The Methanol Institute is hosting a webinar titled, "Methanol's Role in India's Energy Mix" on April 12, 2022, at 1400 hrs (IST). The webinar will feature speakers from NITI Aayog-Government of India, The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), and Argus Media who will discuss the policy initiatives, opportunities for the methanol industry, and the potential role of methanol in the country's energy transition and ensuring energy security.

As India is expanding its energy basket to fulfill its growing energy requirements, methanol is a promising solution that can support the country's transitioning energy landscape. Methanol utilization continues to grow rapidly across a diverse range of applications.

Methanol is strategic to India's efforts to be more self-sustaining as methanol can be produced with indigenous resources. This allows the country to reduce its reliance on imported energy products while growing a domestic methanol industry that will create more economic opportunities within the country. Methanol has been on the government's agenda since 2016, which is a strategic product that can help India achieve the 2070 vision. As a promising future fuel, methanol is traded widely around the world. It is used to fuel applications such as fuel cells, gensets, cookstoves, industrial boilers, and road & marine transport vehicles. When produced from conventional feedstocks such as natural gas, the combustion of methanol significantly reduces emissions of sulfur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), and particulate matter. Methanol can also be produced from renewable feedstocks to offer applications a pathway to reduce their lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions. Beyond its utilization as a fuel, methanol is also increasingly recognized as a superior hydrogen carrier as it can be easily stored, transported, and reformed into hydrogen when needed.

With such diverse applications, methanol can play a bigger role in India’s energy transition while strengthening the country’s energy security. Join the webinar on April 12 to learn more about methanol as an alternative fuel for India's energy landscape and emerging as a promising solution to the energy transition.

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Leanne is an associate editor at Argus Media covering the methanol and MTBE markets. She started her career at Sabic as a supply chain planner, before joining ICIS as an editor for the polymer and titanium dioxide reports. 

She holds a degree in Economics from the National University of Singapore.

Dr. Piyali Das is a Senior Fellow and Area Convenor at TERI in Advanced Biofuel Division and an adjunct faculty in the Department of Energy and Environment, TERI School of Advanced Studies. She is also a Co PI in DBT- TERI Centre of Excellence in Biofuels and Bio commodities. She obtained Ph.D. in Energy Systems Engineering from IIT Bombay and 2.6 years of post-doctoral research experience at the University of Southern California, USA; University of Trieste (Italy); and IIT Bombay, apart from around 16 years of research experience in technology development and process sustainability on thermochemical conversions like pyrolysis, carbonization, and gasification in TERI. She is leading research activities in liquid biofuel, biocarbon, and alternate transport fuel from biomass and waste sources through the thermochemical route in TERI. She has developed several technologies including the PLC-based Gas fired Pilot Pyrolysis and carbonization units for bio-oil & biochar production, used cooking oil and algal lipid-based biodiesel production, and glycerol to bioplastic production technologies to name a few.  She is presently working on upscaling of the Pyrolysis & carbonization Technologies, Co-Refining of Bio-Oil, Biodiesel Technology to a commercial level. She is also actively working on agro-residue-based green carbon pellets along with methanol and DME production through a thermochemical route. She has over eight patents granted to her credit as the lead inventor, 4 patents under process, 16 papers in international journals, and 5 book chapters. She is working on several national and international industry-funded projects and led over 20 projects as PI and Co-PI. She has presented more than 25 papers as an invited speaker at International Conferences. She has mentored over 12 Post Graduate Students and Guided 2 Ph.D. Students in the field of Bioenergy, Biofuels, and Biochar. She has led the 1st International Conference on Sustainable Fuels as Technical & Project Head organized by TERI & sponsored by Tata Motors

Dr. Piyali Das, Speaker

Senior Fellow & Area Convenor, TERI

Leanne Tan, Speaker   

Associate Editor, Argus Media 

Prakriti Sethi, Moderator

Chief Representative India

Prakriti Sethi is MI's Chief Representative - India. Prakriti has a wide array of experience working with international and national government institutions such as the UNESCO Secretariat, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), and the Government of Delhi. She supported the UNESCO Secretariat as part of the delegation at the UNFCCC’s COP22 and assisted in preparing the UNESCO Small Island Developing States (SIDS) Plan 2016 – 2021. At GIZ, Prakriti was responsible for research, data analysis, planning, and drafting of the organization’s Women Entrepreneurship Program which was implemented in collaboration with India’s Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE).  Her experience also extends to drafting reports and parliamentary intervention analysis for the Government of Delhi. Prakriti will support MI as the organization’s representative in India, a key market that has been identified to have high-growth potential for future methanol consumption. Based in Delhi, Prakriti can effectively identify and engage stakeholders in the government and private sector who will be key in furthering India’s aspirations to establish a methanol economy.

Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat is a distinguished scientist with vast experience in defense research in both basic and applied sciences spanning several decades. He retired as Secretary, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), after decades of government service. He holds a Ph.D. from Osmania University and an ME degree from the Indian Institute of Science.

As a Member, of NITI Aayog, Dr. Saraswat initiated the ‘Methanol Economy’ program for transportation, energy generation, and production of chemicals and fertilizers, etc. To this end, production agencies, academic institutions, and petro-refineries have been brought together to further the cause. As part of the initiative, an M-15 gasoline blend, methanol cooking stove, methanol-fuelled propulsion for inland waterways, and methanol-fuelled gensets are being introduced in the country. At the academia and industry levels, R&D in the gasification of high ash content Indian coal has been undertaken.

He is the recipient of many awards, including the Padma Shri (1998) and Padma Bhushan (2013). He has been conferred an honorary doctorate by more than 25 universities, most recently in 2018 by Jamia Hamdard.

Dr. Vijay Kumar Saraswat, Speaker

NITI Aayog, Governmentof India