Largest energy companies in India
CMD felicitated with Honorary Fellowship of IIChE at CHEMCON 2012 Mr. Sudhir Vasudeva, CMD ONGC visited Dr B R Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar to deliver prestigious Dr H L Roy Memorial Lecture. Dr H L Roy is known as ultimate genius in India's Chemical Engineering horizon whose great vision not only pioneered the Chemical Engineering education in the country, but also led to institutionalization of the apex body of Chemical Engineers - Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE) - in the year 1947.The visit tuned out to be a memorable one for CMD Mr. Sudhir Vasudeva as he was felicitated with the Honorary Fellowship of Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE). While receiving the prestigious fellowship Mr. Vasudeva thanked IIChE for considering him worthy for its Honorary Fellowship. Mr. Vasudeva received the fellowship with utmost pride and humility on behalf of thousands of energy soldiers of the nation. He said that he would cherish this honour throughout the life as it will encourage him every day to strive even harder in pursuit of energy security of the country.IIChE presently has over 11,000 corporate members, 35 regional Centres and 98 student chapters and has been one of the most distinguished platforms for contribution towards the technological progress of the country. CMD also complimented Dr. BR Ambedkar National Institute of Technology, Jalandhar on its Silver Jubilee and holding the CHEMCON-2012 as a befitting tribute to the occasion. The theme for CHEMCON 2012 is 'Sustainable Technologies for Energy and Environment in Process Industries'.Delivering the memorial lecture as a Chemical Engineer himself, Mr. Vasudeva dwelt upon the theme which does not talk about 'sustainable development', but refers to the 'sustainable technologies' and endorsed the view that the 'Sustainable Technologies' are required to deliver the result as far as environmentally acceptable form of energy is concerned.Speaking on the vast subject of process industry, Mr. Vasudeva focused his talk on oil & gas industry - the most prolific process industry supplying the largest amount of energy to world's primary energy basket which is also one of the most controversial industries as far as sustainable development is concerned. Mr. Sudhir Vasudeva, CMD ONGC at CHEMCON 2012During the lecture CMD dwelt upon Global & Indian Energy Outlook and Technological Perspectives and mentioned that global energy demand will be about 30 percent higher in 2040 compared to 2010, as economic output more than doubles and prosperity expands across a world whose population will grow to nearly 9 billion people. However, energy demand growth will slow down as economies mature, efficiency gains acceleration and population growth moderates.Touching upon revolution in information dissemination brought about by information technology Mr. Vasudeva mentioned that the changes are faster now and the technology gestation period is lesser. Growing awareness of environmental sensitivity coupled with technological breakthroughs; especially in non-conventional frontier like Shale gas production or LNG regasification and transportation etc. the fuel mix in the global energy basket has been changing fast. Mr. Sudhir Vasudeva delivering Dr. H L Roy Memorial Lecture at CHEMCON 2012Adding a silver lining in global energy scenario CMD ONGC mentioned that with an optimistic global energy outlook, one thing is clear that there is no forecast of any shortage of energy, rather it is said by many experts that the world is awash with oil as well as other forms of energy; it is only the technology and entrepreneurship that would harness this abundance of energy for the utilization of mankind. With the rapid pace of technological advancements and huge investments by governments as well as private companies, the energy supply front is hopefully well geared to match the demand howsoever staggering it might appear to be.Sensitizing the audience regarding investments in energy sector, Mr. Vasudeva shared that forecasted global investment in energy supply infrastructure will be of the order of about $38 trillion over the period 2011 to 2035. Oil and gas industry alone will account for almost $20 trillion. Though major chunk of this budget is expected to be spent in exploring and exploiting new frontiers like deepwater and arctic, a substantial amount will be spent in developing and improving the process technologies required for processing and using the new oil and gas in more sustainable manner.Mr. Vasudeva made a mention of upcoming areas of research like Novel mixed metal oxides for GTL (Gas to Liquid) technology, Syn-gas technology or novel de-hydrogenation; organic-inorganic hybrids, organometallics or iono-liquids etc. which will play major role in the refining industry. He urged that Chemical Engineers associated with this industry would have to be increasingly aligned to inventing and adopting environment-friendly use of coal, oil and gas on one hand; and on the other hand, they have to continuously look for increasing sourcing, processing and applications of biofuels. He further said that given the accounts of energy demand and supply for the country, given the importance of technology particularly in the realm of process industry and having noted that something is being done in terms of sustainable technologies for energy security of the nation and global environment, there is a need to do much more. Prestigious plaque being presented to CMD for delivering memorial lectureConcluding his lecture CMD ONGC said that from the deliberations on global as well as India's energy perspectives, it is obvious that the dominance of fossil fuels as primary source of energy will continue in the foreseeable future. And hence our technological endeavors need to be perpetually focused towards the objective of harnessing energy in cleaner and greener form from these apparently 'unclean' resources. As far as fundamental research and applications are concerned, India as a nation needs improvement and needs to do much more. As regards to investment in R&D, globally energy industry is not at par with other industries like pharmaceuticals or FMCG industries manufacturing luxury items and India is no exception. He expressed due concern that neither our industries, nor the academia are equipped or have adequate encouragement in terms of incentives or resources to pursue fundamental R&D at a global scale.Mr. Vasudeva also mentioned about National Innovation Council constituted by Prime Minster under the Chairmanship of Mr. Sam Pitroda which aims among other things to promote creativity and nurture innovations and also inspire India's scientific temper for innovation. One of the initiatives of council is to set up twenty Design Innovation Centres co-located in institutes of national importance like IITs and NITs, an Open Design School (ODS) and a National Design Innovation Network (NDIN). CMD ONGC encouraged academia present during CHEMCON 2012 to take the full advantage of this initiative. He also suggested that IIChE should take special initiative to explore if Chemical Engineering departments in different corners of the country could be connected through this NDIN and synergize their strengths. It was also suggested that the relevant companies having requisite process expertise may also be roped in as member of this network. Medallion for Felicitation of Mr. Vasudeva with Honorary Fellowship of IIChEThe thought provoking memorial lecture by Mr. Sudhir Vasudeva was highly appreciated by intelligentsia and senior academicians present at CAMCON 2012 from premier technological institutes of India. New insight into energy industry & reassurance about future energy supply from CEO of largest energy company of the nation was highly reassuring for the academic fraternity as well as for budding young engineers.Mr. Vasudeva was also presented a cheque of Rs. 50,000/- by IIChE for delivering the Dr H L Roy Memorial Lecture, which he has donated to NIT, Jalandhar for supporting / motivating the needy meritorious students.
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