Stefano Dell’Orco is a highly motivated engineer with an interdisciplinary background in energy, industrial and chemical engineering. He has recently been awarded the NREL postdoctoral director fellowship on an electron to molecules project focused on selective catalytic hydrogenation of CO₂ to hydrocarbons for sustainable aviation fuels in a non-thermal plasma reactor. Previously, he was a strategic consultant at E4tech (London, United Kingdom) specialized on technical aspects of bio/low carbon fuels and e-fuels development, supporting decision-making activities for a wide spectrum of private companies and public institutions. 

Dell’Orco holds a bachelor's in mechanical engineering, a master's in energy engineering, and a doctorate in industrial engineering from the University of Florence (Italy). During his doctoral studies, he collaborated with the RE-CORD consortium (Florence, Italy) on hydrothermal liquefaction of wet biomass streams and with NREL on several technologies for the development of fast pyrolysis biorefineries for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to fuels and chemicals, ranging from catalytic upgrading of pyrolysis vapors to coproducts extraction and coprocessing of bio-derived liquids in existing refineries. In addition, during his master’s degree, he worked as research intern at the Université de Sherbrooke (Quebec, Canada) working on a project on the valorization of gasification residues from an industrial plant.

For additional information, visit Stefano Dell’Orco’s LinkedIn profile.

Disclaimer: Any opinions expressed on LinkedIn are the author’s own, made in the author's individual capacity, and do not necessarily reflect the views of NREL.

Research Interests

Electron to molecules: Non-thermal plasma, plasma catalysis, CO₂ hydrogenation, sustainable aviation fuels

Thermochemical biorefineries for the production of fuels and chemicals through catalytic fast pyrolysis, hydrothermal liquefaction and gasification

Heterogeneous catalysts development for biofuels, low carbon fuels and e-fuels production

Techno-economic analysis

Education

Ph.D., Industrial Engineering, University of Florence

M.S., Energy Engineering, University of Florence

B.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of Florence

Professional Experience

Director's Fellowship Postdoctoral Researcher, NREL (2023–present)

Strategic Consultant, E4tech/ERM London United Kingdom (2021–2023)

Graduate Intern—Chemistry (Biosciences-Pyrolysis), NREL (2020)

Graduate Research Fellow, Renewable Energy Consortium for Research and Demonstration, University of Florence (2017–2020)

Collaborative Appointment, National Renewable Energy Laboratory (2018)

Graduate Intern, Université de Sherbrooke (2015–2016)

Undergraduate Research Fellow, Renewable Energy Consortium for Research and Demonstration, University of Florence (2014)

Featured Work

Fractional Condensation of Fast Pyrolysis Bio-Oil to Improve Biocrude Quality Towards Alternative Fuels Production, Applied Sciences (2022)

Advanced Spectrometric Methods for Characterizing Bio-Oils To Enable Refineries To Reduce Fuel Carbon Intensity During Coprocessing, Applied Spectroscopy Reviews (2021)

Efficacy, Economics, and Sustainability of Bioinsecticides From Thermochemical Biorefineries, Green Chemistry (2021)

Online Biogenic Carbon Analysis Enables Refineries To Reduce Carbon Footprint During Coprocessing Biomass- and Petroleum-Derived Liquids, ACS Analytical Chemistry (2021)

Hydrothermal Depolymerization of Biorefinery Lignin-Rich Streams: Influence of Reaction Conditions and Catalytic Additives On the Organic Monomers Yields In Biocrude and Aqueous Phase, Energies (2020)

Isotopic Studies For Tracking Biogenic Carbon During Coprocessing of Biomass and Vacuum Gas Oil, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2020)

Catalytic Hot-Gas Filtration With a Supported Heteropolyacid Catalyst For Preconditioning Biomass Pyrolysis Vapors, ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (2019)

Lignocellulosic Ethanol Biorefinery: Valorization of Lignin-Rich Stream Through Hydrothermal Liquefaction, Energies (2019)

Design of a Circulating Fluidized Bed Combustor For Lignin-Rich Residue Derived From Second-Generation Bioethanol Production Plant, Chemical Engineering Transactions (2018)

Catalytic Conversion of Residual Fine Char Recovered By Aqueous Scrubbing of Syngas From Urban Biomass Gasification, Biomass and Bioenergy (2017)