiring substantially more primary energy, it is likely to assume that India will be forced to either implement CCS or to retire parts of its generating capacity. This suggests that India may become attractive for industrialised countries to make “green” investments in its power sector provided however, that CCS will become eligible for joint mitigation actions beyond the Kyoto treaty that expires by 2012.The energy supply situation of India is seen as a matter of growing concern. In contrast to Europe where the issue of greenhouse gas emissions is high on the political agenda, India seemingly is more focused on cost, energy supply and local pollution. Coal is still the prevalent fuel in the Indian power sector, and is likely to be so in the foreseeable future. This suggests that time is due for India to embark on pre-normative research and technology initiatives in order to pave the ground for a cleaner energy policy in an Indian context. One step in this direction is to gain knowledge on prevalent carbon capture techniques — in theory and via major CCS projects and storage sites.