Vidyut Mohan | |
|---|---|
 Vidyut Mohan in 2021 | |
| Born | New Delhi, India |
| Occupation | Social entrepreneur |
| Organization | Takachar |
| Known for | Forbes 30 Under 30 (2019) Young Champions of the Earth (2020) Earthshot Environmental Prize (2021) |
Vidyut Mohan (born 1991) is an Indian social entrepreneur. He is the co-founder of Takachar, a company that recycles agricultural waste into marketable carbon products, offering an alternative to the heavily polluting practice of burning agricultural byproducts.
Vidyut Mohan was born and raised in New Delhi, where pollution severely affects the air quality, especially during the agricultural burn season. [1] He attended Sardar Patel Vidyalaya, focusing from an early age on STEM subjects. [2]
He went on to study at RV College of Engineering, completing a thesis project in response to the water crisis among India's farmers. The project was a software platform that generated estimates of water needs to optimize use of solar pump systems. [2] He graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering in 2012. [3]
Mohan studied for a master's degree in Sustainable Energy Technology and Sustainable Entrepreneurship from the Technical University of Delft. [2] In 2014, while a student at Delft, he began exploring alternative methods for disposing of agricultural waste, or biomass, on the belief that a reduction in agricultural burning in India could be one way to meet the urgent need for better air quality. [1] He graduated in 2015 with honors. [3]
After receiving his master's degree, Vidyut Mohan worked for Simpa Networks on the development of affordable home solar power systems intended for use in rural areas. [4] He was a senior user experience researcher with Simpa for two years before moving on to Berkeley Lab, where he worked as a bio-energy consultant. Mohan also consulted on bio-energy with MIT's Abdul Latif Jameel Water and Food Systems Lab. [3]
In 2016 he ran a biofuel pilot project based on his graduate research in Uttarakhand, processing pine needle waste into marketable charcoal. [1] The positive and community-wide effects of the processing quickly became clear: not only was fire risk reduced by the clearing of dry needles from forest floor, but local restaurants were able to make use of the resulting biofuel product. [5]
The success of the 2016 pine needle program led him to launch Takachar in 2018 with co-founder Kevin Kung. [1] They worked to scale up their collaboratively developed biomass upgrade system, offering access to waste conversion to an increased number of farmers using a wider variety of agricultural byproducts. [6]
Takachar creates a sustainable bottom-up system that reduces pollution while supplying alternatives to fossil fuels, with the added benefit of creating a new revenue stream for farmers. [4] By 2020, the company had converted 3,000 tons of biomass waste that would otherwise have been burned. [1]
The company purchases waste materials like grain husks, shells, and straw from farmers. [1] Using their own portable, affordable equipment, they convert the waste into biofuels, fertilizers, and marketable chemicals . [4]
The roasting machine used for this conversion process was developed by Mohan to run on the heat it produces, requiring no external power source. [1] It uses a process called oxygen-lean torrefaction, which removes moisture and volatile organic substances from biomass, leaving behind a dense, carbon-rich product . [7] [8] The machine is designed to be made of simple parts, so that it can be assembled quickly and repaired easily by the farmer-users themselves. [8]
One of Takachar's products is activated carbon, used for water filtration and purification, which it sells to large corporations like Brita. When he was preparing to launch Takachar, Mohan identified this market as having great potential for waste-derived alternatives, because most activated carbon is made from virgin wood. [1]
Mohan has plans to expand Takachar beyond India, and has begun work on sustainable fertilizer production with a partner based in Kenya. [1]
Vidyut Mohan is an accomplished tabla player. While pursuing his engineering degree, he also spent five years studying music at Gandharva Mahavidyalaya New Delhi. [2]
Vidyut Mohan was named an UNLEASH Energy Talent in 2017. [6] In 2019 he received an Echoing Green fellowship and was included on Forbes's "30 Under 30" list in the social entrepreneurs category. [4]
In 2020 Mohan was honored as one of the United Nations Environment Programme's Young Champions of the Earth, an award that comes with financial support for his project as well as access to mentorship. [4]
Vidyut Mohan and Takachar received the 2021 Earthshot Environmental Prize, awarded by the UK's Prince William to exceptional innovators working to find solutions that combat the existential threat of climate change. They were one of five finalists in the "Clean our Air" category, and received a prize of one million pounds. [7]
Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. Biofuel can be produced from plants or from agricultural, domestic or industrial biowaste. Biofuels are mostly used for transportation, but can also be used for heating and electricity. Biofuels are regarded as a renewable energy source. However, the use of biofuel has been controversial because of the several disadvantages associated with the use of it. These include for example : the "food vs fuel" debate, biofuel production methods being sustainable or not, leading to deforestation and loss of biodiversity or not.
