Abstract:
Since the oil embargo in 1973, scientists have been striving to develop new processes that use renewable sources and cleaner technologies to meet our energy and chemical needs. Initially it was driven towards reducing oil imports and the assumption of finite availability of fossil fuels. While there have been a number of successful developments in this area, the challenges that we face is further enhanced with the urgent need to limit carbon emissions, while improving the quality of life of citizens in emerging and less developed countries, in a sustainable manner.
In his talk, Dr. Rakshit will trace the geo-political and technical background to innovation, research and development in the use of bioenergy and biorefining processes based on his own experience in emerging and developed nations. He will focus on some of his work on the use of lignocellulosic biomass and renewable resources for the production of biofuels and platform chemicals. He will highlight some of the major technical bottlenecks that limit the use of available technologies in an economically viable way.
The challenges faced in the transition to a bio-economy vary from country to country. The need for innovative processes that can integrate into existing systems along with distributed efficient systems hold the key to a shift from fossil fuels based economy to the projected to a green economy. The need to work across national boundaries in an inter-disciplinary manner is imperative. The actions required for adapting any bioeconomy strategy including skills development, policy initiatives and enhancement of markets and most importantly the competitiveness of bioprocesses will be discussed.
A copy of the abstract is available at this link
About the Speaker:
Prof. Sudip K. Rakshit is a Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Biorefining and Bioenergy Processes at Lakehead University (LU) . He is associated with the Biorefining Research Institute (BRI) and the Department of Chemical Engineering at LU. Professor Rakshit served as the AIT Vice President for Research from September 2005 to March 2012 and Professor in the Food Engineering and Bioprocess Technology (FEBT) program from January 1995. His first employment was in the Chemical Engineering Department at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras, India. Prof. Rakshit obtained his Master and PhD in Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology from IIT, Delhi, India and B.Tech from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, India. His first degree was Chemistry Honours from the Loyola College, Chennai, India.
More details are available at this link.
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