"The weather report: Why getting it right is important for India" penned by Prof. Sachidanand Tripathi, Joint Faculty, Department of Sustainable Energy Engineering & co-author Ashish Agarwal, Founder & Chief Technology Officer, Ingen Technologies discusses the importance of accurate weather forecasts in India and the challenges faced in achieving them. Read the full article here. Read more

Lucknow Cantonment Board and IIT Kanpur have signed an MOU to create a sustainable, waste-free, and carbon-neutral Lucknow Cantonment campus. The partnership aims to set an example for other institutions by creating a scalable model that aligns with India's vision of achieving net zero emissions by 2070. As a knowledge partner, IIT Kanpur will suggest eco-friendly practices, help reduce carbon emissions, and pursue renewable energy options. Together, they aim to support global campaigns addressing climate change. Col. Mayank Sundriyal, Commander Works Engineer (CWE), Lucknow, and Prof. Tarun Gupta, Dean of Research and Development at IIT Kanpur, signed the MOU in the presence of Brig. Sanjeev Kumar (CELZ), Maj. Ankit Kumar (GE E/M), Shri. Ajitesh Pandey GEP(P), Prof. J.G. Rao, Associate Dean, R&D, IITK, Prof. Debopam Das, Prof. Rajeev Jindal, and Prof. Aakash C. Rai from the Sustainable Energy Engineering Department. Read more

Working towards sustainability and carbonneutrality, Chandrakanta Kesavan Center for Energy Policy and Climate Solutions, associated faculty Prof. Rajeev Jindal will be mentoring, Solar Energy Corporation of India-funded project titled "Making IITK Net Zero in Water". The project aims to assess and reduce the water footprint of the campus, by identifying and monitoring the major sources of water consumption and wastage and devising a concrete plan to achieve netzero water status.

Chandrakanta Kesavan Center for Energy Policy and Climate Solutions is proud to be associated with the School of Sustainability at Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur! IIT-K and Kotak Mahindra Bank have inaugurated India's first fully integrated sustainability school - the Kotak School of Sustainability on 14th Dec 2023. As the chief guest, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan, Hon'ble Union Minister of Education and Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, graced the launch event.
This initiative, driven by urgent climate concerns, establishes a platform for education, research, and outreach in sustainability. Funded by KMBL's CSR program, the School aims to tackle challenges like globalwarming, pollution,and biodiversity loss, aligning with the United Nations sustainable development goals.
The Kotak School of Sustainability will integrate IITK's expertise in various fields, offering programs on cleanenergy, environment, ecology, and more, led by distinguished professors and industry experts.
Here's to a more sustainable future... Read here

Chandrakanta Kesavan Center for Energy Policy and Climate Solutions excited to announce Prof Rajeev Jindal's lecture on climatechange and creating awareness on its mitigation pathways, exclusively for armypersonnel in Lucknow, on December 1, 2023. It will help raise awareness and contribute to managing this critical issue! The lecture sets the stage for Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur upcoming project to make Lucknow Cantonment carbonneutral.

On 30/10/2023, Dr V. Balaji (1981, Physics Alumnus of IITK) Distinguished Fellow, Schmidt Futures, delivered a talk under the Institute Lecture Series on "Climate models: whence they came, where they're going and why you should trust them".
Climate models play a crucial role in understanding our planet's future. During his presentation, Dr Balaji gave an overall view of the growth of climate models and how they have evolved over the years to help better predict climate pattern changes and weather. These models can understand many small-scale phenomena that have intricate feedback in the Earth's system and can have global repercussions. He especially, stressed how climate models are computing intensive and how one can tackle this issue by harnessing the data and applying machine learning approaches to get insights into climate science that could be quite accurate. He emphasised combining the physical knowledge, and computation power, with the large body of data in new and innovative ways for improved climate modelling and better predictions over a long period.

