Recent Advances in Biofuels, Biorefinery, Biomass Utilization and Waste Management

This book includes select proceedings of the International Conference on Advances in Sustainable Solutions for Energy Transitions (ASSET 2025), organized by the School of Energy Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, India from January 2 to 4, 2025. This volume provide a comprehensive coverage of major areas in sustainable energy generation, including biomass and biofuels, hydrogen energy, and biomass-derived chemicals. It features a wide range of research contributions spanning diverse energy themes and highlights recent advancements in biohydrogen production, biomass-based chemical processes, and clean fuel technologies. Together, these contributions offer an integrated overview of current research progress, emerging technologies, and practical applications that are expected to play a significant role in shaping future sustainable energy transitions. This book will be especially valuable for researchers, postgraduate students, industry practitioners, policy makers, technology developers, and academic institutions involved in renewable energy and sustainability, energy system design, clean technology deployment, and transition planning.

Dr. Vaibhav Vasant Goud is a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, Assam, India. He received his Ph.D. degree from IIT Kharagpur in 2006. He worked as a lecturer at the Birla Institute of Technology and Science Pilani, Goa Campus from 2006 to 2007, and as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada from 2008 to 2009. Dr Goud’s principal research interests are in the fields of processing of non-edible oilseeds, biofuels, biolubricants, and oleo-chemicals. He also works on the extraction of natural plant products such as essential oils, oleoresins, food colors, biopesticides, nutraceuticals, and cosmeceuticals by the application of subcritical and supercritical fluids. He has published more than 160 papers in international peer-reviewed journals and 20+ book chapters, and made presentations of his research at several national/international conferences.

Dr. Saket Verma is an Assistant professor in the School of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati. Previously, he has served as an Assistant professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, Pilani Campus, India, for 5 years. Before joining BITS Pilani, he received his Ph.D. from IIT Delhi India in 2019 with a CSIR research fellowship. He holds a master’s degree (M.Tech.) from IIT Delhi, India, and a bachelor’s degree (B.Tech) from National Institute of Technology Raipur, India. He has been a visiting researcher to NREL, USA (2022 & 2024), and CSU, USA (2023). He has worked extensively on hydrogen energy, especially on the development of hydrogen fueled engines and their application for vehicular purposes.

Dr. Lepakshi Barbora is a Senior Technical Officer at the School of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati. Her research focuses on high rate biomethanation, microbial and enzymatic fuel cells, bioremediation, and the development of value added bio-based technologies. She has contributed extensively to projects funded by DST, DBT, CSIR, MNRE, and ASTEC, spanning areas such as bioenergy generation, biochemical waste conversion, fluoride and arsenic remediation, biofuel cell design, and gas-to-liquid bioprocess intensification. Dr. Barbora has co-authored numerous research articles in International journals, focusing on advancements in sediment microbial fuel cells, biomethane-to-methanol conversion, biodesulfurization, and biochar-based biogas purification. She is also an inventor on patents including the Anaerobic Digester–Membrane Electrode Assembly (ADMEA) system for enriched biogas and power co-generation. Her work integrates biological, electrochemical, and environmental engineering approaches to develop sustainable solutions for clean energy and waste management.