State News

PAU awarded project on potential of crop residues for bio-energy and other valuable products

22 February 2021, Punjab, IN: The Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University (PAU), has been awarded an industrial project entitled “Assessment of crop residues availability and its potential in Punjab for bio-refining” by Fortum India Private Limited, Gurgaon, India. Fortum is a leading clean-energy company that provides its customers with electricity, heating and cooling as well as smart solutions to improve resource efficiency.

Dr Rajan Aggarwal, Principal Investigator and Head, Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, said this project will help the industry to convert agricultural waste into valuable products, and provide solutions to reduce pollution, which will further help local communities to become self-sufficient and raise their standards of living. The continuous growth in the energy sector, stringent environmental regulations and abundant crop residues including paddy straw have necessitated research in the area of bio-energy production as well as other valuable chemicals from crop residues which can be used in various industries, he added. The study conducted under this project will be helpful in estimating the potential of biomass available in the Punjab state.

Dr NS Bains, Director of Research and Dr Ashok Kumar, Dean, College of Agricultural Engineering congratulated Dr Rajan Aggarwal and his team, Dr Vishavjeet Singh Hans, Dr SK Singh and Dr Urmila Gupta for facilitating the industry for effective utilization of crop residues for better environment and generating livelihood.

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