Jouni Havukainen

Jouni Havukainen
Associate Professor (Tenure Track)
Sustainability Science
LUT School of Energy Systems
Lappeenranta
+358 40 584 8385
LUT Focus Areas
Water - Refining sidestreams into value
Air - Turning emissions into opportunities
Business and society - Sustainable renewal of business, industry and society
Energy - Transition to carbon-neutral world
Research areas
Environmental Engineering
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Waste Management and Disposal
Life Cycle Assessment

Biography

I have been working for the Sustainability Science department at the LUT University in conducting and managing research projects and participated in teaching since 2008. In 2022 I was selected for Associate professor tenure position with a tittle of Environmental sustainability of energy systesm 1.4.2022-31.3.2026 and manged to fulfill the tenure requirements already in 2024.

The aim of this my field of research is to ensure that sustainability aspects will be taken into consideration during the systemic changes taking place in the energy sector. One example of this is the Power-to-X (P2X) project, Hygcel, where I was part of a team focusing on the environmental sustainability aspects of the project. This means assessing the environmental performance of the studied technologies and system changes. The need behind this project is to assess what would be the possible ways forward for Finland in steering towards a decarbonized energy system.

During my time in LUT University, I finished my Ph.D. in Environmental engineering in December 2014, and during my Ph.D. studies, I was also working for Helsinki Region Environmental Services (HSY), in supporting the development of biogas utilization in the transport sector in the capital region of Finland and northern regions in Estonia. After a four-year period as a post-doctoral researcher, I was given a position as an associate professor (non-tenure) starting from January 2019 and the research work continued to involve circular economy issues.

During my career thus far, I have been participating in teaching and guiding undergraduate, post graduate students, and junior researchers (PhD students). I have taught the basics of waste management to undergraduate students in the Solid Waste Management Technology course during 2008-2021. I have established Biological cycle in circular economy course for our circular economy master program in 2019 and have been teaching it since. In 2024 I established a post graduate course Sustainability of energy systems together with Minna Havukainen (LUT) and Lucia Rigamonti (Polimi). 

I have conducted research in three continents during Ph.D. studies and as postdoctoral researcher and associate professor. As a Ph.D. student, I investigated energy recovery potential from biodegradable waste during research exchange to Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) and environmental impacts of renewable biofuels production at the Energy Biosciences Institute in Berkeley. In addition, during the postdoctoral i had research exchange to Zhejiang University (ZJU) in Hangzhou and as associate professor in Technical University of Denmark (DTU). in ZJU, I conducted research related to improving the environmental impacts of municipal solid waste management and in DTU I quantified and compared the environmental performance of dewatered sewage sludge digestate managemend options in collaboration with professor Thomas Astrup.

I have participated in acquiring funding, managing and conducting research in various research projects including the ARVI-material value chain project during which I went for research exchange to ZJU (2015). I was a project manager in a seven-year EU Life IP project called Circwaste (ended in 2023) and in an Research Council of Finland Advanced funded project nitrogen recovery project (NITRO). During NITRO I  had research exchange to DTU in 2020. In addition, since starting as an associate professor (tenure track) I have been working on hydrogen and P2X research in Hygcel (Business Finland) and JustH2Transit (Research Council of Finland STN) projects as well as on energy communities at port in Mussalo project (EU Horizon), sustainable access to energy in Rwanda and Uganda in Sunny project (EU Horizon), and on renewable fuels production in Biomass Utilized To The Extended portfolio of Renewable Fuels with Large Yields (BUTTERFLY) - project as Principal investigator.

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Keywords

Sustainability
Energy systems
Renewable energy
Circular economy
Life cycle assessment

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