Accelerating Net Zero

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ACCELERATING NET ZERO

he Energy Consortium was founded in December 2021

with a bold vision: to enable India’s journey towards a

low-carbon energy future. In this short span, we have

10 global energy majors, including those in hard-to-

abate and hard-to-electrify sectors as well as those at

the forefront of leveraging digital means for energy transition,

collaborating with us. We are now participating heavily in two major

alliances, one focused on energy storage and another on green fuels.

We are actively partnering and advising government agencies

on topics of national and international importance and have

represented the cause at the COP28 in Dubai. This has allowed us to

drive collective action at scale and emboldens us to contribute more

assertively towards the Net-Zero journey of India.

As per the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy data, India, at

the end of 2023, became 4th globally in Renewable Energy Installed

Capacity, 4th in wind power capacity and 5th in solar power capacity.

We recognize that the time has come to elevate our mission. We must

transition from just enabling progress to actively accelerating the

realization of a Net Zero future.

Together with our partners in industry and government, we

can ensure that Net Zero is not just an aspiration, but an imminent

reality for India and the world. Building on our vision, we are

now in mission mode, fully dedicated to Accelerating Net Zero at

the Energy Consortium. This commitment is reflected in our new

mission statement and our revised strategy of advancing research

in clean energy sources, including offshore wind, green hydrogen,

green fuels, and large-scale industrial electrification, while

intensifying our efforts in carbon capture, utilization and storage

(CCUS).

In this short series, we bring together four seminal topics that

are going to shape how we accelerate achieving net zero. We explore

through two topics the role that carbon dioxide capture technologies

will play and its centrality in achieving net zero, as well as the role of

green ammonia in this journey.

In addition to the role played by technology, it is also

important to unlock the decarbonization potential through

a critical analysis of the various GHG contributors and

systematically reducing not just Scope 1 & 2 emissions but

also Scope 3 emissions. Therefore, one topic specifically

explores the strategies required for addressing Scope 3

emissions. Finally, in this short series, we also explore

the key enablers for financing climate change and the

role of public-private partnerships in our fifth topic.

The global transition to a net-zero carbon

economy is not just an environmental imperative but

also an economic opportunity. By leading the charge

in clean energy innovation and carbon capture,

we are paving the way for a sustainable future that

benefits our planet and future generations.

Dr. Nikhil Tambe

CEO – Energy Consortium, IIT Madras

Adjunct Professor, Dept. of Applied Mechanics, &

Biomedical Engineering, IIT Madras

avigating net-zero is often a journey of two

steps forward and one step back. Conflicting

requirements, short-termism and despondence

over the unknowable and unplannable future

often leads to inaction on our long-term goals.

Goals are clear; however, it is the path that needs to be shown.

The Path to Decarbonization special issue by the Energy

Consortium at IIT Madras was launched during the Energy

Summit 2023 to throw some light on this journey that every

individual, organisation and country should undertake for the

sake of humanity. It talked about some of the actions leading

corporates are taking and the pathways to do more. However,

we find that we need faster action. Planet will survive and

find a new-normal, however it is humans that needs it to be in

perfect balance to avoid a pernicious fate.

Accelerating Net Zero is the second edition from the

Energy Consortium, where an attempt is made to address

critical technology and policy elements that could accelerate

this transition to net-zero. Though net-zero is a state point,

the journey is a path function that needs to be traversed with

minimal entropy generation. In this journey, there are many

solutions, which may not be clear and some, where the choices

are hard.

In this edition, a few such examples such as the role of

CCUS in net-zero or the understanding of scope 3 reporting

are explored in detail. The role of capital as a catalyst in this

acceleration is presented as a framework to be built. Now, the

pathways are becoming visible and with other ingredients

falling in place, we wish the acceleration towards net-zero hits

escape velocity. Happy reading!

Dr. Satyanarayanan Seshadri

Faculty Head, Energy Consortium, IIT Madras

Associate Professor, Dept. of Applied Mechanics &

Biomedical Engineering, IIT Madras

FOREWORD

PREFACE

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