Manuel Romero and Aldo Steinfeld receive the SolarPACES Lifetime Achievement Award from Robert Pitz-Paal
On the closing day of the SolarPACES 2024 conference in Rome, Aldo Steinfeld and Manuel Romero were jointly awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award, in recognition of their over 20 years collaboration in pioneering and developing the use of concentrated solar thermal energy to produce solar fuels.
Their successful and long-standing joint efforts led to the first solar tower demonstration of solar thermochemical production of kerosene from H2O and CO2. Their pioneering work in solar gasification, production of solar kerosene for jet fuel, dry reforming of methane, thermochemical energy storage with manganese oxides, and solar towers with volumetric receivers, has paved the way for the commercial implementation of these uses of concentrating solar technologies.
Steinfeld is Full Professor and Chair of Renewable Energy Carriers in the Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zurich where he has led the solar thermochemistry research field for over 25 years. Romero is Deputy Director at IMDEA Energía, with a 40 year career in CSP. His work resulted in the first demonstration of solar gasification of petcoke at the CRS tower in Almeria and the development of a novel concept of solar reactor with petcoke slurry feeding. Together, they implemented the first solar tower test plant combining Steinfeld’s work on advancing solar thermochemical reactor technology with Romero’s high flux high temperature ultramodular solar field.
Their work on advancing solar thermochemistry has received received major grants and awards including Sun to Liquids I and II and the 22nd Energy Globe World Award at COP26 in Glassgow. Both have outstanding scientific profiles and have published their results in numerous top-tier journals, protected key know-how with patents, and have been instrumental in supporting technology transfer through spin-off companies.
