Yash Agarwal, Co-Founder, Carbonetics Carbon Capture, positions CCUS as a practical, scalable solution to tackle cement’s unavoidable calcination emissions while safeguarding productivity and profitability.
As India’s cement industry grapples with the challenge of cutting unavoidable calcination emissions without disrupting productivity, indigenous CCUS solutions are gaining prominence. In this interview, Yash Agarwal, Co-Founder, Carbonetics Carbon Capture speaks to Kanika Mathur explaining how low-cost, AI-enabled carbon capture technologies are being tailored for Indian kiln conditions.
Tell us about your organisation and its association with the cement industry.
We are a completely indigenously developed carbon capture technology company based in Noida. What we offer is state-of-the-art performance at Indian prices, along with Indian support.
We have pioneered low-cost carbon capture solutions for three industries—steel, cement, and power—and we offer specialised solutions tailored for each industry.
How is Carbonetics adapting its carbon-capture technology specifically for cement kiln flue-gas conditions?
In the case of the cement industry, the flue gas contains a significant amount of dust that needs to be captured, along with nitrates and SOx. This combination poses a major technical challenge for the carbon capture industry. What we have pioneered is a pretreatment process specifically designed for cement industry operations, which allows us to purify the flue gas before carbon capture treatment.
When we deploy carbon capture solutions for cement companies, we also enable them to comply with PCB norms, effectively allowing them to hit two birds with one stone. We are able to offer the world’s lowest capture costs. For a typical cement lime kiln, the cost is around US$ 25 to 30 per tonne, whereas companies from Europe and Japan offer solutions at around US$ 70 per tonne. This makes us approximately 50 per cent more price-competitive compared to Japanese players.
Is there a particular USP in your process and technology?
Absolutely. Our AI platform is a key differentiator that helps us reduce costs. It enables faster project execution and makes our projects more robust, allowing plants to run for longer durations, which directly improves return on investment. Digitalisation and automation are core aspects of our offering, and they significantly enhance operational efficiency and reliability.
What is the role of digitalisation automation and AI, of course, in bringing better technology to the cement industry, especially in relation to CCUS?
We are fully focused on CCUS, and for us, a running plant is a profitable plant. What we have done is created digital twins that allow operators to simulate and resolve specific problems in record time. In a conventional setup, when an issue arises, plants often have to shut down operations and bring in expert consultants. What we offer instead is on-the-fly consulting. As soon as a problem is detected, the system automatically provides a set of potential solutions that can be tested on a running plant. This approach ensures that plant shutdowns are avoided and production is not impacted.
How does your solution address calcination-related CO2, which is unique to cement production?
Calcination is a core part of the cement manufacturing process and cannot be abated through renewable energy sources like solar or wind, or through simple process optimisation. While clinker factor reduction is possible, any clinker that is produced will inevitably generate emissions. As mentioned earlier, we offer a specialised solution that delivers the lowest cost of carbon capture globally. We capture this CO2 and convert it into food-grade CO2. In the future, when you drink a bottle of Coca-Cola, it could very well contain CO2 captured from a
cement plant.
What modular or small-footprint capture units can be deployed easily at cement sites?
Modularity and a smaller footprint are paramount for any plant that is currently operational, as cement plants were not originally designed to accommodate carbon capture units. To address this, we offer a containerised carbon capture plant that can be used to test the technology. In addition, we are working on process amplification solutions that are part of our R&D pipeline. While these are not available today, they are expected to reduce the size of a carbon capture plant by half. This will allow us to serve operational plants where space is already at a premium.
How does your OmniSense® system improve monitoring and reliability of CCUS in cement operations?
In a typical carbon capture plant, there are several high-value assets, such as CO2 compressors. A single CO2 compressor can account for around 25 per cent of the total project cost, and procurement lead times can be as long as eight months.
If a carbon capture plant operates 24/7, redundancy becomes critical. Traditionally, this would require having multiple backup compressors. With OmniSense®, we enable predictive maintenance. If you know six months in advance that a compressor is likely to fail, your redundancy requirements decrease significantly.
For example, if you operate three plants, instead of maintaining six redundant compressors, you could manage with two, rotating them as needed. This significantly reduces capital expenditure while maintaining reliability.
What kind of policy support help you better your operations in the Indian sector?
Cement is a major contributor to India’s total GHG emissions, and it is also a highly price-sensitive product. If the government wants the cement industry to decarbonise rapidly in line with net-zero goals, incentives will be essential, along with mechanisms to absorb increases in final product prices.
For instance, if the cost of cement increases by Rs.10 per unit, the government should work to absorb this through measures such as tax breaks. These are approaches that have been successfully implemented in the US under the Inflation Reduction Act.
There is already a positive push, such as DST’s efforts to set up innovation centres. However, what is truly needed is real funding support for pilot projects—not just from institutions, but also specifically for India’s startup ecosystem.
What is Carbonetics’ roadmap for large-scale CCUS deployment in Indian cement plants by 2030?
Our plan is straightforward. Fortunately, the cement industry already understands the importance of CCUS. We offer a rental-based demo unit to reduce the risk associated with adopting new technology. Any new technology involves risk, and our approach focuses on de-risking adoption.
We provide a comprehensive feasibility report along with real, credible plant data generated from our mobile testing units. This significantly reduces uncertainty and cost. When a cement company makes the financial decision to deploy a full-scale plant, they can be assured of performance. Additionally, we offer operations and maintenance services, meaning we run the plant ourselves. When the technology designer is also responsible for operating the plant, it ensures optimal performance. These are the strategies we are using to scale CCUS deployment.
– Kanika Mathur
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