Events

Talk: The Quest Towards Sustainable Energy Transition – ‘Are We Getting There?

Co-hosted by the Department of Chemical Engineering and School of Sustainability IIT Madras, Professor Stratos Pistikopoulos FREng (Director, Texas A&M Energy Institute, Dow Chemical Chair, University Distinguished Professor, Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, Texas A&M University, United States) will talk about all about sustainable energy transitions. The abstract of their talk:;Decarbonization, electrification, net-carbon neutrality and low-carbon technology constitute important drivers in energy transition efforts. Open challenges toward such a societal and industrial goal include: (i) how to tame the impact of intermittency of many renewable technologies and the critical role of energy storage, (ii) the need for rigorous life-cycle based carbon accounting, (iii) understanding the material transition requirements as an enabler for the energy transition, and (iv) managing the costs of the various technologies relevant to the transition at different and evolving technology readiness levels. Here, we will attempt to provide a systematic framework of how to address such challenges in a holistic, integrated way toward realistic and sustainable energy transition scenarios. We will discuss the salient interactions in energy-material-mobility transition, the potential opportunities of industrial electrification, carbon capture and utilization and the hydrogen economy, and the role of policy especially in the context of circular economy. A comprehensive multi-scale energy systems engineering approach will be presented as the ‘glue’ to navigate and connect the various pieces of the puzzle in energy transition.