ADNAN ASAD
KARIM .

Dr. Adnan is working on the OliPFUEL project (Advanced biofuels production from waste olive pomace of the olive oil industry) under the European Union (EU)-funded Marie Skłodowska-Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Jaen (UJA), Spain. This project holds high practical significance because the EU is the leading global producer of olive oil and is facing a challenge to valorize olive pomace, which contains very high water content and environmentally toxic phenolic compounds. He completed a doctorate degree (2014–18) in biological sciences from the Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (Govt. of India). His doctoral research for the first time demonstrated the use of thermal plasma processing for biochar production and the valorization of banana peduncle biomass for biochar-based potassic fertiliser production. He also loves to teach young students and has worked as a lecturer in environmental science at Rajdhani College (Utkal University, India). Prior to becoming an MSCA fellow, he was working (from December 2020 to August 2022) as a senior project associate on the pilot-scale production of biochar fertilisers at the CSIR Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, India. He is mainly contributing to the advancement of biomass valorisation and biorefinery technologies because this promotes environmental protection, a circular bioeconomy, and sustainable development.