Bharat Ratna Professor C.N.R. Rao has received the International Eni Award 2020 for research into renewable energy sources and energy storage.
Context
Bharat Ratna Professor C.N.R. Rao has received the International Eni Award 2020 for research into renewable energy sources and energy storage.
- The Awards will be presented on 14 October 2021, during an official ceremony held at the Quirinal Palace in Rome.
About the International Eni Award
- It is also called the Energy Frontier award.
- This is considered to be the Nobel Prize in Energy Research.
- The award has become internationally recognized over the years in the field of energy and environmental research.
- Aim: It aims to promote better use of energy sources and encourage new generations of researchers in their work.
- It bears witness to the importance that Eni places on scientific research and innovation.
- It includes a cash prize and a specially minted gold medal.
- Recognized work: Professor Rao has been working on hydrogen energy as the only source of energy for the benefit of all mankind.
- The Energy Frontiers award has been conferred for his work on metal oxides, carbon nanotubes, and other materials and two-dimensional systems which includes graphene, boron-nitrogen-carbon hybrid materials, and molybdenum sulfide (Molybdenite - MoS2) for energy applications and green hydrogen production.
- Significance of work: It will be helpful in construction of
- hydrogen storage systems
- supercapacitors with high specific power and an increased number of charge-discharge cycles
- It will become an increasingly important part of the renewable energy sector
Green Hydrogen
- It is pure hydrogen produced using renewable energy sources such as wind or solar power.
- It could help bring the world to net-zero emissions.
- Hydrogen is get through when electrical current is passed through a tank of water splits the molecule into its two constituent elements, Hydrogen and Oxygen. This is called electrolysis. If the electricity is generated from renewable sources such as solar or wind, production of hydrogen in this way emits no greenhouse gasses.
Different shades of hydrogen:
- Brown hydrogen is produced by using coal where the emissions are released to the air
- Grey hydrogen is produced by the natural gas where the associated emissions are released to the air
- Blue hydrogen is produced through natural gas, where the emissions are captured using carbon capture and storage
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