Read the full article by clicking here, written by Gillian Rutherford.

Excerpt

Amit Kumar, professor of mechanical engineering in the Faculty of Engineering and deputy director of the U of A’s Future Energy Systems, is now Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Assessment of Energy Systems.

“The goal of my research is to develop information which can be used for energy decision-making and policy development,” explains Kumar, who is also the NSERC/Cenovus/Alberta Innovates Associate Industrial Research Chair in Energy and Environmental Systems Engineering.

Kumar’s team assesses cost, environmental impacts and resource availability to fully understand energy systems, identifying how to integrate renewable sources such as biomass, solar and wind, along with technologies like carbon capture, utilization and storage, and improve overall system efficiency. The goal is to inform global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

For example, the team contributed to Alberta’s Hydrogen Roadmap, a plan for the province to become a global supplier of clean, low-cost hydrogen in a worldwide market estimated to be worth more than $2.5 trillion a year by 2050.

The Kumar team’s research has been used by industry, municipal, provincial and federal governments to make energy decisions.

One of the most satisfying parts of the work has been training more than 200 young engineers from 30 countries who are now greening energy systems around the world, Kumar says.

“Climate change poses a critical challenge for the young generation; they have to live through it and adapt,” he says. “They will have to find innovative energy solutions that have low environmental greenhouse footprints and can help fight climate change at an accelerated pace for the global community.”

“You should dream and always follow your dream,” Kumar advises his trainees. “When I started as a faculty member (15 years ago), there was hardly any talk on the concept of energy systems. Now everyone talks about it and it is a key focus globally.”