Renewable energy technology conference from Thursday

Kathmandu, Mar. 27: With the aim of creating resilience against climate change impact through maximum utilisation of renewable energy sources, the 5^th International Conference on Developments in Renewable Energy Technology 2018 is being organised in the capital.

The Kathmandu University (KU) School of Engineering (SOE) is organising the conference that is expected to witness the participation of more than 300 experts, scientists, policy makers and students from more than 25 countries.

It will be held from March 29 to 31.

The conference carries high importance because if combined together, renewable energy technology can be a very powerful technology that could replace all kinds of thermal power plants based on fossil fuels in a sustainable manner, said Prof. Dr. Ramesh Kumar Maskey, Head of the Department of Civil and Geomatics Engineering at KU.

Speaking at the press conference organised to inform about the event, he said that to live and prosper, people need energy that is clean and easily accessible while preserving the earth’s land, water and atmosphere. Renewable sources of energy provide the solution.

“We also need to lessen our dependency on fossil-based energy technologies, which are polluting our environment and threatening our climate due to green-house gas emission. Renewable sources, such as water, sun, biomass and wind are clean and abundantly available. The use of such energy requires technologies that are being designed, developed and deployed in a cost-effective and easy-to-operate principle in the society,” said Dr. Maskey.

He said that announcing Nepali calendar years 2075-2085 as an Energy Decade and 2075 as a Renewable Energy Year should be the main agenda of the conference.

The conference will be addressed by distinguished personalities, keynote speakers and other experts.

“Extensive side events and plenary sessions and interdisciplinary integrated sessions on top of the technical sessions during the two-and-half-day events will provide a cutting-edge forum for networking between stakeholders, academics, students, professions, industries and policy makers’ alike and build-up the commitment for the betterment of renewable energy technology,” he said.

The technical co-sponsorof the event is International Electrical and Electronics Engineers Power & Energy Society (IEEE PES).

Similarly, the KU is collaborating with National Planning Commission, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Water and Energy, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Ministry of Population and Environment, Nepal Academy of Science and Technology, Alternative Energy Promotion Centre, Institute of Engineering of Tribhuvan University, and other national and international institutions to hold the conference. 

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 28 March 2018.