Concept
Biochar
Related people (16)
Lyesse Laloui
Director, EPFL Soil Mechanics LaboratoryDirector, EPFL Civil Engineering SectionEditor in Chief, ElsevierMember of the Swiss Academy of Engineering SciencesFounding Partner, Geoeg & MeduSoilActive in academic research in the following institutions: Lausanne, EPFL, Durham, Duke University, Nanjing, Hohai UniversityProfessor Lyesse Laloui teaches at EPFL, where he directs the Soil Mechanics Laboratory as well as the Civil Engineering Section. He is a founding partner of the international engineering company Geoeg, and the start-up MeduSoil. In addition, he is an adjunct professor at Duke University, USA and an advisory professor at Hohai University, China as well as honorary director of the International Joint Research Center for Energy Geotechnics in China.He is the recipient of an Advance ERC grant for his BIO-mediated GEO-material Strengthening project. Editor in Chief of the Elsevier Geomechanics for Energy and the Environment journal, he is a leading scientist in the field of geomechanics and geo-energy. He has written and edited 13 books and published over 320 peer reviewed papers; his work is cited more than 6000 times with an h-index of 39 (Scopus). Two of his papers are among the top 1% in the academic field of Engineering. He has given keynote and invited lectures at more than 40 leading international conferences. He has received several international awards (IACMAG, RM Quigley, Roberval) and delivered honorary lectures (Vardoulakis, Minnesota; G.A. Leonards, Purdue; Kersten, Minnesota). He recently acted as the Chair of the international evaluation panel of Civil and Geological Engineering R&D Units of Portugal.Nov. 2019 For further information visit www.epfl.ch/labs/lms/ ; geoeg.net ; medusoil.com
Dimitrios Terzis
Dimitrios Terzis received his Civil Engineering diploma from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece in 2014, having spent a year in the ESTP, Paris as an exchange student. In 2017, he graduated with a doctoral degree (PhD) in Mechanics from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne (EPFL). His research, funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant 200021_140246) and a scholarship of Academic Excellence of the Swiss Federal Government (No. 2014.0276), focused on the crystallisation of calcium carbonate in soils. With his thesis, Dimitrios contributed in the fields of advanced material characterisation through microscopy and X-Ray tomography techniques, predictive modelling and full-scale geotechnical applications. He’s the co-inventor of three EPFL patents and the author of more than 10 peer-reviewed publications with an h-index of 6 (Scopus, as of 08/2020). He is the recipient of grants and awards which sum up to over CHF 1 Mn, among which an EPFL Innogrant Fellowship (2018), a Swiss National Science foundation BRIDGE grant (2019) and an Innobooster grant from the Gebert rüf Stiftung. Since 2019 he is the principal lecturer and responsible for the course Innovation for construction and the environment which is part of EPFL's Master's program in Civil Engineering.
Christian Ludwig
2005 - today: Adjunct Professor at EPFL in the field of Solid Waste Treatment and head of the Chemical Processes and Materials research group (CPM) at Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI). Joint EPFL-PSI Professorship on Solid Waste Treatment. 2000 - today: Head, Group of Chemical Processes and Materials (CPM) at Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI). In 2009 the LEM unit was closed and the CPM group is now affiliated to the Bioenergy and Catalysis Laboratory (LBK) of the Energy and Environment Research Division (ENE). Since June 2002 permanent position ("tenure"). 1997 - 1999: Senior Scientist. Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI), General Energy Research Department, Element Cycles Section. 1995 - 1997: Research Fellow. Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology (EAWAG), Department of Resource and Waste Management. 1993 - 1995: Post-doc Fellow. University of California Davis, Department of Land, Air, and Water Resources (LAWR). 1990 - 1993: PhD Student. University of Berne, Department of Inorganic, Analytical, and Physical Chemistry. 1989 - 1990: Master Student. University of Berne, Department of Inorganic, Analytical, and Physical Chemistry.
Christof Holliger
Originaire d'Adliswil, Christof Holliger est né en 1959. Diplômé de l'ETHZ en biologie en 1984, il mène des travaux de recherche dans le domaine de la microbiologie environnementale à l'Université d'Agriculture de Wageningen (Pays-Bas) où il obtient son doctorat en Science de l'environnement en 1992. En 1992, il retourne en Suisse engagé comme collaborateur scientifique et chef de groupe à l'Institut Fédéral pour l'Aménagement, l'Epuration et la Protection des Eaux (EAWAG) à Kastanienbaum. Il y continue ses recherches sur la déchloruration réductrice, commencées aux Pays-Bas, et dirige des travaux sur la réduction des composés nitroaromatiques, la réduction du fer et la méthanogenèse psychrophile dans les sédiments des lacs. En octobre 1998, il est nommé professeur assistant en biotechnologie environnementale au Département de génie rural de l'EPFL. Ses recherches visent l'application des micro-organismes anaérobies pour le traitement des eaux résiduaires. En novembre 2004, il est nommé professeur associé et devient responsable du laboratoire de biotechnologie environnementale à la Faculté de l'Environnement naturel, architectural et construit. L'utilisation des techniques de la biologie moléculaire pour la caractérisation des communautés microbiennes impliquées dans le biotraitement de l'air, des eaux et des sols pollués est un outil clé dans les différents projets de recherche visants le développement des nouveaux procédés de traitement.
