Christoph Meinrenken

Christoph Meinrenken is Professor of Professional Practice at Columbia University’s Faculty of Professional Studies, Principal Investigator at the Climate School, and Academic Director of the M.S. in Information & Knowledge Strategy. An expert in Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and enterprise-scale sustainability analytics, he leads research on low-carbon energy systems, synthetic fuels, and product carbon footprinting. He co-chairs the Columbia University Seminar on Complexity Science, Modeling, and Sustainability and contributes to the World Resources Institute’s GHG Protocol technical working group.

• Doctorate in Physics from the Max Planck Institute (2001)
• Master of Science in Engineering (MSE) from Princeton University (1996)

His research focuses on computer modeling of techno-economic performance for low-carbon energy systems. Key projects include smart building electricity arbitrage (DoE, NSF, NYSERDA, NIST), transportation electrification, synthetic fuels (ABB, EDF), and automated product carbon footprinting (PepsiCo, IBM). He has collaborated with organizations like the Carbon Disclosure Project and The Sustainability Consortium, integrating LCA with data science for value-chain engineering.

Recent publications explore topics like urban circular economy strategies (2025), healthcare carbon emissions (2025), industrial park energy integration (2024), and personalized eco-feedback systems (2023). His work bridges computational modeling and applied sustainability, with a focus on data-enabled decision-making for industries and urban systems.

Grants and industry partnerships include funding from the Department of Energy, National Science Foundation, and multinational corporations like IBM and PepsiCo. He applies advanced analytics to address climate policy, smart grid stability, and corporate decarbonization challenges.