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ENERGY TRANSITION ble to the growing interest in renewable sources, extending the same benefi ts to turing. The report puts forth the demand
energy and green hydrogen. “This sub- MSME partners enables a platform for and supply chain dynamics of renew-
‘India to achieve 500-GW renewable energy target stantial investment is poised for further enhancing their competitiveness while able energy technologies, government
expansion in the future,” he observed. concurrently facilitating their transition initiatives, and policy interventions for
well before time’ towards a lower-carbon footprint”. building further momentum.
Mr. Sanjiv Puri, President Desig-
India’s current non-fossil capa- the Ministry of New and Renewable of Rs. 20-trillion in transmission net- nate, CII and Chairman & Managing During the event, the minister also The minister also released a dash-
city stands at an impressive 188,000 Energy, delineated India’s accelerated works, evacuation infrastructure, and Director, ITC Ltd. said, “It is equally unveiled a CII-EY report on ‘Aatma- board on “Energy transition investment
megawatts, with an additional 88,000 renewable energy capacity addition energy storage system, among others,” imperative to integrate MSMEs into Nirbhar Bharat in RE manufacturing’. monitor: The energy transition invest-
megawatts already under installation. strategy. “Last year, we achieved a he said, adding, “There needs to be the sustainability paradigm. Collabo- The report focuses on India’s energy ment monitor” which is a collaborative
“We pledged to reach 500 gigawatts renewable energy capacity addition of a continuous focus on ease of doing ration with large anchor players within transition which is gaining momentum analytics platform that tracks over 900
by 2030, and we are set to achieve that 15 gigawatts. This year, we are target- business measures, especially in the the supply chain is pivotal, aiming to with potential to emerge as a global projects in the pipeline across renew-
goal well in advance,” said Mr. R. K. ing an increase to 25 gigawatts, with areas of land availability, regulatory empower MSMEs. Wwhen a major cor- champion for advancing renewable able energy services and technology
Singh, Union Minister of Power and plans to escalate it further to 40 giga- clearances, statutory requirements and poration invests in renewable energy energy (RE) innovation and manufac- supply chains.
New & Renewable Energy. He was watts next year,” he said. Mr. Bhalla penal provisions”.
speaking at the ‘India Energy Transi- referred to the annual bidding trajec- MITIGATING ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDS
tion Summit 2023’ organised by FICCI tory for the next fi ve years, aiming The event also saw the launch of
in New Delhi recently. for 50 gigawatts of new capacity each the FICCI Deloitte report – ‘India’s IIT-Guwahati develops novel method to tackle marine
year, including at least 10 gigawatts in energy-transition pathways: A net-zero
He noted that despite constituting the wind sector. perspective’. The report posits that oil spills
17% of the world’s population, India India’s fi nal energy demand is expected
contributes only 4% to the global car- Mr. Subhrakant Panda, President of to double to about 1,200-mtoe (millions Researchers at the Indian Institute However, the sustainable and economi- the biochar. To render the nanopar-
bon dioxide load. The minister further FICCI and Managing Director of Indian of tonnes of oil equivalent) by 2070 of Technology-Guwahati (IIT-Guwa- cally viable conversion of biomass to ticles water-repellent, they are treated
emphasised that India’s per capita emis- Metals & Ferro Alloys, said, “There in a net-zero scenario with aggressive hati) have developed a silica nano- modifi ed silica for oil spill mitigation with special chemicals known as
sions are approximately 2.2-tonnes, is a strong commitment at the highest energy effi ciency measures. particle-coated cotton fabric that can had not been explored earlier, according silanes. Finally, these treated nanopar-
signifi cantly lower than the global level, and I will not be surprised if targets separate oil from an oil-water mixture. to the institute. ticles are coated over a cotton material
average of 6.3-tonnes, accentuating the are met well ahead of schedule. India’s The report estimates India will This research aims to convert large- creating a natural, three-dimensional
country’s responsible energy consump- focus is not solely on economic growth, require a massive $15-trillion investment scale agricultural waste into a sustain- Prof. Vaibhav Goud, Department sorbent for separating the oil-water
tion habits. He affi rmed that India is but rather on inclusive, sustainable and to achieve its net-zero emissions target able value-added product to mitigate of Chemical Engineering, IIT Guwa- mixture.
the only major global economy whose resilient growth”. by 2070. It highlights three fundamen- marine oil pollution. hati, said, “Our technology has multi-
energy transition actions are aligned tal pillars that anchor India’s energy ple benefi cial effects on the environ- Explaining the signifi cance of their
with limiting the global temperature He underscored the massive in- transition ambitions and are expected The nanoparticles have been deve- ment. Rice husk is an agricultural work, Prof. Goud, said, “Our experi-
rise to under two degrees Celsius. vestments needed on the supply side to address approximately 90% of the loped by utilising rice husk, an agri- byproduct, rich in silica that is gene- ments at IIT Guwahati have demon-
to achieve the target of 500-GW of nation’s emissions. These pillars are cultural waste, as the primary source rated in millions of tons every year. strated that the coated cotton fabric
Speaking on occasion, Mr. Bhu- renewable energy capacity by 2030. grid decarbonisation, industrial decar- material. The fi ndings of this study It generally ends up being burnt particularly adsorbed oil, while the
pinder Singh Bhalla, Secretary of “We will require investments upwards bonisation, and transport transition. could aid in the development of eco- unscientifi cally causing air pollution. uncoated sample adsorbed both oil and
nomical, sustainable platforms for With our technique, this waste rice water.
GREEN POWER separating oil/water mixtures or harm- husk is converted to 3D sorbents that
ful components from aqueous/non- mitigates oil contamination by follow- The developed superhydrophobic
Govt. to explore use of green hydrogen as storage aqueous mixtures. ing a selective active-fi ltration pro- material has shown a remarkable 98%
cess.” effi ciency and retained its functiona-
for round-the-clock power Oil spills due to industrial dis- lity even after repeated use and expo-
The government plans to launch a world and the largest exporter because Conference & Exhibition on Clean charge, or accidental mishap causes In this process, rice husk is gradu- sure to harsh environments.”
pilot project using green hydrogen as it has the cheapest renewable power, Energy, organised by the Confederation irreversible damage to the aquatic ally heated and effi ciently converted
storage for producing 100-MW of round he said adding that the country has of Indian Industry (CII) and the Mini- ecosystems. Conventional cleaning to charcoal, also known as bio-char. The details of the natural 3D
the clock (RTC) power, according to already amassed substantial manufac- stry of New & Renewable Energy, techniques such as skimming, or in- Subsequently, this biochar is subjected oil-absorbing material have been
Union Minister for New & Renewable turing capacity for green hydrogen, themed ‘Global champions for advanc- situ burning is ineffective, costly and to further heating to transform it into published in the international journal,
Energy, Mr. R. K. Singh. positioning itself as a global leader in ing clean energy: Innovation & manu- cause additional pollution. Researchers silica nanoparticles. Biomass and Bioenergy. The paper has
this burgeoning sector. facturing’, Mr. Singh said India was set around the world have been trying to been co-authored by Prof. Vaibhav V.
India will be the largest producer to benefi t from an investment pipeline develop energy-effi cient materials to The size of these nanoparticles can Goud and his research scholar, Ms. Sutapa
of green hydrogen and ammonia in the Speaking at the Fourth International worth nearly $250-bn, largely attributa- separate the oil and water mixtures. be customised by adjusting the pH of Das.

144 Chemical Weekly October 10, 2023 Chemical Weekly October 10, 2023 145

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