1 July 2025: PIB Summary For UPSC

1. CMPDI Announces Results of Hackathon on Carbon Capture Technology

(Source – PIB (Press Information Bureau), July, 1, 2025)

Topic: GS Paper 3 – Environment, Pollution & Carbon Capture Technologies

Context

The Central Mine Planning and Design Institute (CMPDI), a subsidiary of Coal India under the Ministry of Coal, organized a month-long hackathon (12 May–10 June 2025) to accelerate innovation in carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) technologies.

Content

Objective & Problem Statements

The hackathon featured three thematic challenges:

• Direct Air Capture (DAC) of greenhouse gases

• Geological storage of captured CO₂ in India’s coal-bearing regions

• Carbon capture–based biofuel development using algae cultured in mine-pit lakes 

Winners & Rankings

1. Direct Air Capture

   • Winner: Urjanovac Pvt Ltd

   • 2nd: IIT Jammu

   • 3rd: IIT (ISM) Dhanbad

2. Geological CO₂ Storage

   • Winner: NIT Calicut

   • 1st runner-up: TechX Earth Space Pvt Ltd

   • 2nd runner-up: IIT (ISM) Dhanbad 

3. Algae-based Biofuel

   • Winner: Algae Labs Pvt Ltd (Tamil Nadu)

   • 2nd: North East Institute of Science & Technology, Jorhat

   • 3rd: Central Institute of Mining & Fuel Research (CIMFR)

Participation & Evaluation

• Received 24 proposals across three themes.

• Top 5 proposals per theme were shortlisted and presented to a jury.

• Participants included startups, academic institutions, research bodies, corporations, and NGOs. 

Significance for UPSC Prep

• Policy linkages: Aligns with India’s climate commitments (e.g., Paris Agreement), and Energy Transitions mission.

• Atmanirbhar Bharat: Strengthens domestic R&D in CCUS, reducing dependence on foreign technologies.

• Sectoral relevance: Touches upon coal-sector modernization, clean energy innovation, and sustainable industrial development.

• Stakeholder model: Showcases collaboration between government, academia, startups — a key governance approach.

Way Forward

• Winners will collaborate with industry experts to pilot their solutions, taking India closer to operational CCUS pathways.

• Continued hackathons and public–private engagements can foster innovation critical to India’s net-zero targets by 2070.

Practice Question: “Evaluate the potential of hackathon-based innovation models in accelerating India’s carbon capture and utilization (CCU) agenda. What are the strengths and limitations of such initiatives? Suggest measures to scale their impact towards India’s net-zero objectives.”

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