Dr. Pratham Arora is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Hydro and Renewable Energy, IIT Roorkee. His research is focused on comparative life cycle assessment, process optimization, and techno-enviro-economic analysis of different energy and environmental systems. Prior to joining IIT Roorkee, he was a Post-doctoral fellow at the Georgia Tech., Atlanta in the Industrial and Systems Engineering Department. He has completed his doctorate from IIT-Bombay-Monash Research Academy – a joint venture between IIT-Bombay, India and Monash University, Australia. He has been working in collaboration with highly innovative sustainability focused companies such as Algenol biofuels, Lanzatech, Pontoka, Orica Mining and Global Thermostat.

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He has been working on modeling and simulation techniques to quantify the economic feasibility and environmental feasibility of future-oriented energy production pathways. On the local scale, his team is looking at the development of energy-water-air nexus for wastewater treatment. Further, at the community scale, his team is looking at decentralized electricity production from the co-gasification of pine needles and plastics. Both these waste feedstocks are a nuisance for the Himalayan region, and their work focuses on developing a sustainable supply chain from them. Additionally, in line with the National Hydrogen Mission, they are also exploring decentralized fertilizer production at the district level.

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At the national scale, his team is also trying to explore the potential of the discussed technologies in meeting the net zero target of 2070. Utilizing the Global Change Assessment Model (GCAM) software, they build future scenarios that highlight the role of different sectors in decarbonization. These results would help the policymakers to make informed choices, given the fact that there is no single energy production pathway that can be truly sustainable.