DBT Pan IIT Centre for Bioenergy : First Virtual Centre Across IITs

DBT Pan IIT Centre for Bioenergy : First Virtual Centre Across IITs

Question: DBT has launched the DBT Pan IIT Centre for Bioenergy recently. Provide a brief overview of the centre’s goals.

Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, GoI has launched the DBT Pan IIT centre for Bioenergy

This is a virtual centre spread across the following 5 IITs:

- Bombay

- Jodhpur

- Kharagpur

- Guwahati

- Roorkee

- An MoA for the same was signed in September 2015

- This is the first virtual centre for collaborative research

- This is the first centre for studying thematic areas of research and it aims to advance biofuel technologies

- Collaboration was initiated in January 2015

A research team of 32 investigators from the participating institutes will aim to advance bio energy technologies and carry out research in the following areas:

- Cyanobacterial Biofuels,

- Biofuels from micro-algae,

- Ligno-cellulosic biomass to Biofuels

- Techno-economic and Life Cycle Analysis.

- Though this is the first virtual centre, it is the 4th centre in bioenergy research set up by DBT
Centre also aims to grow mutually beneficial relationship with the bioenergy industry in India

- The institute also aims to develop advanced technologies paving the way for sustainable solutions to the growing energy crisis in the world

Facts and Stats

- Other bioenergy institutes set by DBT include DBT-IOC Centre for Advanced Bioenergy Faridabad, DBT-ICT Centre for Energy Biosciences, Mumbai and DBT-ICGEB Centre for Advanced Bioenergy, New Delhi.

- The Pan IIT Centre for Bioenergy is the largest among the four Bioenergy Centres in terms of investigator participation.