Athanasios Bourtsalas

LECTURER IN THE DISCIPLINE OF SUSTAINABLE MATERIAL AND ENERGY IN THE DEPARTMENT OF EARTH AND ENVIRONMENTAL ENGINEERING

905D Mudd

Tel(212) 854-2138
Fax(212) 854-7081
Email[email protected]




Thanos Bourtsalas focuses on “urban mining,” the recovery of energy and metals/minerals from urban and industrial residues. His research has applications in civil and environmental engineering and puts him in collaboration with diverse disciplines such as industrial engineering, public health and policy, and environmental economics.

Research Interests

Civil and environmental engineering, energy engineering, sustainable development

Research Areas

Sustainable Humanity: Energy

Other Interests

Energy and Resource Efficiency Industrial Ecology Circular Economy Materials Processing Sustainability Economics Policy risk management

Links

WTERT

Bourtsalas focuses on systems for sustainable development with an emphasis on process engineering, sustainability economics, and public policy. He is the vice president of research, development, and deployment at Global WTERT (Global Waste to Energy Research & Technology) Council, Inc. where he directs technoeconomic and business model studies for the use of urban and industrial residues for the production of energy, fuels, and materials.
Bourtsalas is the senior advisor to the World Bank Group on the development of investment criteria for sustainable development projects, and the senior advisor to a UN committee for the development of sustainable development standards and a toolkit for Public and Private Partnerships (PPP) for signatories of the UN Paris Agreement. He was on the technical advisory panel of Singapore’s Environmental Protection Agency for guidelines for the beneficial utilization of Waste-to-Energy Bottom Ash. He is also a co-author to the Solid Waste chapter of the Assessment Report on Climate Change and Cities (ARC3-2), developed by the Earth Institute of Columbia University and presented at the COP 21 in Paris.
Bourtsalas obtained his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of Patras (Greece), his MS in Earth Resources Engineering from Columbia University and his PhD from Imperial College London in Civil and Environmental Engineering.

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

Postdoctoral Fellow, Earth Engineering Center, Columbia University, 2015-2016
PhD, Civil and Environmental Engineering, Imperial College London, 2012-2015
Center for Life Cycle Analysis, Columbia University, 2008-2010

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Lecturer, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, 2019-Present
Vice President, Global WTERT Council, 2015-Present
Advisor, World Bank, 2019-2020
Adjunct Assistant Professor, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, 2015-2019
Advisor, United Nations Economic Cooperation for Europe (UNECE), 2017-2019
Advisor, Ministry of Environment- Environmental Protection Agency, Singapore, 2015-2017

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS

Registered (Licensed/Chartered) Professional Electrical Engineer in Europe
Working Group on Energy Recovery-International Solid Waste Association
American Society for Mechanical Engineers

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS

Recovery of Materials and Energy from Urban Wastes, A Volume in the Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, Second Edition, Springer, Editors, Nickolas J. Themelis, A.C. (Thanos) Bourtsalas, 2019
The status of waste management and waste to energy for district heating in South Korea, ACT Bourtsalas, Y Seo, MT Alam, YC Seo, Waste management 85, 304-316, 2019
Major sources of mercury emissions to the atmosphere: The US case, ACT Bourtsalas, NJ Themelis, Waste management 85, 90-94, 2019
Use of non-recycled plastics and paper as alternative fuel in cement production, ACT Bourtsalas, J Zhang, MJ Castaldi, NJ Themelis, Journal of Cleaner Production 181, 8-16, 2018
Synergistic effects on char and oil produced by the co-pyrolysis of pine wood, polyethylene and polyvinyl chloride, P Lu, Q Huang, ACT Bourtsalas, Y Chi, J Yan, Fuel 230, 359-367, 2018
A step by step selection method for the location and the size of a waste-to-energy facility targeting the maximum output energy and minimization of gate fee, E Kyriakis, C Psomopoulos, P Kokkotis, A Bourtsalas, N Themelis, Environmental Science and Pollution Research 25 (27), 26715-26724 3, 2018
Review on fate of chlorine during thermal processing of solid wastes, P Lu, Q Huang, ACT Bourtsalas, NJ Themelis, Y Chi, J Yan, Journal of Environmental Sciences, 2, 2018
Experimental research of basic properties and reactivity of waste derived chars, P Lu, Q Huang, ACT Bourtsalas, Y Chi, J Yan, Applied Thermal Engineering 119, 639-649, 2017
Effect of chlorine on the structure and reactivity of char derived from solid waste, B Hu, Q Huang, ACT Bourtsalas, M Ali, Y Chi, J Yan, Energy & fuels 31 (7), 7606-7616, 2017
Production of pyroxene ceramics from the fine fraction of incinerator bottom ash, A Bourtsalas, LJ Vandeperre, SM Grimes, N Themelis, CR Cheeseman, Waste Management 45, 217-225, 2015