Personal Profiles

Professor Roland Clift

CBE FREng. FIChemE. FRSA HonFCIWEM
Emeritus Professor of Environmental Technology
 
President of the International Society for Industrial Ecology
Vice-President of Environmental Protection UK
Visiting Professor in Environmental System Analysis, Chalmers University, Gothenburg, Sweden
Adjunct Professorin Chemical and Biological Engineering, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
Member of Science Advisory Council of Defra
Founding Director of the Centre for Environmental Strategy

Short Biography:

1964-67 Imperial Chemical Industries (Ltd): Technical Officer (Chemical Engineer)
1967-75 McGill University, Montreal (1967-70: Lecturer; 1970-72: Assistant Professor; 1972-75: Associate Professor)
1973-74 Università di Napoli: Visiting Professor in Industrial Chemistry and Chemical Plant
1975-76 Imperial College, London: Lecturer in Chemical Engineering
1976-81 University of Cambridge: Lecturer in Chemical Engineering
1978-81 Trinity College, Cambridge: Fellow (1980-81 Praelector)
1981- University of Surrey
   1981-92: Professor of Chemical Engineering
   1981-91: Head of Department of Chemical and Process Engineering
   1992-05: Director of Centre for Environmental Strategy
   1992-08: Professor of Environmental Technology
   2008- Emeritus Professor
Selected External Appointments
1992-98 Member, UK Ecolabelling Board
1996-05 Member, Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution
1997- Member, International Expert Group on application of LCA to waste management
2000- Director, Blackrock-Merrill Lynch New Energy Trust
2001- Member, Rolls-Royce Environmental Advisory Board
2003-4 Member, Royal Society/Royal Academy of Engineering Working Group on Nanotechnology
2004-5 Specialist Adviser on Energy Efficiency to House of Lords' Science and Technology Committee
2004-9 Member, Forestry Commission Advisory Committee on Forest Research
2006- Member, Science Advisory Council of Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
2007-8 Member of Carbon Trust/BSI Steering Group on “Measurement of the embodied greenhouse gas emissions in products and services”

Research Interests:

• Environmental System Analysis, including Life Cycle Assessment, Industrial Ecology and Sustainable Energy Systems; Bioenergy; Sustainable Supply Chains.

Research Collaborations:

• National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP); TSEC-Biosys research consortium (NERC).

Centre/Faculty Duties:

• Emeritus – research and p/g supervision

Selected Publication/Conference Presentations:

• Clift, R, Basson, L. and Cobbledick, D. (2009) Accounting for carbon, The Chemical Engineer, Sept., pp. 35-37. Milà i Canals, L., Chenoweth, J., Chapagain, A., Orr, S., Antón, A. and Clift, R. (2009) Assessing Freshwater Use Impacts in LCA Part I: Inventory Modelling and Characterisation Factors for the Main Impact Pathways, International Journal of LCA, 14(1), pp. 28-42.
• Elghali, L. , Clift, R., Begg, K. G. and McLaren, S. (2008). Decision support methodology for complex contexts. Engineering Sustainability, 161(1), pp. 7-22.
• Weston, N., Clift, R., Basson, L., Pouton, A. and White, N. (2008) Assessment of cleaner process options: a case study from petroleum refining, Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 86, pp.302-315.
• Vermeylen, S., Martin, G. and Clift, R. (2008) Intellectual property rights systems and the assemblage of local knowledge systems, International Journal of Cultural Property, 15(2), pp.201-221.
• Muñoz, I., Milà i Canals, L. and Clift, R. (2008) Consider a spherical man – a simple model to include human excretion in Life Cycle Assessment of food products, Journal of Industrial Ecology, 12(4), pp.521-538.
• Sinclair, P., Cowell, S., Löfstedt, R. and Clift, R., (2008) A case study in participatory environmental systems assessment with the use of multimedia materials and quantitative LCA, Journal of Environmental Assessment, Planning and Management, 9(4), pp.399-421.
• Clift, R. and Mulugetta, Y. (2007) A Plea for Common Sense (and Biomass), The Chemical Engineer, October, pp. 24-26.
• Geldermann, J., Schollenberger, M., Rentz, O., Huppes, G., Van Oers, L., France, C., Nebel, B., Clift, R., Lipkova, A., Saetta, S., Desideri, U. and May, T. (2007) An Integrated Scenario Analysis for the Metal Coating Sector in Europe, Technological Forecasting and Social Change), 74, 1482-1507.
• Geyer, R., Davis, J., Ley, J., He, J., Jackson, T., Clift, R., Kwan, A. and Sansom, M. (2007) Time-dependent Material Flow Analysis of Iron and Steel in the UK; Part 1: Production and Consumption Trends 1970-2000, Resources, Conservation and Recycling 51(1), pp 101-117.
• Davis, J., Geyer, R., Ley, K., He, J., Clift, R., Kwan, A., Sansom, M. and Jackson, T. (2007) Time-dependent Material Flow Analysis of Iron and Steel in the UK; Part 2: Scrap Generation and Recycling, Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 51(1), pp 118-140.
• Burningham, K., Barnett, J., Carr, A., Clift, R. and Wehrmeyer, W. (2007) Industrial constructions of publics and public knowledge: a qualitative investigation of practice in the UK chemicals industry, Public Understanding of Science, 16 (1), pp. 23-43.
• Sim, S., Barry, M., Clift, R. and Cowell, S. (2006) The Relative Importance of Transport in Determining an Appropriate Sustainability Strategy for Food Sourcing: A Case Study of Fresh Produce Supply Chains, International Journal of LCA, 10, pp. 1-10.
• Clift, R. (2006) Climate Change and Energy Policy: The Importance of Sustainability Arguments, Energy, 32, pp.262-268.
• Clift, R. (2006) Sustainable development and its implications for chemical engineering. Chemical Engineering Science, 61, pp 4179-4187.
• Elghali, L., Cowell, S.J., Begg, K.G. and Clift, R. (2006) Support for Sustainable Development Policy Decisions: A Case Study from Highway Maintenance, International Journal of LCA, 11 (1), pp. 29-39.
• Mungkung, R., Udo de Haes, H. A. and Clift, R. (2006) Potentials and Limitations of Life Cycle Assessment in Setting Ecolabelling Criteria: A Case Study of Thai Shrimp Aquaculture Product. International Journal of LCA, 11(1), pp 55-59.
• Clift, R. (2003) Metrics for Supply Chain Sustainability. Clean Technology and Environmental Policy, 5, 240-247. Mellor, W., Wright, E., Clift, R., Azapagic, A. & Stevens, G. (2002) A Mathematical Model and Decision-Support Framework for Material Recovery, Recycling and Cascaded Use. Chemical Engineering Science, 57, 4697-4713.

Books:

• "Sustainable Development in Practice - case studies for engineers and scientists"; ed. A. Azapagic, S. Perdan and R. Clift, John Wiley and Sons (2004).
• "Slurry Transport using Centrifugal Pumps", 3rd ed.; K. C. Wilson, G. R. Addie, A. Sellgren and R. Clift, Springer-Verlag (2005).
• "Bubbles, Drops and Particles"; R. Clift, J. R. Grace and M. E. Weber, Academic Press (1978), republished by Dover (2005).

Television & Radio:

• Occasional commentator on Energy Policy and low carbon technologies, for print, radio and television.

Contact Details

Email	r.clift@surrey.ac.uk
Telephone	+44 (0)1483 689271
Fax	+44 (0)1483 686671
Postal Address	Centre for Environmental Strategy Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences University of Surrey (D3) GU2 7XH United Kingdom