We will start working on the 2025 agenda in the New Year. Should you be interested in presenting please email peter@woodcotemedia.com with a brief synopsis.
Our 2024 Speakers
Please see below, the speakers from our 2024 Conference.
Liia Laanes is a Senior Auditor at the European Court of Auditors (ECA) and Head of Task of a recent audit on ‘The EU’s support for sustainable biofuels in transport: An unclear route ahead’. She has been working on various audit tasks relating to sustainable use of natural resources in ECA since 2015.
Sam has been Head of EU Affairs for Neste since 2021, and is based in Brussels. He joined the company with over 15 years of experience in EU government relations, with a particular focus on energy, transport and climate policies.
At Neste, Sam is in charge of representing Neste externally in all interactions with EU institutions and stakeholders. He coordinates the positioning and advocacy of the company towards all relevant pieces of legislation and policies. In the last 3 years, he was in charge of leading the company's advocacy on the EU fit for 55 policy package, which notably included the revision of the EU Renewable Energy Directive and the newly created EU SAF mandate under ReFUEL EU Aviation.
He is now transitioning to a new global role in the Neste public affairs team, where he will be in charge of aligning advocacy strategies for Neste's renewable fuel business across all regions.
Wim De Windt is an experienced, values-driven business leader and currently CEO of Europe and Advisory Board Member at Gadot Group, leader in value chain management for the global chemical industry and supply chain.
Wim is responsible for the Company’s European activities in specialty chemical manufacturing, liquid conditioning and global distribution and supply chain solutions. He served as a Director for several technology start-ups as well as for established multinationals, both stock quoted and private equity based. In diverse roles and environments he was trusted to bring about a step change and take the company to the next level.
Sandra De Mey graduated in 1991 as a bachelor in Communications Management (specialties in PR, advertising & communication). Postgraduate in port management at the Ghent University Maritime Institute.
She has been working with Ghent Port Company since 1992, where she started her career as a PR assistant (PR department). Not much later, she was appointed head of PR until in 2004 she opted for a new challenge as dry bulk manager and later as an account manager.
Today, as commercial manager her focus points are agribulk, liquids, food and (bio based)chemistry.
Account management, trade, prospection and invest are daily focus points.
Sandra is a board member of IMEXGRA (FEGRA) and of the Promotion Council North Sea Port.
Furthermore, she is an ambassador for ‘Women in Agribusiness’.
Today she has already been working for 33 years in the port (started as Port of Ghent) that changed to NORTH SEA PORT in January 1, 2018, the new international merged port.
"To help my port clients boost their businesses and find new investments are my daily targets. Know-how, years of experience and connecting people are some of my useful assets.”
Niels is responsible for the end-to-end biofuels business in bp’s
customer & products group. He is driving bp’s biofuels
strategy, regulatory position development and associated
financial delivery on a global scale, with focus on Europe and
the Americas.
He has more than 20 years of industry experience and has
worked across the value chain from retail to supply and trading
in various roles. Prior to his current role, he managed bp’s
supply business in Northwest Europe and has worked for more
than 10 years in commercial leadership roles in bp.
Niels holds a diploma as an industrial engineer from
Nordakademie Hochschule der Wirtschaft, Elmshorn in
Germany.
Ausilio is a partner at ERM in the Sustainable Energy Solutions team where he leads the low carbon fuels and sustainable chemicals sector. He was previously founder and director of sustainable energy strategy advisory firm E4tech. He is a leading expert in low carbon fuels with over 25 years’ experience, and works with a broad range of clients on projects covering technical and commercial due diligence, business and policy strategies, and project and supply chain formation.
He participates in advisory panels for a range of organisations, including the UK Department for Transport Advanced Fuels Fund, the Sustainable Aviation Buyers Alliance (SABA), the IEA and the Climate Bonds Initiative.
Valérie Corre has spent her almost entire professional life in the alcohol business starting with SpiritsEurope in 1994. She then led the European Association of Ethanol Producers and was actively involved in the early discussions on the promotion of biofuels in the EU. Since 2013, she is Director of Regulatory Affairs Alcohol/Ethanol Europe with TEREOS, a French Sugar Cooperative leader in sugar and ethanol production in the EU. Since 2022, she is also President of the French Ethanol Association (SNPAA).
