Francisco Mendez Alva is part of the techno-economic assessment team, working on the integrated sustainability assessment of the electrochemical systems, including analysing the context of its current and potential applications – policies, indicators, benchmarks, and roadmaps.
Francisco joined VITO as a researcher last year in the TEA group working on multiple projects centered on the concept of e-fuels. He obtained a Doctoral degree in Engineering from Ghent University in Belgium with his research focus on industrial symbiosis as an enabler towards carbon-neutrality and circularity aims in the European process industry.
During his PhD, he worked on international European projects (EPOS, AIDRES, and TRILATE), developing criteria and cases for symbiosis across multiple sectors.
He holds an (Erasmus Mundus) Master of Science degree in Industrial Ecology (TU Delft/Leiden University/University of Graz) and a Chemical Engineer degree (UNAM-Mexico). Before starting a doctoral research, Francisco worked as a process engineer and business controller in manufacturing in the consumer goods sector.
Today, Francisco is part of the ECO2Fuel project.
“Technical solutions are essential for reaching renewable energy and climate goals in Europe.” ECO2Fuel brings together a solid consortium to demonstrate a new type of low-temperature electrolyser to convert captured CO2 into sustainable liquid fuels. “It is great to contribute to the efforts towards options that not only provide an advantage towards the re-circulation of carbon but also can increase the reach of renewable energy synergising with existing infrastructure.”, says Francisco.
