Katarina Rupar Gadd, Brijesh Mainali, the visiting professors and Krushna Mahapatra

Professors from Nepal and India presented perspectives on energy issues

Four professors participated in a workshop on energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainability, and gave lectures in various ongoing courses at the Faculty of Technology.

Last week, professors Hari Neopane and Sunil Lohani from Kathmandu University (KU) in Nepal and Naqui Anwer and Aviruch Bhatia from TERI School of Advanced Studies (TERI SAS) in India visited Linnaeus University. They participated in the workshop Developing country perspective on energy efficiency, renewable energy and sustainability organized on 12 May 2022. Around 30 participants from different departments and faculties took part in the workshop. The delegates from TERI SAS also gave lectures in various ongoing courses at the Department of Built Environment and Energy Technology and the Department of Electrical Engineering.

one of the lectures

Hari Neupane talked on sediment erosion in hydro turbines. He highlighted the Turbine Testing Lab (TTL) of KU and shed light on the factors affecting sediment erosion and financial consequences of sediment erosion. Sunil Lohani presented pathways to 100 per cent renewable energy in Nepal. He emphasized not to rely solely on hydro resources, but also to focus on harnessing the potential of solar energy generation and off-river pumped hydro energy storage, to minimize the impacts of climate change on Himalayan-based rivers.

Naqui Anwer talked about India's experience of sustainable infrastructure development in the renewable energy and transportation sectors, whereas Aviruch Bhatia discussed building energy codes and green buildings, which aims to make buildings energy efficient. They made the participants aware of the technological and policy interventions India has adopted over the years. Both also discussed the challenges being faced and possible solutions for a way forward to achieve the dynamic sustainability targets in India.

The visits were made possible by the Linnaeus-Palme programme. The delegates from Nepal were hosted by associate professor Brijesh Mainali, while the delegates from India were hosted by professor Krushna Mahapatra.