1. Introduction

A carbon-negative electricity system is an electricity-generation system that removes more greenhouse gases from the atmosphere than it emits across its relevant life cycle. It goes beyond conventional net-zero electricity, where emissions are balanced by removals. Carbon negativity generally requires durable carbon dioxide removal (CDR) in combination with electricity generation or associated energy infrastructure.

Potential models include:

Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS);

biomass power combined with permanent CO₂ storage;

direct-air-capture systems powered by low-carbon electricity;

electricity generation combined with verified geological carbon storage;

certain integrated bioenergy, afforestation and carbon-removal systems where the removal is demonstrably attributable to the electricity system.

Governance is therefore more complicated than ordinary electricity regulation. Regulators must simultaneously address electricity markets, environmental protection, carbon accounting, land use, water, biomass sustainability, CO₂ transport and storage, consumer protection and verification of claimed removals.

In India, this issue is particularly important because the legal framework is developing through the Electricity Act 2003, Energy Conservation Act 2001, Environment (Protection) Act 1986, carbon-market rules, renewable-energy regulation and constitutional environmental principles rather than through one comprehensive carbon-removal statute. The Supreme Court itself has noted that India does not presently have a single umbrella climate-change legislation. (Sci.gov.in)

2. Meaning and Characteristics

A conventional renewable electricity plant may have very low operational emissions, but that does not automatically make it carbon-negative.

A carbon-negative system can be represented conceptually as:

Net atmospheric impact = emissions from the system − verified permanent carbon removals

If:

Verified removals > total attributable emissions

the system can potentially be described as carbon-negative.

For example, a BECCS plant may:

grow or obtain sustainable biomass;

use biomass to generate electricity;

capture the resulting CO₂;

transport the captured CO₂;

inject it into a geological formation;

monitor the storage site for leakage.

The legal question is not simply whether the plant captures CO₂. Governance must determine whether the claimed removal is additional, measurable, permanent, independently verified and legally attributable to that electricity system.

3. Why Carbon-Negative Electricity Requires Special Governance

A. Electricity regulation

The electricity regulator must address:

generation licensing or regulatory requirements;

grid connection;

dispatch;

balancing;

ancillary services;

transmission;

tariff treatment;

power-purchase agreements;

treatment of carbon-removal revenues;

consumer protection.

The Electricity Act 2003 provides the institutional foundation through bodies such as the Central Electricity Authority (CEA), Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC) and State Electricity Regulatory Commissions (SERCs).

The Supreme Court's recent electricity jurisprudence emphasizes that electricity regulation involves balancing consumer interests, energy security, developer stability and environmental concerns. In Southern Power Distribution Company of Andhra Pradesh Ltd. v. Green Infra Wind Solutions Ltd. (2026), the Court discussed the statutory role of SERCs and emphasized coordination between sectoral institutions in pursuing energy-security and transition objectives. (Indian Kanoon)

4. Carbon Accounting and Additionality

The central governance problem is measurement.

A carbon-negative electricity project should not receive carbon-removal recognition merely because its gross emissions are lower than those of a conventional power plant.

Governance should establish:

1. Baseline

What emissions would have occurred without the project?

2. Project emissions

The calculation should include, where relevant:

biomass cultivation;

harvesting;

transportation;

processing;

electricity generation;

capture;

compression;

transportation of CO₂;

injection;

monitoring;

leakage.

3. Carbon removals

The regulator must establish the amount of atmospheric CO₂ actually removed.

4. Permanence

Temporary carbon storage should not automatically receive the same legal treatment as geological storage with long-term monitoring.

5. Additionality

The removal should represent a genuine additional climate benefit rather than an activity that would have occurred regardless of the carbon-credit mechanism.

India's amended Energy Conservation Act 2001 provides statutory authority for development of a carbon-credit trading framework. The Supreme Court has specifically recognized the 2022 amendment empowering the Central Government to provide for a carbon-credit trading scheme. (Sci.gov.in)

5. Governance of BECCS

Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) is one of the most important potential carbon-negative electricity technologies.

Its governance involves at least four legal stages:

Biomass → Electricity generation → CO₂ capture → CO₂ transport/storage

Each stage creates separate regulatory questions.

Biomass

The law must consider:

land ownership;

agricultural impacts;

forests and biodiversity;

food security;

water consumption;

sustainable harvesting;

transportation;

lifecycle emissions.

Electricity generation

The plant remains subject to electricity and environmental regulation.

Carbon capture

Capture equipment can create:

chemical waste;

energy penalties;

occupational-safety issues;

additional water consumption;

environmental permitting requirements.

Carbon storage

Permanent geological storage requires:

site characterization;

exploration;

injection authorization;

monitoring;

liability for leakage;

post-closure obligations;

remediation;

financial security.

