Two substantial breakthroughs in the southern state of Tamil Nadu in the Indian subcontinent is sure to bring a smile on the face of climate technologists.

As reported by BBC, Tuticorin, an industrial city on the coast of Tamil Nadu, witnessed a historic feat when a chemical plant located there trapped CO2 emissions from the chimney of its boiler and used it to produce baking soda.

The process involves the stripping of CO2 by a chemical patented by a firm Carbonclean Solutions, owned by two Indian chemists.

The breakthrough process has yielded substantial benefits to the chemical plant in the form of avoiding release of 60,000 tons of CO2 per year into the atmosphere. Additionally, by trapping and reusing CO2 the plant produces baking soda.

In another report published by The Guardian, Carbonclean Solutions said that its chemicals and process are attracting worldwide attention as the technology is moving towards carbon capture and utilization from the current method of carbon capture and storage.

In the current method, carbon capture and storage means emissions are thrust into rocks underground at high cost and absolutely no benefit economically.

The breakthrough is all the more creditable as technologies for carbon capture have not received any substantial support from the government. Further, no subsidy has also been given for this carbon capture technology.

The BBC report also mentioned another important breakthrough in which a large solar plant, touted as the largest in the world, in Kamuthi is producing electricity to supply 150,000 homes. The solar plant is spread over an area of 10 square kilometers.

This, perhaps, is a foretaste of things to come in the renewable energy industry as Prime Minister Modi is pushing ahead by targeting 40% of India's energy to come from renewables by the year 2030, and is offering massive subsidies to hasten the process of adoption of renewables.

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