A renewable resource is a natural resource which will replenish to replace the portion depleted by usage and consumption, either through natural reproduction or other recurring processes in a finite amount of time in a human time scale. When the recovery rate of resources is unlikely to ever exceed a human time scale, these are called perpetual resources. Renewable resources are a part of Earth's natural environment and the largest components of its ecosphere. A positive life-cycle assessment is a key indicator of a resource's sustainability.
Solid fuel refers to various forms of solid material that can be burnt to release energy, providing heat and light through the process of combustion. Solid fuels can be contrasted with liquid fuels and gaseous fuels. Common examples of solid fuels include wood, charcoal, peat, coal, hexamine fuel tablets, dry dung, wood pellets, corn, wheat, rice, rye, and other grains. Solid fuels are extensively used in rocketry as solid propellants. Solid fuels have been used throughout human history to create fire and solid fuel is still in widespread use throughout the world in the present day.
Bioenergy is energy made or generated from biomass, which consists of recently living organisms, mainly plants. Types of biomass commonly used for bioenergy include wood, food crops such as corn, energy crops and waste from forests, yards, or farms. The IPCC defines bioenergy as a renewable form of energy. Bioenergy can either mitigate or increase greenhouse gas emissions. There is also agreement that local environmental impacts can be problematic.
Waste-to-energy (WtE) or energy-from-waste (EfW) is the process of generating energy in the form of electricity and/or heat from the primary treatment of waste, or the processing of waste into a fuel source. WtE is a form of energy recovery. Most WtE processes generate electricity and/or heat directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuels, often derived from the product syngas.
Renewable Fuels are fuels produced from renewable resources. Examples include: biofuels, Hydrogen fuel, and fully synthetic fuel produced from ambient carbon dioxide and water. This is in contrast to non-renewable fuels such as natural gas, LPG (propane), petroleum and other fossil fuels and nuclear energy. Renewable fuels can include fuels that are synthesized from renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar. Renewable fuels have gained in popularity due to their sustainability, low contributions to the carbon cycle, and in some cases lower amounts of greenhouse gases. The geo-political ramifications of these fuels are also of interest, particularly to industrialized economies which desire independence from Middle Eastern oil.
Biomass, in the context of energy production, is matter from recently living organisms which is used for bioenergy production. Examples include wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues including straw, and organic waste from industry and households. Wood and wood residues is the largest biomass energy source today. Wood can be used as a fuel directly or processed into pellet fuel or other forms of fuels. Other plants can also be used as fuel, for instance maize, switchgrass, miscanthus and bamboo. The main waste feedstocks are wood waste, agricultural waste, municipal solid waste, and manufacturing waste. Upgrading raw biomass to higher grade fuels can be achieved by different methods, broadly classified as thermal, chemical, or biochemical.
Biofuels are renewable fuels that are produced by living organisms (biomass). Biofuels can be solid, gaseous or liquid, which comes in two forms: ethanol and biodiesel and often replace fossil fuels. Many countries now use biofuels as energy sources, including Sweden. Sweden has one of the highest usages of biofuel in all of Europe, at 32%, primarily due to the widespread commitment to E85, bioheating and bioelectricity.
Second-generation biofuels, also known as advanced biofuels, are fuels that can be manufactured from various types of non-food biomass. Biomass in this context means plant materials and animal waste used especially as a source of fuel.
Since 2013, total primary energy consumption in India has been the third highest in the world after China and United States. India is the second-top coal consumer in the year 2017 after China. India ranks third in oil consumption with 22.1 crore tons in 2017 after United States and China. India is net energy importer to meet nearly 47% of its total primary energy in 2019.
