Track: Sustainability and Green Systems
Abstract
Climate change is one of the major challenges faced by the world in the 21st century. The recent IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) report highlights that even with the rapid decarburization, the existing greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have severe irreversible impacts on the climate. Therefore, negative emissions technologies like direct air capture (DAC), bio-energy with carbon capture and storage, afforestation and reforestation, etc. are expected to play an important role in climate change strategies. Researchers are working on scaling up the technologies to get significant benefits. However, the different direct air capture methodologies are energy-intensive. While researchers are working on identifying ways to improve process efficiency, this research is focused on identifying the areas of application where DAC is more effective. This study aims (i) to summarize the various popular DAC methodologies – solvent, solid sorbent, electro-swing, cryogenic, and humidity/moisture swing – based on the identified indicators, and (ii) to evaluate the DAC technology to identify the preferred sites in India for developing DAC facilities in the near and long term. All states and union territories of India are evaluated from the short- and long-term perspectives based on clean energy and sequestration potential. The proposed framework will help the government agencies and private investors to take informed decisions on the preferred sites for developing DAC facilities.