The Union Power ministry has sought the cabinet’s approval to participate in research on a controversial technology to capture carbon and store it.

India is all set to ink a Memorandum of Understanding with Australia to become a member of the global carbon capture storage (CCS) initiative.

CCS technology involves capturing carbon emissions from power plants from being released into the atmosphere.

The global initiative, set up by Australia in April 2009, aims at accelerating adoption of safe, commercially and environmentally sustainable CCS technologies, besides driving cooperation among countries to deliver at least 20 fully integrated, industrial-scale demonstration projects by 2020.

A cabinet note has been moved by the ministry of power seeking the government’s approval to sign the agreement with Australia.

The note, a copy of which is available with Hindustan Times, however, clearly says it would not make it legally binding on India to take up CCS demonstration projects.

While India supports global research efforts aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions from coal-based industries, CCS technologies still remain unproven. “We have reservations about its safety, cost, permanence of carbon dioxide storage and consequence of leakages,” the note said.

In Copenhagen, Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh confirmed this: “CCS is not for us,” he said. “It will increase our costs for generation by huge margins which is not acceptable to us.”

CCS technology was first used in offshore exploration in the North Sea by Norway followed by other European countries and the United States.

In the last decade, western countries have been asking India and China to adopt the technology to reduce emissions from its coal-based power projects.

Experts, too, are divided on its efficacy.

The technology had found a place in the UN draft on long-term cooperative action to fight climate change as a clean technology to earn carbon credits since it prevents carbon saved from being released into the air.

Even in the rich countries there is lot of scepticism about the

technology as it had been used only for storing carbon emissions from offshore oil exploration under the sea. CCS has not yet been implemented in any inland coal plant.

International experts are also divided over its efficacy.

“CCS is still a technology under debate for fossil fuels,” said Heleen De Conneck, a professor with Dutch Institute of CCS Technology. “Many countries have resisted even demonstration projects.”

Providing public money for CCS technology could also mean subsidising coal-based technology at the cost of renewables, said James Carleton of the Carleton University, United States, at a workshop on CCS in Copenhagen on Saturday.

Even the cabinet proposal said that India has reservations about its (CCS technologies) safety, cost, permanence of carbon-dioxide storage and consequence of leakages but the country was willing to participate in research and development.

“We …support R&D into activities that seek to fix CO2 or to convert it into productive uses,” the note said.

Under the initiative, Australia will set up a new global Carbon Capture and Storage institute, which will bring together global researchers, industry consortia and governments.

A power ministry official said, requesting anonymity, as he is not authorised to speak to the media: “The MoU will support ongoing work by India to mitigate climate change, besides developing the capacity of our scientists through training abroad. The institute was launched in May 2009. So, signing it is imperative.”