Algae fuel, algal biofuel, or algal oil is an alternative to liquid fossil fuels that uses algae as its source of energy-rich oils. Also, algae fuels are an alternative to commonly known biofuel sources, such as corn and sugarcane. When made from seaweed (macroalgae) it can be known as seaweed fuel or seaweed oil.
There are multiple environmental issues in India. Air pollution, water pollution, garbage, domestically prohibited goods and pollution of the natural environment are all challenges for India. Nature is also causing some drastic effects on India. The situation was worse between 1947 through 1995. According to data collected and environmental assessments studied by World Bank experts, between 1995 through 2010, India has made some of the fastest progress in addressing its environmental issues and improving its environmental quality in the world. However, Pollution still remains a major challenge and opportunity for the country.
Sustainable biofuel is biofuel produced in a sustainable manner. It is not based on petroleum or other fossil fuels. It includes not using plants that are used for food stuff to produce the fuel thus disrupting the world's food supply.
An aviation biofuel is a biofuel used to power aircraft and is said to be a sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The International Air Transport Association (IATA) considers it a key element to reducing the carbon footprint within the environmental impact of aviation. Aviation biofuel could help decarbonize medium- and long-haul air travel generating most emissions, and could extend the life of older aircraft types by lowering their carbon footprint. The jargon synthetic paraffinic kerosene (SPK) refers to any non-petroleum-based fuel designed to replace kerosene jet fuel, which are often, but not always, made from biomass.
There are various social, economic, environmental and technical issues with biofuel production and use, which have been discussed in the popular media and scientific journals. These include: the effect of moderating oil prices, the "food vs fuel" debate, poverty reduction potential, carbon emissions levels, sustainable biofuel production, deforestation and soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, effect on water resources, the possible modifications necessary to run the engine on biofuel, as well as energy balance and efficiency. The International Resource Panel, which provides independent scientific assessments and expert advice on a variety of resource-related themes, assessed the issues relating to biofuel use in its first report Towards sustainable production and use of resources: Assessing Biofuels. In it, it outlined the wider and interrelated factors that need to be considered when deciding on the relative merits of pursuing one biofuel over another. It concluded that not all biofuels perform equally in terms of their effect on climate, energy security and ecosystems, and suggested that environmental and social effects need to be assessed throughout the entire life-cycle.
Biomass briquettes are a biofuel substitute made of biodegradable green waste with lower emissions of greenhouses gases and carbon dioxide then traditional fuel sources. This fuel source is used as an alternative for harmful biofuels. Briquettes are used for heating, cooking fuel, and electricity generation usually in developing countries that do not have access to more modern fuel sources. Biomass briquettes have become popular in developed countries due to the accessibility, and eco-friendly impact. The briquettes can be used in the developed countries for producing electricity from steam power by heating water in boilers.
Bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is the process of extracting bioenergy from biomass and capturing and storing the carbon, thereby removing it from the atmosphere. BECCS can be a "negative emissions technology" (NET). The carbon in the biomass comes from the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) which is extracted from the atmosphere by the biomass when it grows. Energy ("bioenergy") is extracted in useful forms (electricity, heat, biofuels, etc.) as the biomass is utilized through combustion, fermentation, pyrolysis or other conversion methods.
Stubble burning is the practice of intentionally setting fire to the straw stubble that remains after grains, such as rice and wheat, have been harvested. The technique is still widespread today. Stubble burning is a common practice in India that has been increasing greenhouse gases over the past few decades fueling climate change due to the particulate matter contamination it distributes into the atmosphere.
Bioenergy forms a small part of the Turkish energy sector. There is unrealised potential to generate bioenergy using waste from the country's vast agricultural sector and forest resources. The possibility of expanding biogas, biofuel and bioethanol production and use has been suggested to supplement Turkey's energy needs, reduce dependency on fossil fuel imports and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Takachar is a limited company based in Boston as a spin-off from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). It is developing torrefaction reactors, which will cook agricultural waste to create biochar or biocoal – a modernised form of charcoal burning. The target market is India, where traditional methods such as stubble burning create large amounts of smoke and have been a significant cause of air pollution.