An Indian origin scientist has determined that a highly efficient system for generating and distributing energy is lean, mean and green, and could be as close as the nearest farm.

"This solution is truly homegrown, and its successful application can be critical for the U.S. and the world," said Dr. Prabhakar Singh, Director, Connecticut Global Fuel Cell Center and UTC Endowed Chair Professor in Fuel Cell Technology.

Dr. Singh is the organizer of an ASM International-produced symposium on Emerging Energy Technology at the Materials Science and Technology Conference and Exposition (MS and T 2009) this October.

While building on the high interest in fuel cells at previous MS and T events, where related sessions have attracted the highest number of papers and attendance over the past several years, the 2009 program will focus on clean energy efficiency "to achieve low or negligible pollution and greatly reduced carbon emissions that approach zero," Dr. Singh said.

One success story is from Dr. Singh's backyard.

"At the University of Connecticut, we have started a green campus initiative that features fuel cells that work on bio-derived fuel," he said.

"Like many universities, we have large schools of agriculture, engineering, and business. We have integrated all of these stakeholders into a technology system that produces carbon neutral biofuel that can be used in a fuel cell in the most efficient way possible," he added. The net result is that we are using an indigenous fuel resource with zero emission," Dr. Singh said.