Accelerating Net Zero
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ACCELERATING NET ZERO
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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