Srinagar, Sep 2: Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has called upon engineers, scientists and academic institutions to harness Jammu and Kashmir’s vast biomass resources to develop locally suited, economically viable and environmentally sustainable solutions for reducing dependence on fossil fuels.

Addressing the inaugural session of the 41st National Convention of Chemical Engineers and the national seminar on “Biomass: A Sustainable Resource for Decarbonizing the Economy” at the Institution of Engineers (India) J&K State Centre, the Chief Minister said J&K has enormous potential to convert agricultural, horticultural, forest and municipal waste into useful energy.
The two-day convention has been organised by the Chemical Engineering Division Board of IEI in association with the Department of Chemical Engineering, NIT Srinagar.
Omar said the urgency to shift away from carbon-intensive energy sources has increased amid growing energy-security concerns and the visible impact of climate change. Referring to the retreat of Himalayan glaciers, he said the changes witnessed at Thajiwas glacier near Sonamarg were a stark reminder of the environmental cost of unchecked fossil-fuel consumption.
However, he stressed that decarbonisation cannot be achieved simply by replacing one energy source with another. Alternative solutions, he said, must be economically viable, sustainable and environmentally friendly.
“We are sitting on a wealth of biomass whether we like it or not,” Omar said, pointing to waste generated from agriculture, horticulture, forests, municipal activities and rising consumption.
He acknowledged that Jammu and Kashmir has struggled to establish a commercially viable waste-to-energy model despite having substantial waste resources. While solar and hydropower may remain cheaper in many cases, he said economic considerations alone cannot determine the future of waste management.
The Chief Minister also recalled an earlier initiative to explore converting plant material removed from Dal Lake into biofuel, saying such ideas required greater experimentation and determination.
Urging scientists and engineers to embrace innovation, Omar said failure should not discourage experimentation. He cited examples of technologies that emerged after repeated trials and stressed that unsuccessful experiments often provide valuable lessons for future breakthroughs.
He called for J&K-specific solutions rather than simply replicating models developed elsewhere, noting that biomass resources and local conditions vary significantly across regions.
“The biomass of Jammu and Kashmir will not be the same as the biomass of Maharashtra, will not be the same as the biomass of Tamil Nadu,” he said, advocating localized and indigenized technologies.
Omar urged the convention to move beyond academic deliberations and produce concrete, actionable recommendations that can address waste management, energy generation, environmental protection and economic sustainability simultaneously.
He said the collective expertise of engineers, scientists and academic institutions must be channelled into practical projects capable of reducing J&K’s dependence on fossil fuels.
The Chief Minister expressed hope that the convention would pave the way for innovative biomass solutions and help build a cleaner, more sustainable energy future for Jammu and Kashmir and generations to come.