Biography:
María del Mar Cledera Castro holds a PhD in Industrial Engineering and is an Associate Professor at Comillas Pontifical University (ICAI). She coordinates the Environmental Technologies Area at the Institute for Research in Technology (IIT) and the Emerging Contaminants and Resource Recovery Research Group. She is also Head of the Chemistry and Environment Laboratory and ICAI’s representative to the Integral Ecology Unit. Her research focuses on environmental technologies, water treatment, emerging contaminants, waste management and resource recovery, anaerobic digestion, and biogas and biomethane production. Her work also encompasses renewable energy, the energy transition, life cycle assessment, and sustainability assessment.
Areas of interest:
Environmental technologies. Environmental pollution and emerging contaminants. Water treatment. Waste management and resource recovery. Anaerobic digestion, biogas and biomethane. Renewable energy and the energy transition. Life cycle assessment and sustainability assessment. Materials for environmental applications.
Experience:
She has nearly thirty years of experience in teaching, research, and academic management at Comillas Pontifical University. Her career has focused on environmental engineering, energy, and sustainability, and she has participated in national and international research projects on emerging contaminants, water treatment, waste recovery, anaerobic digestion, biogas, renewable energy, and life cycle assessment. She also has extensive experience in teaching and supervising academic work, laboratory management, multidisciplinary team coordination, and knowledge transfer. She currently coordinates the Environmental Technologies Area at IIT and the Emerging Contaminants and Resource Recovery Research Group, heads the Chemistry and Environment Laboratory, and serves as ICAI’s representative to the Integral Ecology Unit.
Skills:
Leadership and team coordination. Scientific communication and outreach. Organisational and planning skills. Multidisciplinary teamwork. Critical thinking and problem-solving. Adaptability, initiative, and results orientation.
Current research interests:
Environmental technologies, emerging contaminants, water treatment, waste recovery, biogas and biomethane, renewable energy, energy transition, and life cycle assessment.
M.M. Cledera-Castro, K. Hueso-Kortekaas, C. Sanchez-Mata, C. Morales-Polo, J. Calzada-Funes, N. Delgado-Mellado, R. Caro, "An exploratory study of fibre microplastics pollution in different process stages of salt production by solar evaporation in Spain", Heliyon, Vol. 10, nº. 11, pp. e31609, June 2024. [Online: May 2024] doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31609
L. Serrat, J.I. Linares, M.M. Cledera-Castro, C. Morales-Polo, K. Hueso-Kortekaas, "Ground source heat pump driven by reciprocating engine firing biomethane from wastewater treatment plant sludge in a cogeneration for district heating and cooling. A case study in Spain", Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 219, nº. Part B, pp. 119586, January 2023. [Online: November 2022] doi: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2022.119586
C. Morales-Polo, M.M. Cledera-Castro, M. Revuelta-Aramburu, K. Hueso-Kortekaas, "Enhancing energy recovery in form of biogas, from vegetable and fruit wholesale markets by-products and wastes, with pretreatments", Plants, Vol. 10, nº. 7, pp. 1298, July 2021. [Online: June 2021] doi: 10.3390/plants10071298
C. Morales-Polo, M.M. Cledera-Castro, M. Revuelta-Aramburu, K. Hueso-Kortekaas, "Bioconversion process of barley crop residues into biogas: energetic-environmental potential in Spain", Agronomy, Vol. 11, nº. 4, pp. 640, April 2021. [Online: March 2021] doi: 10.3390/agronomy11040640
J. Victoria Rodríguez, C. Morales-Polo, M.M. Cledera-Castro, "A generalized kinetic model for anaerobic co-digestion of agro-industrial biomass mixtures improved through pretreatments or additives", Industrial Crops and Products, Vol. 249, pp. 123654, July 2026. [Online: June 2026] doi: 10.1016/j.indcrop.2026.123654
