In recent years, decarbonization and net-zero emissions have taken centre-stage in global discussions, driven by an urgent need for climate action. Amid this global momentum, India has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2070. However, the path to decarbonization is fraught with challenges, including the scale of energy consumption, inadequate infrastructure, energy storage limitations, high costs of green technologies, and the need for stronger international cooperation.
As India embarks on this ambitious journey, let us delve into the critical areas that require a greater push to transform the nation into a carbon-neutral powerhouse by 2070.
Shifting to EV Bridges a Significant Gap
The automobile industry contributes 10-15% of the entire Co2 emissions. After power, the auto sector is the highest emitter of Co2. To address this, the sector is working on to reduce its carbon footprint by transitioning to the electric vehicles (EVs) and other alternate options like biofuels and hydrogen-based technologies.
Norway leads the global electric vehicle (EV) market, with 80% of its passenger vehicle sales being all-electric in 2022, followed by Iceland at 41%, Sweden at 32%, the Netherlands at 24%, and China at 22%. An analysis of data from the International Energy Agency reveals that once a country reaches a 1% share of EV sales, the adoption rate accelerates significantly compared to earlier adopters.
For instance, India’s EV sales grew from 0.4% to 1.5% in just one year (2021–2022), approximately three times faster than the global average, which took three years to grow from 0.4% in 2015 to 1.6% in 2018. Similarly, Israel saw its EV sales jump from 0.6% to 8.2% in just two years (2020–2022), a growth that took over five years to achieve elsewhere, as seen in the rise from 0.5% in 2016 to 6.2% in 2021.
For India, to stay on track towards the goal of 2070, the automotive sector needs to achieve 50% of the entire automobile sales by 2030. Given the current pace of transition, EV sales are projected to reach 35% of the total vehicle sales by 20230. The EV fleet is projected to grow to the tune of 10 million of sales by 2030, which means a reduction of 5 metric tonnes of Co2 emissions by 2030, and an estimated 110-380 metric tonnes of Co2 emissions reduction by 2050.
Exploring the Middle Way - The Path to Net Zero Requires Carbon Removal
As the replacement of fossil-based inputs with fully green alternatives will take place in a phased manner, just doing away with fossil-based energy immediately is not feasible due to the energy security and demand to be fulfilled. But a middle way can come to the rescue here.
The Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) industry must scale its efforts to align with net-zero pathways effectively. CDR refers to the process of extracting CO₂ from the atmosphere and securely storing it in natural or engineered reservoirs. This approach is vital for mitigating emissions from sectors where fully green alternatives are not yet feasible, such as methane emissions from livestock, CO₂ from cement production, and emissions from aviation fuel combustion.
Advanced technologies like Biochar and Direct Air Capture (DAC), combined with nature-based solutions such as reforestation, play a pivotal role in addressing these hard-to-abate emissions. Together, these solutions are integral to achieving net-zero targets and ensuring a sustainable future.
As of 2023, the global carbon dioxide removal (CDR) capacity stands at around 41 megatons (Mt) of CO₂ per year, falling significantly short of the 1–1.5 gigatons (Gt) of CO₂ per year needed by 2030–2035 to meet net-zero targets. This highlights a substantial scaling gap, requiring a 25- to 100-fold increase in capacity.
Push for Green Hydrogen as a Fuel for Future
For decades, despite knowing that Hydrogen is another source of energy, humans have been thriving on carbon and developed technologies around it. However, now, it’s the need of the hour to decarbonize and start building infrastructure ad technologies around alternate sources of energy like biofuel and Hydrogen, which is available in ample amounts. A makeshift is needed in all potential sectors, industries and technologies to adapt to green hydrogen.
The pathway to achieving these goals is clear but requires meticulous planning, significant technological advancements, robust policymaking, strong government and industry support, and extensive collaboration.
In India, for instance, under the Strategic Interventions for Green Hydrogen Transition (SIGHT) Scheme of the Green Hydrogen Mission, the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy invited bids to establish green hydrogen manufacturing capacities of 450,000 tonnes per year in the program’s second phase, with a total allocated incentive of ₹5,400 crore. In response, 14 companies submitted bids for a combined capacity of 622,500 tonnes, with most being awarded the maximum capacities they had proposed.
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