Patrick Lafontaine’s background is energy engineering and energy economy. He graduated at the University of Ghent, the Antwerp Business School and INSEAD Business School in Fontainebleau.

His experience is electricity and heat production and energy consumption in energy-intensive industries in the chemical and petrochemical, steel and non-ferrous, cement, glass, paper and pulp, fertilizers, agri-food sectors. In recent years, he has developed roadmaps for the energy transition in these industries, aiming to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy intensity through various pathways such as electrification, hydrogen, carbon capture and carbon use or storage, heat recovery and heat pumps, and circular economy.

He is currently Director of the Clean Steel Partnership programme, a co-programmed partnership with the European Commission and the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP), where he is in charge of developing and implementing the strategic research and innovation agenda for the European steel industry.