Thus, BECCS cannot effectively be governed by electricity law alone.

6. Environmental Governance

Carbon-negative electricity cannot be treated as environmentally beneficial simply because it removes CO₂.

A project may produce carbon removals while simultaneously causing:

biodiversity loss;

air pollution;

groundwater impacts;

excessive water consumption;

deforestation;

land-use conflicts;

local environmental degradation.

This is why environmental impact assessment and ecological safeguards remain relevant.

In Dahanu Taluka Environment Protection Group v. Bombay Suburban Electricity Supply Co. Ltd. (1991), the Supreme Court dealt with environmental objections concerning a proposed thermal power plant in Maharashtra. The case illustrates the importance of environmental scrutiny of electricity infrastructure rather than treating electricity generation as an activity insulated from environmental regulation. (Indian Kanoon)

For carbon-negative electricity, the principle is even more significant: carbon-removal benefits cannot eliminate ordinary environmental obligations.

7. Constitutional Dimension in India

The governance of carbon-negative electricity is connected with Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution and the development of environmental principles through judicial decisions.

The Supreme Court has increasingly recognized climate-related environmental concerns.

In M.K. Ranjitsinh v. Union of India (2024), the Court recognized a constitutional dimension to protection from the adverse effects of climate change. The judgment discussed the relationship between environmental protection, climate mitigation and fundamental rights. (Sci.gov.in)

The Court subsequently dealt with the practical tension between renewable-energy development and biodiversity protection. The case illustrates an important governance principle:

climate mitigation and ecological protection must be considered together rather than treated as automatically overriding one another. (Sci API)

This is directly relevant to BECCS because large-scale biomass production can create ecological and land-use consequences.

8. Carbon-Negative Electricity and the Right to a Healthy Environment

The Supreme Court's climate jurisprudence connects environmental protection with fundamental rights.

The broader principle emerging from M.K. Ranjitsinh is that climate governance cannot be separated from constitutional protection of life and environmental quality. The Court noted India's numerous environmental and energy-related legislative measures, including the Environment (Protection) Act, Energy Conservation Act and renewable-energy regulations. (Sci.gov.in)

Therefore, a carbon-negative electricity policy should pursue at least three simultaneous objectives:

Climate mitigation + ecological protection + energy access

A governance system focused exclusively on carbon removal could otherwise produce undesirable social or ecological consequences.

9. Role of Electricity Regulators

CERC and SERCs may become important institutions for carbon-negative electricity because they regulate electricity-sector economic activity.

Their functions may eventually include:

Tariff regulation

Determine whether carbon-capture costs can be included in regulated tariffs.

Power-purchase agreements

PPAs could specify:

electricity price;

carbon-removal obligations;

measurement methodology;

verification;

treatment of carbon credits;

consequences of storage failure.

Renewable/carbon-removal incentives

Regulators may need to distinguish between:

renewable electricity;

low-carbon electricity;

carbon-neutral electricity;

carbon-negative electricity.

Grid dispatch

A carbon-negative generator may have different operating costs because carbon capture consumes energy.

Therefore, market design must consider the energy penalty associated with carbon capture.

10. Carbon Credits and Double Counting

One of the most important governance problems is double counting.

Suppose a BECCS plant generates:

electricity;

carbon-removal certificates;

renewable-energy attributes.

The legal framework must determine who owns each environmental attribute.

For example:

Generator → electricity

Generator → carbon-removal credit

Generator → renewable attribute

If several parties claim the same environmental benefit, the system could overstate actual climate mitigation.

Consequently, carbon-negative electricity governance requires a centralized registry and clear property/contractual rules for environmental attributes.

11. Verification, Reporting and Monitoring

A credible system requires MRV: Measurement, Reporting and Verification.

Measurement

Technical systems should measure:

CO₂ captured;

CO₂ transported;

CO₂ injected;

electricity generated;

fossil-energy inputs;

biomass inputs;

emissions associated with operations.

Reporting

Operators should periodically report data to the relevant regulator.

Verification

Independent accredited entities should verify the reported information.

This is essential because carbon-negative claims are dependent upon technical measurements that ordinary electricity regulators traditionally do not administer.

12. Liability for Carbon Leakage

Carbon storage creates a special legal problem.

Suppose CO₂ is injected underground but later escapes.

Questions arise:

Who is liable?

Does the generator lose its carbon credits?

Must credits be cancelled?

Who pays for remediation?

Does liability remain with the operator indefinitely?

When can liability transfer to the government?

A robust legal framework could use:

Operator liability → monitoring period → financial security → possible state assumption of long-term liability

Without such rules, the public could ultimately bear the cost of failed carbon storage.

13. Energy Conservation and Carbon Governance

The Energy Conservation Act is increasingly important to India's climate governance.

