A Low-Carbon Growth Strategy for India: Synergies from Oxy-Combustion, Carbon Capture, and ECBM

Abstract

In spite of aggressive development of renewable energy alternatives, the continued use of fossil fuels will remain essential to national economic development for India and other emerging economies. India is ideally positioned to provide a practical demonstration of a suite of technologies that allows the continued use of indigenous resources while substantially limiting conventional and greenhouse gas pollutants. This suite of technologies employs oxy-combustion-based carbon capture systems fitted to a coal-fired power plant coupled with the injection of by-product gases for enhanced coalbed methane recovery. India has coal resources that currently provide an attractive domestic source of methane through conventional coalbed methane recovery techniques. Recent research concludes that enhanced recovery techniques using CO₂ and N₂ injection can provide substantial additional methane production. Highly concentrated anthropogenic CO₂ is produced by carbon capture technologies based on oxy-combustion, while supplemental N₂ can be available from the associated oxygen plant. Selling the CO₂ and N₂ that is produced, helps to offset the additional costs of air separation and CO₂ compression and transportation. The CO₂ thus utilized remains permanently stored in the coalbed, reducing net atmospheric emissions of this problematic greenhouse gas. The Jupiter Oxygen integrated oxy-combustion technology is uniquely suited to reduce costs associated with conventional pollutant removal and carbon capture. Combined with enhanced coalbed methane recovery, it offers a pathway to advance the national development agendas of coal dependent countries.