Hailing from the district of Bijnor in UIttar Praesh, this 49 year old scientist has brought laurels to the country by being elected as a fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in recognition to his outstanding contributions to the chemical sciences. His research on solid waste conversion to ‘Bio-Char’ if adopted by the government can offer a fool proof solution to the perennial problem of agricultural/solid waste disposal which the country is confronting for the past few decades.
Dinesh Mohan, who completed his masters degree and PhD in 1995 from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee is undertaking a research to find a smart and sustainable alternative to destruction of agricultural residues of wheat, rice and sugarcane which are typically burnt in the agricultural fields. Burning agricultural residues in the field generates black carbon particulates responsible for air quality deterioration. This problem is more severe during winter in Indo-Gangetic plains. He has developed technology to convert these wastes into bio-chars which can be used for water purification, soil fertility and carbon sequestration.
Speaking to The Pioneer, Dinesh Mohan said, “Our country generates considerable quantity of solid agricultural waste every year of which most of it is burnt, causing air pollution. My research is on converting this agri-waste into Bio-char, to remove that agri-residue and use it for water purification. It can also be used to increase soil-fertility, increase water holding capacity of the soil. The main benefit is that it helps in sequestering Carbon from the environment.”
When asked about the cost-effectiveness of his proposed model in today’s scenario, the scientist said that NGOs and Government can take the initiative to implement the technology. “We have also used pine needles collected from mountainous areas of Uttarakhand to convert them to Bio- char. To implement this, it would just need a mobile van which collects waste from fields, a small reactor where bio-waste can be burnt for conversion to bio-char and then given to farmers free of cost in return for increasing their soil quality. Bio-char can stay in soil for hundreds of years.”
Notably for the last three years Dinesh had been selected in the list of a Thompson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers. Presently working as a Professor in School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, he worked on water issues be it in Gomti river of lucknow or Ganga in Unnao and suggested ways to purify water by developing low cost technologies. He has been named to the World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds 2014 and 2015 published by Thomson Reuters. He was awarded the Scopus Young Scientist Award 2007 given by Elsevier for his outstanding work. He has also received Hiyoshi Environmental Award 2009 given by Hiyoshi Corporation Japan. Prof. Mohan was recently conferred with adjunct Professor at Chemistry Department, Mississippi State University, USA and University of Southern Queensland (USQ), Australia.