Mumbai startup's cheap carbon capture tech to foster India's net zero targets

New Delhi: A Mumbai-based start-up on Thursday announced the development of a novel aqueous-based carbon dioxide (CO2) capture technology, that is resilient, cost-effective and will help advance towards India's net zero targets.

The technology by start-up UrjanovaC, nurtured by IIT Bombay, can capture CO2 from both industrial flue gas and ambient air in the presence of industrial wastewater or even seawater.

Relying upon the earth-abundant elements along with non-potable water, the technology can build a carbon management process which can aid in sustainable removal of multi-billion-tonne CO2. Further, the captured CO2 can be converted to high-value minerals while the catalyst gets recycled.

UrjanovaC's founders, Vikram Vishal and Arnab Dutta, who are also faculty members at IIT Bombay, were inspired to generate energy with a minimal carbon footprint by the pressing need for efficient CO2 management technologies.

Their new innovation emerged from research work at the Department of Science and Technology supported by the National Centre of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilisation (NCoE-CCU) at IIT Bombay.

The NCoE-CCU at IIT Bombay has been at the forefront of developing cost-effective CO2 capture and conversion solutions to support India's goal for net-zero emissions by 2070.

The team is currently focusing on the deployment of their first three tonnes-per-day CO2 capture pilot at IIT Bombay.