Alexandre Buttler
I am a honorary professor at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale, Lausanne - EPFL. Up to 2019, I was a joint-professor between EPFL (Head of the laboratory of Ecological Systems - ECOS) and the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL for Forest, Snow and Landscape (Head of the research group Pasture Woodlands and Wetlands) and head of the Site WSL-Lausanne. I was also professor at the laboratory of Chrono-Environnement (UMR CNRS 6249) of the University of Franche-Comté, Besançon (France). I am author or co-author of over 160 papers in international ISI cited peer-reviewed journals.
François Maréchal
Ph D. in engineering Chemical process engineer
Researcher and lecturer in the field of computer aided process and energy systems engineering.
Lecturer in the mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and environmental sciences engineering in EPFL.
I'm responsible for the Minor in Energy of EPFL and I'm involved in 3 projects of the Competence Center in Energy and Mobility (2nd generation biofuel, Wood SOFC, and gas turbine development with CO2 mitigation) in which i'm contributing to the energy conversion system design and optimisation.
Short summary of my scientific carrer
After a graduation in chemical engineering from the University of Liège, I have obtained a Ph. D. from the University of Liège in the LASSC laboratory of Prof. Kalitventzeff (former president of the European working party on computer aided process engineering). This laboratory was one of the pioneering laboratory in the field of Computer Aided Process Engineering.
In the group of Professor Kalitventzeff, I have worked on the development and the applications of data reconciliation, process modelling and optimisation techniques in the chemical process industry, my experience ranges from nuclear power stations to chemical plants. In the LASSC, I have been responsible from the developments in the field of rational use of energy in the industry. My first research topic has been the methodological development of process integration techniques, combining the use of pinch based methods and of mathematical programming: e.g. for the design of multiperiod heat exchanger networks or Mixed integer non linear programming techniques for the optimal management of utility systems. Fronted with applications in the industry, my work then mainly concentrated on the optimal integration of utility systems considering not only the energy requirements but the cost of the energy requirements and the energy conversion systems. I developed methods for analysing and integrating the utility system, the steam networks, combustion (including waste fuel), gas turbines or other advanced energy conversion systems (cogeneration, refrigeration and heat). The techniques applied uses operation research tools like mixed integer linear programming and exergy analysis. In order to evaluate the results of the utility integration, a new graphical method for representing the integration of the utility systems has been developed. By the use of MILP techniques, the method developed for the utility integration has been extended to handled site scale problems, to incorporate environmental constraints and reduce the water usage. This method (the Effect Modelling and Optimisation method) has been successfully applied to the chemical plants industry, the pulp and paper industry and the power plant. Instead of focusing on academic problems, I mainly developed my research based on industrial applications that lead to valuable and applicable patented results. Recently the methods developed have been extended to realise the thermoeconomic optimisation of integrated systems like fuel cells. My present R&D work concerns the application of multi-objective optimisation strategies in the design of processes and integrated energy conversion systems.
Since 2001, Im working in the Industrial Energy Systems Laboratory (LENI) of Ecole Polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) where Im leading the R&D activities in the field of Computer Aided Analysis and Design of Industrial Energy Systems with a major focus on sustainable energy conversion system development using thermo-economic optimisation methodologies. A part from the application and the development of process integration techniques, that remains my major field of expertise, the applications concern :
Rational use of water and energy in Industrial processes and industrial production sites : projects with NESTLE, EDF, VEOLIA and Borregaard (pulp and paper).Energy conversion and process design : biofuels from waste biomass (with GASNAT, EGO and PSI), water dessalination and waste water treatment plant (VEOLIA), power plant design (ALSTOM), Energy conversion from geothermal sources (BFE). Integrated energy systems in urban areas : together with SCANE and SIG (GE) and IEA annexe 42 for micro-cogeneration systems.
I as well contributed to the definition of the 2000 Watt society and to studies concerning the emergence of green technologies on the market in the frame of the Alliance for Global Sustainability.
Edgard Gnansounou
- 1983 Ing. Civil EPFL
- 1991 Dr ès Sciences techniques, EPFL
- Directeur du Laboratoire de systèmes énergétiques (LASEN) de 2003 à 2008
- Dès 2008, Responsable du groupe de Recherche en Bioénergie et Planification énergétique
- Co-fondateur du bureau d'étude ENERS Energy Concept
- Président de la Fondation SUD (Solidarités Universitaires pour le Développement)