Tata Steel and Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) sign MoU to collaborate in the area of Carbon Capture, Utilisation & Storage (CCUS)
Mumbai: Considering the importance of Carbon Capture, Utilisation & Storage (CCUS) in India’s fight against Climate Change and Global Warming, meeting the growing energy demands and building a strong ecosystem to meet commitments under Paris Agreement, Tata Steel Limited and the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR) have joined hands to work in the field of CCUS.
As part of this strategic MoU signed between Tata Steel Limited and the Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), the teams from Tata Steel and CSIR will work towards accelerating development and deployment of CCUS technologies in the steel industry. These technologies would expedite transition to a decarbonised economy in other carbon intensive sectors like Power, Cement, and Fertilizer etc. This collaboration would entail work across key areas of CO2 capture, utilization and storage and would be co-led by Dr. Rakesh Kumar, Director NEERI (National Environmental Engineering Research Institute) as the CSIR nodal and Dr. Debashish Bhattacharjee, VP, Technology & New Materials Business, Tata Steel. In addition, several other CSIR laboratories would also participate given their diverse competencies in this area.
CSIR has, in parallel, initiated steps to set up a National facility on CCUS at NEERI, Nagpur. Tata Steel has intended to be a founder partner in setting up of this facility. The facility, expected to work on the lines of “Centre of Excellence” (CoE), will offer a common collaborative platform to interested organisations and stakeholders to participate, invest and contribute towards research, technology development, deployment, policy advocacy, training, and capacity building in the field of CCUS through a partnership model.
T. V. Narendran, CEO & MD, Tata Steel, said: “For the sustainability of the steel industry globally and particularly in a growing country like India, it is essential that we find an economical solution for capturing and use or sequestration of CO2 at scale. Adequate technologies do not exist today. Between CSIR and Tata Steel we have enormous intellectual and research strength together with application opportunity. The Tata Steel-CSIR collaboration platform will provide the necessary impetus and also enable other organisations to join and collaboratively work towards a solution for Carbon Capture, Utilisation & Storage (CCUS). I am confident this initiative will grow to position India as a world leader in the area of CCUS.”
Over the past few years, Tata Steel has invested in multiple initiatives in harnessing clean and renewable energy and adopting waste heat recovery technology. The Company has already established a pilot project in Carbon Capture and Use (CCU) at Jamshedpur works and at the Ferro-Chrome plant, and assessing renewable energy potential across all locations in India. Tata Steel has recently joined ResponsibleSteelTM, the industry’s first global multi-stakeholder standard and certification initiative, to further its sustainability goals.
The Tata Steel-CSIR partnership in CCUS is a timely initiative and a step in this direction. These efforts would drive fruitful collaboration between the scientific and industry community, in a synergistic way to co-create technology led solutions and its commercial deployment. This initiative of CSIR and TSL will also position India strongly and strategically as a leader in the Global CCUS map.
CSIR was established in 1942, and is an autonomous Society whose President is the Prime Minister of India. It is one of the foremost scientific and industrial research organisations in the world. Over the years, it has helped multiple industries and local state governments maximise their economic, and environmental benefits through research and development.