By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 24 Apr: CSIR-Indian Institute of Petroleum is organising an International Conference, “Shaping the Energy Future: Challenges and Opportunities” (SEFCO-2025), from 23 to 25 April. The SEFCO conference is annually organised by students and young scientists at CSIR-IIP.
The inaugural ceremony held on 23 April was graced by Chief Guest Prof KK Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee, and Guest of Honour Alok Sharma, Director (R&D), Indian Oil Corporation Ltd.
Day-2 of SEFCO 2025, today, featured various technical sessions and a panel discussion on How to Fill India’s Energy Basket by 2047. Prof Suddhasatwa Basu of IIT, Delhi (former director of CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar, and CSIR-CIMFR, Dhanbad), in his plenary address in a technical session on “Energy transition, energy-efficiency and future mobility” gave an overview of materials, applications and trends in energy conversion and storage devices. Prof Samira Siahrostami from Simon Fraser University, Canada, highlighted critical roles and dimensions of “Computational Catalysis for Clean Energy Transformation”. Prof Saptarshi Basu from IISc, Bangalore, spoke on New Paradigms: Combustion at Extreme Conditions. Professor Narayan Pradhan from IACS Kolkata shared insights on “Applications of lead halide Perovskites in nanocrystal emitters”.
During a technical session on “Catalysing Sustainable Future with Affordable Energy & Chemicals”, Professor Eric Van Steen from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, emphasised the importance of sustainable liquid fuels as a renewable energy source. Dr Bharat L Newalkar from BPCL joined session online and delivered a keynote lecture on “Decentralised green hydrogen production”.
The panel discussion on “How to Fill India’s Energy Basket by 2047” was moderated by Dr GS Kapur, Advisor GAIL and former Executive Director at IOCL R&D. The panellists included Dr Sanat Kumar, Chief Scientist at CSIR-IIP; Dr Chanchal Samanta, DGM of R&D, BPCL, and SK Vatsa, former General Manager (E), ONGC.
During the discussion, the panellists shared insights on global energy dynamics and outlined India’s roadmap for achieving energy independence by 2047. They explored strategies for sustainability, innovation, and the pursuit of a clean energy future.
Team SEFCO would also like to express their gratitude to the sponsors ONGC, EIL, BPCL, CRISTOL, IOCL, GAIL, AIRBUS, NRL, CPCL, and R L Solutions.
