Klaus S. Lackner
Phone: +1 212-854-0304
Fax: +1 212-854-7081
kl2010@columbia.edu
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Research Interests
Energy & Environment: Mitigating the Greenhouse Effect, Advanced Energy Concepts, Automation and Robotics, Neural nets for computation, Computer Modeling, Hydrodynamics, Chemistry, Thermodynamics Gifthorse Program, Chemistry of fractionally charged atoms, experimental quark searches, Inertial Confinement Fusion, Phenomenology of weak interaction & supersymmetric theories.
The specific on-going research efforts of Lackner's group include:
Advanced Fuel Concepts
- Acid Gas Management and Sulfur Sequestration
- Solid Oxide Electrolysis of Carbon Dioxide in the Synthesis of Sustainable Fuels
- A New Technology to Capture Carbon From the Air
Carbon Capture and Storage
- CO2 Membrane Separation for High Temperatures
- Gravitational Trapping of CO2 in Deep Marine Sediments
- Building a Roadmap for Advanced Zero Atmospheric Emission Coal Power Plants
- Zero Emission Kiln
Scales and Systems
Our work on scales and systems is a cross-cutting theme that allows for the investigation of small-scale alternatives to existing energy infrastructure arrangements. Conventional energy economics has dictated energy infrastructures that are custom-made, large-scale, and ultra-reliable units with long lifetimes. LCSE researchers are analyzing a new approach to energy production and conversion that favors smaller units that are mass-produced, modular, and controlled in aggregate by cheap automation and control systems.
Klaus Lackner’s scientific career started in the phenomenology of weakly interacting particles. Later searching for quarks, he and George Zweig developed the chemistry of atoms with fractional nuclear charge. He is still participating in matter searches for particles with a non-integer charge in an experiment conducted at Stanford by Martin Perl and his group. After joining Los Alamos National Laboratory, Klaus Lackner became involved in hydrodynamic work and fusion related research. In recent years, he has published on the behavior of high explosives, novel approaches to inertial confinement fusion, and numerical algorithms. His interest in self-replicating machine systems has been recognized by Discover Magazine as one of seven ideas that could change the world. Presently he is developing innovative approaches to energy issues of the future. He has been instrumental in forming ZECA, the Zero Emission Coal Alliance, which is an industry-led effort to develop coal power with zero emissions to the atmosphere. His recent work is on environmentally acceptable technologies for the use of fossil fuels.
| 2001-present | Ewing Worzel Professor of Geophysics, Earth and Environmental Engineering, Columbia University, USA |
| 2006-present | Director of Lenfest Center for Sustainable Energy, The Earth Institute, Columbia University, USA |
| 2000- 2002 | Theoretical Division, Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| 1998-2000 | Chief of Staff, Acting Associate Laboratory Director and Acting Deputy Director, |
| Associate Laboratory Director’s Office for Strategic and Supporting Research, Los Alamos National Laboratory | |
| 1982-1983 | Post-Doctoral Researcher, Stanford Linear Accelerator Center |
| 1979-1982 | Post-Doctoral Researcher, California Institute of Technology |
| 1978-1979 | Post-Doctoral Researcher, University of Freiburg, Germany |
Education
| Ph.D. |
Physics, Heidelberg University, Germany, 1978. Theoretical Particle Physics, summa cum laude Clemm-Haas Price for outstanding Ph. D. thesis at Heidelberg University |
| Diplom |
Physics, Heidelberg University, Germany, 1976. (Advisors: Professors John Grace and Xiaotao Bi) |
| Vordiplom | Physics, Heidelberg University, Germany, 1975. |
Honors and Affiliations
| 1980 | Clemm-Haas Prize for outstanding Ph.D. Thesis |
| 1979 – 1980 | Max Kade Fellowship, California Institute of Technology |
| 1980 – 1981 | Fleischmann Fellow, California Institute of Technology |
| 1991 | Weapons Recognition of Excellence Award |
| 2001 | National Laboratory Consortium Award for Technology |
| 1995 – 1996 | Los Alamos Science and Engineering Advisory Board (Chair) |
| 1996 – 2001 | Member of the Editorial Board of Defense Science |
| 2003 – | Earth Institute at Columbia, Steering Committee |
| 2000 – | National Energy Technology Center’s Carbon Sequestration Science Steering Committee |
| 2000– 2005 | Technical Advisor to the Ohio Coal Development Office |
| 2000 | Cofounder of the Zero Emission Coal Alliance |
| 2004 | Cofounder of Global Research Technologies |
Synergistic Activities
- Member of a Committee formed by the National Academies on the Future of Coal
- Participated as a lead author on the IPCC report on Carbon Capture and Storage
- Head of Working Group II, (Technology Options) for the Global Roundtable on Climate Change.
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