Why is it in the news?
CCU was highlighted as a key climate mitigation tool for India’s net-zero 2070 goal.
Union Budget 2026–27 allocated ₹20,000 crore for CCUS development.
Category: Environment
Important Points:
● CCU captures CO₂ and converts it into fuels, chemicals, building materials
● Differs from CCS which stores CO₂ underground
● India is 3rd-largest CO₂ emitter globally
● Allocation of ₹20,000 crore for CCUS over next 5 years
● DST created dedicated CCU R&D roadmap
● Post-combustion, pre-combustion and oxy-fuel combustion capture methods
● Direct Air Capture (DAC) extracts CO₂ from atmosphere
● Utilisation includes E-fuels, chemicals, mineralisation
● Challenges: high cost, infrastructure gaps, policy uncertainty