**About the Editors**

#### **Sergey Zhironkin**

Sergey Zhironkin, Prof., Dr. Sc., Professor of the open-pit mining department of T.F. Gorbachev Kuzbass State Technical University (Kemerovo, Russian Federation).

Research interests: open-pit mining; sustainable development; innovation mining technologies; mining clusters' neo-industrial development.

Author of more than 200 research works, tutorials, textbooks, and course books.

#### **Radim Ryb ´ar**

Prof. Radim Rybar studied at the Faculty of Mining, Ecology, Process Control and ´ Geotechnologies of the Technical University in Kosice, specializing in Deposit Mining – land resource ˇ utilization and protection. He received his PhD degree in 2002, and he is a professor at the Institute of Earth Resources. He teaches the following subjects: traditional energy sources, alternative energy sources, alternative energy technologies, and energy sources and transformations. In his scientific and research activities, he deals with the use of renewable energy sources.
