Roland Clift is a

chemical engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials in ...

professor widely known for his work and media contributions on the topic of

sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livin ...

Career

Clift was born 19 November 1942Debrett's People of Today
Roland Clift and studied Chemical Engineering at

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

( Trinity College), achieving first class honours in 1964. He received a PhD from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter granted by King George IV,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill Universit ...

in 1970 for work on particle-fluid interactions, and this was his main research area (at McGill and

then Surrey University) in subsequent years. He became Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Surrey in 1981. His growing interest in the application of engineering principles to environmental issues led him in 1992 to establish the Centre for Environmental Strategy (CES) at the University of Surrey, a multidisciplinary group of engineers, scientists and social scientists. In this Centre he was an advocate of

Clean Technology Clean technology, in short cleantech, is any process, product, or service that reduces negative environmental impacts through significant energy efficiency improvements, the sustainable use of resources, or environmental protection activities. Cl ...

Life Cycle Assessment Life cycle assessment or LCA (also known as life cycle analysis) is a methodology for assessing environmental impacts associated with all the stages of the life cycle of a commercial product, process, or service. For instance, in the case ...

and Sustainable Development. He is presently professor emeritus at the CES. He has made a number of criticisms of government policy with respect to energy and the environment. He moved to

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include ...

in 2018. He is an adjunct professor at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

and the

University of Victoria The University of Victoria (UVic or Victoria) is a public research university located in the municipalities of Oak Bay and Saanich, British Columbia, Canada. The university traces its roots to Victoria College, the first post-secondary insti ...

Positions

Member,

Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution The Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution in the United Kingdom was created under Royal Warrant in 1970 to advise the Queen, Government, Parliament and the public on environmental issues. It was closed on 1 April 2011, as part of the Coali ...

(1996–2005). Visiting Professor in Environmental systems analysis at

Chalmers University Chalmers University of Technology ( sv, Chalmers tekniska högskola, often shortened to Chalmers) is a Swedish university located in Gothenburg that conducts research and education in technology and natural sciences at a high international leve ...

, Sweden. Expert Adviser to the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster ...

Science and Technology Committee enquiry into Energy Efficiency (2004–05). Member of the Science Advisory Council of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) (2006–). Vice-President of Environmental Protection UK. President of the International Society for

Industrial Ecology Industrial ecology (IE) is the study of material and energy flows through industrial systems. The global industrial economy can be modelled as a network of industrial processes that extract resources from the Earth and transform those resou ...

2009–10.''The Chemical Engineer'' issue 810 Dec 2008/Jan 2009, page 62 Visiting Professor at Chalmers University of Technology since 2000.

Honours

He is a

Fellow A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher education ...

of the Institution of Chemical Engineers, the

Royal Academy of Engineering The Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) is the United Kingdom's national academy of engineering. The Academy was founded in June 1976 as the Fellowship of Engineering with support from Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, who became the first senior ...

and the

Royal Society of Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

. In 1994 he was made an

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

for his initiative in promoting research in

,Royal Academy of Engineering
Press Release 2 June 2003 and a CBE in 2006 for services to the environment. He received the Sir Frank Whittle Medal of the

for 2003, for 'an outstanding and sustained engineering achievement contributing to the well-being of the nation'. He received the 2007 Hanson Medal and the 2016

George E. Davis Medal The George E. Davis Medal is a medal of the IChemE given not more frequently than every three years, for achievements in chemical engineering.{{Cite web, url=https://www.icheme.org/knowledge/medals-and-prizes/services-to-the-profession/davis-medal/ ...

of the Institution of Chemical Engineers.

Selected publications

*Clift, R., Grace, J. R., and Weber, M. E., (1978) ''Bubbles, Drops and Particles'' Academic Press *Davidson,J. F., Clift, R., and Harrison, D., (eds) (1985) ''Fluidization'', 2nd ed Academic Press *Clift, R., and Seville, J. P. K., (eds)(1993) ''Gas Cleaning at High Temperatures'' Blackie *Clift, R. (1993) ''Journal of Cleaner Production'', 1, 3–4, pp 155–159 "Life Cycle Assessment and Ecolabelling" *Clift, R., & Wright, L., (2000) ''Technological Forecasting and Social Change'', 65, 3, pp 281–295 "Relationships Between Environmental Impacts and Added Value Along the Supply Chain" *Azapagic, A., Perdan, S., and Clift, R., (eds) (2004) ''Sustainable Development in Practice – case studies for engineers and scientists'', John Wiley & Sons *Wilson, K.C., Addie, G. R., Sellgren, A. and Clift, R. (2006) Slurry Transport Using Centrifugal Pumps (3rd ed.). Springer Science + Business Media, Inc. New York. *Clift, R. (2006) ''Energy'', 32, pp. 262–268 "Climate Change and Energy Policy: The Importance of Sustainability Arguments" *Clift, R. (2006) ''Chemical Engineering Science'', 61, pp 4179–4187 "Sustainable development and its implications for chemical engineering" *Clift, R. and Mulugetta, Y. (2007) ''The Chemical Engineer'', October, pp. 24–26 "A Plea for Common Sense (and Biomass)"

References

External links

Centre for Environmental Strategy
University of Surrey * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clift, Roland British chemical engineers Engineering academics Sustainability advocates Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Academics of the University of Surrey Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Living people British environmentalists Industrial ecology Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)