Jonas Höwing has a MSc and PhD in inorganic chemistry from Uppsala University, Sweden. He has extensive experience working with material selection, failure analysis, remaining life assessment and corrosion studies at Alleima and other companies. He now holds the position of Technical Marketing Specialist at Alleima Tube division, responsible for the EMEA Nordics region.
Nathan has more than 30 years of experience in industrial biotechnology. Currently, Nathan is a principle at BioCognito, a consultancy that helps firms in agricultural and industrial biotechnology to bring new technologies to from the lab to commercialization. Clients have included Arzeda, Exopolymer, Monsanto, the National Corn Growers Association, Primient and others.
Prior to BioCognito, Nathan was at DuPont in business development in their Applied Biosciences group. In this role he initiated or assisted in bringing new biopolymers and enzymes to commercialization.
Nathan graduated from the University of Colorado with a Bachelor of Science degree in molecular biology and biochemistry. He earned a Master of Science degree from the University of Colorado for his work on metabolic engineering in ethanol producing organisms. He has an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis.
Eduardo Famini Silva is Director of Renewables and Energy transition at Royal Bank of Canada (“RBC”), based in London. In his role, Eduardo is responsible for advising and providing insights to clients in EMEA on transactions across capital raisings, mergers & acquisitions, and capital markets issuances. Eduardo has more than 15 years of experience in the energy sector and has advised on several deals across bio and synthetic fuels. Eduardo holds a Master of Business Administration degree from London Business School.
Barinder J S Ghai is the Director Technical Marketing and New Business Development at Alleima, based in Birmingham, UK. He is focused on maintaining and developing the technical marketing organization within a region to extend the technical and application knowledge on a regional and global level. The position is a link between R&D, Marketing, Sales, Supply and technical experts to customers.
Barinder is leading Biofuels segment initiatives within Alleima focussing on suitable corrosion resistance tubular material for shift from Fossil fuels to Renewable diesel, SAF and Biogas.
André is Nuseed’s EU representative, based in Brussels. With more than 15 years of experience, he drives the company’s EU policy advocacy strategy, steering Nuseed Bioenergy Platform and Carinata Programme development in Europe.
Prior to joining Nuseed, André spent +7 years at the EBB-European Biodiesel Board, the association representing European biodiesel & HVO producers. As Head of EU Policy, André led the EBB’s advocacy work, developing common policy positions and working on joint positions with external stakeholders and coalitions. He also represented the industry in EU expert groups and conferences. He focused on the implementation of the post-2020 EU Renewable Energy Directive (RED II), the Fit-For-55 package (RED III, aviation, maritime, etc.), multiple European Green Deal proposals and trade matters.
Before the EBB, André spent +4 years as a consultant at a public affairs agency in Brussels, advising clients in the energy, environment, and transport sectors, with a strong focus on biofuels issues. Prior to moving to Brussels, André worked for various law firms in Portugal focused on public law and policy.
Craig Winneker is Director of Communications at ePURE and has worked as a communications professional and journalist for more than 30 years in Brussels and Washington. He joined ePURE in December 2016 after having been news editor at Politico. Before that, he was Director of Public Affairs at the European Crop Protection Association and has also worked as Director of Political Communications for the European Photovoltaic Industry Association. His journalism career included top editorial positions with the Wall Street Journal Europe and European Voice in Brussels. He was also managing editor of Roll Call in Washington. He holds a BA in political science from Texas Christian University.
Tim leads the editorial team for Fastmarkets Agriculture, and is responsible for all news, pricing and content across the group’s three main pillars of Agricensus, The Jacobsen and Palm Oil Analytics. A veteran in the price reporting space, Tim was a co-founder of Census Commodity Data prior to its acquisition by Fastmarkets, and before that spent ten years working across a diverse range of commodities at Platts, now S&P Global Commodity Insights. He is based in the UK.
Ina Chiriță is an expert in European biofuels markets at S&P Global. She specializes in EU biofuels regulatory frameworks and is responsible for the development of the long-term biofuels and feedstocks supply and demand forecasts for the region.
