Michael Chesshire

Biography

Prof. Michael Chesshire is Visiting Professor within Engineering and the Environment at the University of Southampton. Michael Chesshire has worked in anaerobic digestion for over 30 years: the field is now highly topical, but he was one of the first to see the potential and importance of regaining energy from biomass, including both organic wastes and regenerable feedstocks. In addition to being a successful businessman he is an ardent experimentalist with a desire to take a process, understand and optimise it and to apply it in new areas. He and his company Greenfinch Ltd have participated in research projects at both national (Biffaward Landfill Tax, Defra New Technologies WIP and Demonstrator programmes) and international level (EU FP6 Cropgen). His major contribution has been to apply a scientific approach to evaluation of what was previously often regarded as a 'black box' treatment process. His academic background is in engineering, with a specialisation in thermodynamics. He has used his skills in this area to carry out accurate energy and mass balance calculations for anaerobic digestion processes and to optimise performance and net energy gains. This work has contributed significantly to the development of energy modelling methodologies. He has also played a leading role in research on much broader aspects of anaerobic digestion and sustainability, including conducting field trials on the use of digestate as a fertiliser substitute and soil conditioner with both the Institute of Grasslands Research (IGER) and Harper Addams University College. Michael's contributions to education include participation in the Sustainable Waste Management MSc as a visiting lecturer and in curriculum development for the Bioprocessing module. With a team from Southampton he has taught at the international summer school on Renewable Energy held by the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland in 2005 and 2008. His company has also offered placements for research students from the UK and Finland. He is a frequent invited speaker at major forums and international conferences and is joint author of 10 papers in refereed conference and journal publications. He was co-author of the paper on pathogen survival in anaerobic digestion which was awarded the Alberto Rozzi Prize for the best paper on anaerobic digestion at the 9th Sardinia Waste Management Symposium 2003. He had a major input into the committee drawing up the regulations regarding safe disposal of Animal By-Products, and has worked closely with WRAP and the Environment Agency on the development of the forthcoming digestate standard. He is chairman of the Renewable Energy Association's Biogas Group and has represented the UK at the Methane to Markets symposia in Buenos Aires and Beijing.

Research Interest

Anaerobic digestion, Bioenergy, Waste management,