P. Gómez-Sánchez de Rojas, J. Victoria Rodríguez, C. Morales-Polo, M.M. Cledera-Castro, "Environmental and techno-economic analysis of a biomethane energy community in southern Spain", Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, Vol. 82, pp. 104496, October 2025. [Online: August 2025] doi: 10.1016/j.seta.2025.104496
S. Gómez Lorenzo, M.M. Cledera-Castro, K. Hueso-Kortekaas, J.C. Romero, "Social Life Cycle Assessment of Innovative Products from Solar Evaporation Iberian Saltworks: A Descriptive Approach to the Implementation of Halotolerant Crops and Microorganisms", World, Vol. 6, nº. 2, pp. 38, June 2025. [Online: March 2025] doi: 10.3390/world6020038
A. López-Aguilera, C. Morales-Polo, J. Victoria Rodríguez, M.M. Cledera-Castro, "Assessment of Biomethane Production Potential in Spain: A Regional Analysis of Agricultural Residues, Municipal Waste, and Wastewater Sludge for 2030 and 2050", Sustainability, Vol. 17, nº. 10, pp. 4742, May 2025. [Online: May 2025] doi: 10.3390/su17104742
K. Hueso-Kortekaas, N. Delgado-Mellado, J. Calzada-Funes, C. Sanchez-Mata, C. Castañeda, M.M. Cledera-Castro, "Microplastics in Inland Saline Lakes of the Central Ebro Basin, NE Spain", Water, Vol. 17, nº. 7, pp. 989, April 2025. [Online: March 2025] doi: 10.3390/w17070989
D. Gil-García, M. Revuelta-Aramburu, C. Morales-Polo, M.M. Cledera-Castro, "Optimizing Methane Recovery for Fuels: A Comparative Study of Fugitive Emissions in Biogas Plants, WWTPs, and Landfills", Fuels, Vol. 5, nº. 4, pp. 762 - 781, December 2024. [Online: November 2024] doi: 10.3390/fuels5040042
M.M. Cledera-Castro, K. Hueso-Kortekaas, C. Sanchez-Mata, C. Morales-Polo, J. Calzada-Funes, N. Delgado-Mellado, R. Caro, "An exploratory study of fibre microplastics pollution in different process stages of salt production by solar evaporation in Spain", Heliyon, Vol. 10, nº. 11, pp. e31609, June 2024. [Online: May 2024] doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e31609
L. Serrat, J.I. Linares, M.M. Cledera-Castro, C. Morales-Polo, K. Hueso-Kortekaas, "Ground source heat pump driven by reciprocating engine firing biomethane from wastewater treatment plant sludge in a cogeneration for district heating and cooling. A case study in Spain", Applied Thermal Engineering, Vol. 219, nº. Part B, pp. 119586, January 2023. [Online: November 2022] doi: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2022.119586
C. Morales-Polo, M.M. Cledera-Castro, M. Revuelta-Aramburu, K. Hueso-Kortekaas, "Enhancing energy recovery in form of biogas, from vegetable and fruit wholesale markets by-products and wastes, with pretreatments", Plants, Vol. 10, nº. 7, pp. 1298, July 2021. [Online: June 2021] doi: 10.3390/plants10071298
C. Morales-Polo, M.M. Cledera-Castro, M. Revuelta-Aramburu, K. Hueso-Kortekaas, "Bioconversion process of barley crop residues into biogas: energetic-environmental potential in Spain", Agronomy, Vol. 11, nº. 4, pp. 640, April 2021. [Online: March 2021] doi: 10.3390/agronomy11040640
C. Morales-Polo, M.M. Cledera-Castro, B.Y. Moratilla, "Biogas production from vegetable and fruit markets waste- Compositional and batch characterizations", Sustainability, Vol. 11, nº. 23, pp. 6790, December 2019. [Online: November 2019] doi: 10.3390/su11236790
C. Morales-Polo, M.M. Cledera-Castro, B.Y. Moratilla, "Reviewing the anaerobic digestion of food waste: From waste generation and anaerobic process to its perspectives", Applied Sciences, Vol. 8, nº. 10, pp. 1804, October 2018. [Online: October 2018] doi: 10.3390/app8101804
B.Y. Moratilla, R. Ruiz-Sánchez, M. Estadieu, B. Belda-Sánchez, C. Cordón Peralta, P. Martín-Cañas, L. Rodríguez-Penalonga, M.M. Cledera-Castro, M.A. Sáenz-Nuño, C. Morales-Polo, "Impact of the taxes on used nuclear fuel on the fuel cycle economics in Spain", Energies, Vol. 8, nº. 2, pp. 1426 - 1439, February 2015. [Online: February 2015] doi: 10.3390/en8021426
K. Hueso-Kortekaas, M.M. Cledera-Castro, J.C. Romero, J. Tatay Nieto, "Peripatetic teaching at ICAI within the framework of the Inside-Out Sustainability project", in Good practices in university teaching: Comillas 2025, Madrid, Spain: Ed. Servicio de Publicaciones de la Universidad Pontificia Comillas, 2025, pp. 67-83