Summary
Clementine Chambon is a visiting researcher in the Chemical Engineering department. Her research interests lie in optimising decentralised energy technologies to reach the most energy-deprived communities in the world. She recently completed an EPSRC Doctoral Prize Fellowship on energy access, focusing on the application of solar photovoltaic (PV) and biomass gasification for rural electrification in India. Her expertise spans topics such as electricity demand estimation of rural consumers, techno-commercial simulation and optimisation of renewable and hybrid mini-grids, and their impact and CO2 mitigation potential.
Clementine is the co-founder and CTO at Oorja Development Solutions, a social enterprise that deploys mini-grids and community solar pumping systems to provide clean energy services (irrigation, power and cold storage) to farmers and businesses in rural India. This work has led to multiple awards including a Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge Award, Echoing Green Climate Fellowship, and Clementine was listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 Social Entrepreneurs and MIT Social Innovator of the Year lists in Europe.
Clementine completed her PhD in 2017 in the Department under the supervision of Dr Jason Hallett, Prof. Paul Fennell and Dr Anthe George. Her project investigated lignocellulose processing using ultra-low-cost ionic liquids and lignin valorisation. Specifically, her research focused on the production of bioethanol and bio-derived aromatic chemicals from agricultural residues. This work was funded by an Imperial College President's PhD Scholarship, the Grantham Institute for Climate Change and Climate-KIC. Clementine holds a First Class Honours MEng degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Cambridge.
Publications
Journals
Chambon CL, Verdía P, Fennell PS, et al., 2021, Process intensification of the ionoSolv pretreatment: effects of biomass loading, particle size and scale-up from 10 mL to 1 L, Scientific Reports, Vol:11, ISSN:2045-2322, Pages:1-15
Beath H, Hauser M, Sandwell P, et al., 2021, The cost and emissions advantages of incorporating anchor loads into solar mini-grids in India, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Transition, Vol:1, ISSN:2667-095X, Pages:1-14
Luo X, Varela Barreras J, Chambon C, et al., 2021, Hybridizing Lead-Acid Batteries with Supercapacitors: A Methodology, Energies, Vol:14, ISSN:1996-1073
Chambon CL, Karia T, Sandwell P, et al., 2020, Techno-economic assessment of biomass gasification-based mini-grids for productive energy applications: The case of rural India, Renewable Energy, Vol:154, ISSN:0960-1481, Pages:432-444
Chambon CL, Fitriyanti V, Verdía P, et al., 2020, Fractionation by sequential antisolvent precipitation of grass, softwood, and hardwood lignins isolated using low-cost ionic liquids and water, Acs Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, Vol:8, ISSN:2168-0485, Pages:3751-3761