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Mijndert Van der Spek

Dr

 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3365-2289

  • EH14 4AS

    United Kingdom

Accepting PhD Students

Willing to speak to media

20142026

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

Mijndert van der Spek joined Heriot Watt University in July 2019. He is trained as an energy systems engineer and policy analyst at Delft University of Technology where he completed his MSc in 2009. After that, he joined Royal Dutch Shell in the Netherlands, working first in the supply chain optimization team of Shell Chemicals Europe and after as process technologist at the polyols plant of Shell Pernis Refinery. He pursued his PhD studies at the Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development, where his research focused on techno-economic and environmental analysis of CCS and CCU technologies, under the supervision of Andrea Ramirez and André Faaij. Subsequently, he worked as postdoctoral researcher at the Separation Processes Laboratory of ETH Zürich with Marco Mazzotti, on CCS process design as well as CCUS system analysis.

Research interests

Mijndert’s research focuses on developing the methods and tools to assess the strengths and weaknesses of prospective climate change mitigation technologies. This includes CO2 capture and storage, CO2 utilisation, and greenhouse gas removal using solid sorbent based direct air capture, DAC. His work includes i) process modelling, design and integration (e.g. of CO2 capture plants with CO2 host plants), ii) techno-economic-environmental assessment, with special focus on net-zero-CO2 systems, and iii) advanced uncertainty analysis, e.g. by combining quantitative with qualitative uncertainty analysis methods. He is driven by improving the ways we undertake such assessments, to make them most useable and relevant to policy and decisionmakers (both government and industry).

Roles & Responsibilities

Lecturer for B49CG: Process Design B

Supervisor for B41FC: MEng Research Project C

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
    SDG 2 Zero Hunger
  2. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  3. SDG 7 - Affordable and Clean Energy
    SDG 7 Affordable and Clean Energy
  4. SDG 8 - Decent Work and Economic Growth
    SDG 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth
  5. SDG 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production
    SDG 12 Responsible Consumption and Production
  6. SDG 13 - Climate Action
    SDG 13 Climate Action
  7. SDG 14 - Life Below Water
    SDG 14 Life Below Water

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