As India progresses fast in the 21st century, we also face daunting challenges of energy security and climate change. Tremendous development in various sectors like industry, agriculture, transport has resulted in huge rise in demand for energy. Fulfilling these demands through conventional fossil fuel based energy generation has given rise to significant emissions (both gaseous and liquids) that have caused pollution to atmosphere and aquatic eco-systems. Use of sustainable and green (or renewable) resources and technologies offers a viable and promising solutions to these issues. Last two decades have witnessed intense research activities in Indian academic institutions on renewable energy resources. These include biofuels (both liquid and gaseous) through thermochemical and biochemical conversion of biomass, solar energy through thermal and photo-voltaic routes, wind energy and hydroelectric energy. North-East Research Conclave (NERC) – 2022 was organized by Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati with aim of bringing together researchers in diverse fields of science and technology and provide a knowledge-sharing platform to achieve sustainable development goals. This monograph contains papers presented in the session on Sustainable Energy Generation and Storage in NERC. A total of 16 papers in this monograph cover wide areas in renewable energy. The contents of this monograph will of interest to students and researchers in academic institutions as well as industry.
Dr. Vijayanand Suryakant Moholkar (b. 1972) is a Professor (HAG) of Chemical Engineering and Adjunct Faculty at School of Energy Science and Engineering (erstwhile Centre for Energy) at Indian Institute of Technology (I.I.T.) Guwahati. He received B. Chem. Engg. (1993) and M. Chem. Engg. (1996) degrees in chemical engineering from Institute of Chemical Technology (formerly University Department of Chemical Technology, UDCT) Mumbai, followed by Ph.D. from University of Twente (Netherlands) in 2002. He has been Head of the Chemical Engineering Department, IIT Guwahati between 2012-2015, and Head of Centre for Energy, IIT Guwahati between 2017-2020. His main research interests are sonochemistry, cavitation assisted physical, chemical and biological processing, and thermo- and biochemical routes to biofuels. As of January 2023, he has published more than 195 papers in renowned international journals that have received more than 10500 citations (with h-index of 60 and i-10 index of 170). Heis co-inventor of 3 US patents (issued to CTI Nanotech, CA, USA) on application of hydrodynamic cavitation reactors for biomass pretreatment and bioalcohol synthesis. As of January 2023, he has graduated 26 Ph.D. and 34 M.Tech. students. He has been elected as Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in July 2016. He has also been elected as Fellow of Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK. He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng) registered with Engineering Council of UK. He was admitted as Senior Member of American Institute of Chemical Engineers (MAIChE (Sr.)) in August 2016. His name has consistently featured in the list of world's top 2% scientists published by Stanford University, USA for the years 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Dr. Kaustabha Mohanty is currently working as Professor and Head in the Department of Chemical Engineering and School of Energy Science and Engineering at IIT Guwahati. He completed his Ph.D. from IIT Kharagpur and worked as Post-Doctoral researcher in Ben-Gurion University, Israel and McMaster University, Canada. He has published 167 research articles in international peer-reviewed journals that have received more than 6500 citations (with an h-index of 43). Till date, Prof. Mohanty has guided 16 Ph.D. students at IIT Guwahati. Presently, he is supervising 15 Ph.D. students in diverse fields of Biofuels, Microalgae Biorefinery, Biomass Pyrolysis, Biological Wastewater Treatment, Membrane Technology, Ionic liquids, Biolubricant and Heterogeneous Catalysis. He has completed several research and consultancy-based projects sponsored by several funding agencies such as MHRD, DRDO, DST, CSIR, ONGC and DBT. He is an active member of several professional organizations such as Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, London; Fellow of Biotech Research Society, India; Fellow of Institution of Engineers, India; Member of Society of Chemical Industry, London; Member of Chemical Institute, Canada and Life Member of Eco-Ethics International Union, Germany.
Dr. Vaibhav V. Goud is currently working as Professor and Head in the School of Energy Science and Engineering at IIT Guwahati. He completed his Ph.D. from IIT Kharagpur in 2006. He worked as Lecturer at BITS Pilani, Goa Campus between 2007-2008, and between 2008-2009 worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada. Till date, Prof. Goud guided 14 Ph.D. students at IIT Guwahati. Presently, he supervising 09 Ph.D. students in diverse fields of biomass for the production of biofuels, bio-lubricants and oleo-chemicals, extraction of natural plant products (essential oils, oleoresins, food colors, biopesticides, and nutraceuticals) by using subcritical and supercritical fluids as well as the processing of non-edible oilseeds. He has published more than 150 papers in international peer-reviewed journals that have received more than 10000 citations and 18 book chapters and made presentations of his research at several national/ international conferences. He has been awarded/filed 3 Indian patents in the field of bioethanol, biodiesel, and enhanced recovery of lipid from microalgae. He is an active member of several professional organizations such as life member of the Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, Sea buckthorn Association of India and International Society of Food Engineering.