"Congratulations! Prof. Raju Kumar Gupta, Faculty, Department of Chemical Engineering & Associated Faculty, Chandrakanta Kesavan Center for Energy Policy & Climate Solutions, IIT Kanpur for being appointed as a Founding Editor for a newly launched Elsevier journal, "Sustainable Chemistry One World". Read more

"We need to ramp up air quality monitoring in NCR, and we need to have a more responsive regulatory system. This means we need to improve capacity - people who understand this kind of data should be able to rapidly analyse and make use of it. This needs to be backed up with large-scale policy decisions like ensuring access to LPG across NCR." emphasised Prof S N Tripathi, Adjunct Faculty, Chandrakanta Kesavan Center for Energy Policy & Climate Solutions at Deptt of Sustainable Energy IIT Kanpur. Read more

In the session "Fostering Cross-sector Collaborations for Climate and Sustainability Action in India," moderated by Mr. Ashish Garg, Professor and Head, Sustainable Energy Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, he set the context with the quote: "Climate action is the cause we should work together towards so that our planet survives for the future and meets their needs."



Here are some insights from the panel:

• Mr. Pratyush Panda, LTIMindtree, emphasized, "As professionals from this sector, we need to incorporate sustainability into our daily lives."
• Mr. Pranjal Jyoti Goswami, Gokaldas Exports Limited, stated, "We are one of the sectors that contribute to biodiversity loss, so we consider climate change as a multiplier leading to economic loss. The bigger question is how to mitigate this through collaboration for innovation, knowledge, and business."
• Ms. Shilpashree Muniswamappa, Colgate-Palmolive Palmolive India, noted: "India consumes 5 billion toothpaste and 2 billion toothbrushes every year. Can one company create that change? No, so yes collaboration is required. India is way ahead in recycling than many other countries but yes still there is a need for system change."
• Ms. Shirin Kujur, Azure Power, added: "People think that the RE sector is where everything would be green, but for us, in our sector, sustainability has become a mantra where we are looking at where we can contribute to sustainability."
• Mr. Nirbhay Lumde, CGI Asia Pacific Global Delivery Centers of Excellence, CGI, shared: "Sustainability is very close to our heart, and by 2030, we are targeting net zero."

We are pleased to inform you that Mr. Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi has joined our Department of Sustainable Energy Engineering and Kesavan Center as a Visiting Professor of practice. Indu Shekhar Chaturvedi was a member of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) for more than thirty-five years before his retirement in October 2022. During his career in the IAS, he held positions in a diverse range of areas. His work in the erstwhile Planning Commission from 2004 to 2008, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) from 2008 to 2014, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at Washington DC from 2014 to 2017 inter-alia pertained to design and implementation of economic policies. For the last about five and half years of his career, he worked in areas pertaining to sustainability- as Additional Chief Secretary, Forest and Environment, Government of Jharkhand from 2017 to 2020 and Secretary, Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India from 2020 to 2022. The notable work done during his tenure in MNRE included design of two Production Linked Incentive schemes for solar manufacturing and the development of the Green Hydrogen Mission. He is currently also working as Director General, Electric Power Transmission Association (EPTA), an association of electric transmission companies undertaking advocacy for the transmission sector. He current interests include issues related to the energy transition and the environment. He is also interested in the design features that make public policies economically sound, administratively implementable and politically feasible.

Indu Shekhar holds a B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT-Kanpur and a Master in Public Administration in International Development (MPAID) degree from Kennedy School, Harvard University, USA.<

We are pleased to inform you that Dr Ankur Awadhiya has joined our Kesavan Center and Department of Sustainable Energy Engineering as a Visiting Associate Professor of Practice. He is currently serving as an Indian Forest Service officer of Madhya Pradesh cadre.

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has developed a mobile laboratory equipped with artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. This innovative lab is capable of identifying pollution factors within a span of two days, a process that would traditionally take up to two years. This advancement is a significant component of the Advanced Technologies for Monitoring Air Quality Indicators Number (ATMAN) project. Two mobile labs are currently being prepared, and they will be deployed in major cities for a duration of one year. These labs will be systematically rotated across industrial, commercial, residential, and quiet areas such as hospitals and schools. Utilizing cutting-edge sensors, the labs will swiftly and accurately analyze pollution data with the assistance of AI. The resulting reports will be shared with the Ministry of Environment and Forests, the Uttar Pradesh Pollution Control Board, the Rural Development Department, and Municipal Corporations in various cities. This comprehensive approach aims to address pollution at its source and facilitate effective solutions. Read Article

On the initiative of the Central Government, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kanpur has taken a major step for the betterment of the environment. In the project, air quality sensors will be installed in 1356 blocks of 113 districts of Uttarpradesh and Bihar states. It will also give information about temperature along with pollution. Read Article