The recent CESC Ltd. v. Union of India (2026) litigation illustrates the expanding regulatory role of the Energy Conservation Act. The judgment discussed the Act's objectives of energy efficiency and conservation and its relationship with India's climate commitments and carbon-market mechanisms. (Indian Kanoon)

This demonstrates that carbon-negative electricity governance will probably involve multiple overlapping institutions, rather than a single electricity regulator.

14. Case Law Relevant to Governance

These cases do not establish a comprehensive legal regime specifically for carbon-negative electricity. Rather, they provide principles that can be applied to its future governance.

15. Institutional Governance Model

A future Indian framework could be structured as follows:

Central Government

Responsible for:

national carbon-removal policy;

international climate commitments;

carbon-credit framework;

geological-storage policy;

national standards.

Ministry of Power

Responsible for:

integration with electricity policy;

grid planning;

generation and transmission coordination.

CEA

Responsible for:

technical standards;

grid reliability;

measurement standards;

technical assessment of generation systems.

CERC/SERCs

Responsible for:

tariffs;

PPAs;

market participation;

regulatory treatment of carbon-removal costs.

Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change

Responsible for:

environmental clearance;

ecological safeguards;

pollution control;

environmental monitoring.

Carbon-market administrator

Responsible for:

carbon-credit issuance;

verification;

registry;

retirement;

preventing double counting.

16. Governance Challenges

A. Greenwashing

A company could label electricity "carbon-negative" based on uncertain or temporary removals.

Solution: strict MRV and third-party verification.

B. Biomass sustainability

Large-scale biomass demand may cause land-use and biodiversity problems.

Solution: sustainability criteria and lifecycle accounting.

C. Carbon leakage

Stored CO₂ may escape.

Solution: long-term monitoring and financial liability mechanisms.

D. Double counting

The same removal may be claimed by multiple entities.

Solution: unified carbon registry.

E. Regulatory fragmentation

Electricity, environment, land, carbon markets and geological storage may fall under different authorities.

Solution: inter-agency coordination.

F. Consumer costs

Carbon-negative technologies may initially increase electricity costs.

Solution: transparent tariff methodology and targeted incentives.

17. Relationship with Energy Justice

Carbon-negative electricity should also be governed through the principles of energy justice.

Three dimensions are particularly relevant:

Distributional justice

Who receives the benefits and who bears the costs?

Procedural justice

Are affected communities allowed to participate in decisions?

Recognition

Are vulnerable communities, indigenous groups, farmers and local landholders adequately recognized?

Carbon-removal projects involving large land areas may create significant distributional consequences. Therefore, carbon negativity should not be treated purely as a technical accounting exercise.

18. Future Legal Framework for India

India could eventually consider a dedicated Carbon Removal and Storage Framework containing:

statutory definition of carbon removal;

classification of carbon-negative electricity;

BECCS standards;

geological-storage licensing;

CO₂ transportation regulation;

MRV standards;

carbon-credit ownership rules;

leakage liability;

long-term monitoring;

environmental safeguards;

community consultation;

financial-security requirements;

carbon-credit registry;

anti-double-counting provisions;

penalties for fraudulent carbon claims.

Such legislation could operate alongside the Electricity Act 2003, Energy Conservation Act 2001 and Environment (Protection) Act 1986.

19. Conclusion

Governance of carbon-negative electricity systems requires the integration of electricity law, environmental law, climate law, carbon-market regulation and constitutional principles.

The fundamental legal challenge is to ensure that a claim of "carbon negativity" represents a real, measurable and durable atmospheric removal, rather than simply lower emissions or accounting adjustments.

Indian law already provides important building blocks. The Electricity Act creates the electricity-regulatory architecture; the Energy Conservation Act has evolved toward carbon-market governance; environmental legislation provides ecological safeguards; and Supreme Court jurisprudence increasingly recognizes the constitutional significance of climate and environmental protection. (Sci.gov.in)

The jurisprudence also indicates that climate mitigation cannot be pursued in isolation from biodiversity, consumer interests, energy security and environmental protection. M.K. Ranjitsinh is particularly significant because it demonstrates the need to reconcile climate objectives with ecological protection. (Sci API)

Accordingly, the future legal model for carbon-negative electricity should be based on five principles:

1. Scientific integrity — accurate lifecycle carbon accounting.
2. Regulatory integration — coordination between electricity, environment and carbon regulators.
3. Permanence and liability — responsibility for stored carbon must be clearly allocated.
4. Environmental and social justice — carbon removal cannot justify ecological or social harm.
5. Transparency — carbon-negative claims must be independently verified and protected against double counting.

In this sense, carbon-negative electricity is not merely a new generation technology; it represents a new regulatory category in which electricity production and atmospheric carbon removal become legally interconnected.