Ina has over 10 years of experience in energy research and analysis. Since she joined the company in 2014, she has worked in different roles in the Oil Markets, Midstream and Downstream group. She has focused on the long-term implications of the energy transition on the European downstream sector and has led the Europe Refining and Marketing research capability between 2018 and 2020.
Previously, Ina was an Adviser on Climate and Sustainability at the Romanian Presidential Administration.
Denis Arguin is heading Enerkem’s Strategic Account Management Program for the commercialization of its technology solution with its partners across the globe.
Denis brings over 30 years of experience in industrial process/product development, new technology commercialization, engineering, and operational management experience.
Denis joined Enerkem more than 15 years ago. Prior to that, he led over 20 plant start-ups across the globe in a wide range of industries from oil & gas refining, petrochemicals, biofuels, process minerals and metallurgy. He held several management roles in Canada, the USA and Europe with increasing responsibility, including Gulf Canada, Union Carbide, Kemtec (now Parachem), Minerals Technologies, Technologies Orbite and CelluForce.
Denis Arguin holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering as well as an Executive MBA from Western University in London, Ontario.
Julie Maillot is Principal Technology Engineer within the Renewables Product Line of Axens.
She joined in 2018 the team in charge of promoting Axens technological solutions to produce advanced biofuels and bio-based chemicals. Her main focus is on Futurol™ technology to convert lignocellulosic biomass into 2nd generation bioethanol.
Julie started her career in 2007 as Process Engineer in Prosernat (IFPEN Group), where she was involved in refinery and natural gas treatment projects, from technical proposals and conceptual design to detailed engineering, modular construction and start-up.
She holds a Master degree in Chemistry and Chemical Engineering from INSA de Rouen and an Advanced Master Degree in Refining Engineering and Gas from the IFP-School.
Vito Sangiorgio is a Process Engineer in the Renewables Process Technology department of Sulzer, Chemtech division.
He joined the company in 2022 and his main focus is on bioethanol purification and electrified distillation with heat pumps and MVR.
Before joining Sulzer, Vito worked as Process Engineer in EPC and as Field Process Engineer in a 2G-bioethanol plant in Italy.
He holds a master’s degree in Chemical and Process Engineering from Politecnico di Milano, a Double Degree in Chemical and Sustainable Process Engineering from Politecnico di Torino, and a diploma of Alta Scuola Politecnica.
Xavier Noyon is the Secretary General of the European Biodiesel Board (EBB), based in Brussels. The EBB is the association for companies producing biodiesel (HVO and FAME) in the EU and represents producers using all feedstocks: food/feed crops, waste, residues, and other innovative biogenic materials. Xavier brings in experience from previous roles at PEFC International, ESTIF - European Solar Thermal Industry Federation, LOGOS Public Affairs and Orgalime. He holds a master’s degree in European Public Policy from Institut d'études politiques de Strasbourg.
Howard grew up in rural Woodstock, Illinois, with a broad farming background, and is a 1991 graduate of Auburn University with a Bachelor of Science in Agricultural Economics. He began his grain merchandising career with Peavy Grain in Waunakee, Wisconsin, and in 1995 returned to his home county in Illinois as the Grain Department Manager for Northern FS. In 1197, he became the General Manager for Leland Farmers' Company, where he managed three country grain elevators. He accepted the General Manager position at Harmon Grain in 2006, managing seven county elevator locations prior to his start at Marquis Energy Wisconsin.
Rodrigo Rodera is a chemical engineer who has been with desmet since 2007. Starting as a site and start-up engineer, he advanced to process engineer and currently serves as the Process Technology Manager. In this role, he provides technical support to sales, on oils and fats refining, with a special emphasis on HVO/SAF pretreatment.
Bruno is an agricultural engineer trained in Brussels (Belgium). Since 2021 Bruno has been working as General Director of 2BS, a Voluntary Scheme recognized by the European Commission.
Bruno has held management positions in various trade unions in Belgium, France and Switzerland. He has been an active representative liaising with governmental institutions at national and European levels for both agricultural and industrial sectors.
Bruno is specialized in the areas of agriculture, bioenergy, standardization, certification, accreditation and testing laboratories. His main commitment has always been to voice the interests of his stakeholders.