New Delhi: The Global Biofuels Alliance (GBA) on Monday announced the launch of its Global Biofuel Champion Fellowship (GBCF), under which 15 early-career researchers will be inducted into the alliance at an inaugural award ceremony in New Delhi on June 30. Each fellow will receive a research grant of up to USD 15,000 and will be assigned as an Ambassador of the Global Biofuels Alliance for two years to advocate the global adoption of biofuels, the alliance said in a statement.
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"The GBCF Event represents a pivotal moment for our community," the GBA Secretariat said ahead of the launch.
The ceremony will be held at Juniper Hall, India Habitat Centre, as a hybrid event streamed to an international audience of institutional partners, industry representatives and academics. Diplomatic delegates from several countries have confirmed their attendance, the GBA said.
Dr Neeraj Mittal, Interim Director General of the GBA and Secretary, Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas (MoPNG), will be the guest of honour and deliver the keynote address.
The 60-minute formal proceedings will begin at 4:00 PM IST with a video montage on the alliance's trajectory, followed by the awards presentation. The event will move into a networking hour and high tea at 5:00 PM IST for bilateral discussions between diplomats, industry representatives and GBA leadership.
The 15 fellows were selected through a multi-stage evaluation overseen by a five-member Jury Committee and an eight-member Mentors Committee, drawn from institutions including the University of Sheffield, Imperial College London and IIT Madras. During a "Voices of the Champions" segment, selected fellows will present the solutions they are developing for the industry.
The programme includes a Fireside Dialogue titled "The Flex-Fuel Horizon: Scaling Blending Mandates through Collaborative Global Research," in which technical and industry experts will discuss business models and applied research to scale operations as governments move past blending targets towards flex-fuel regimes.
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The GBA is a multi-stakeholder alliance of 34 member countries and 14 international organisations working to advance biofuels as part of the global clean energy transition. The alliance was launched at the G20 Summit in New Delhi on September 9, 2023, with the United States, Brazil and India among its founding members.
