News & events

The Steering Committee of the World Bioenergy Association (WBA) appointed Christian Rakos as president of the association at the WBA Annual Meetings 2020. The meetings were initially scheduled to be held in Vienna. However, due to the current COVID 19 situation, a conference call was held to convene WBA members for the meetings.

Rakos follows Remigijus Lapinskas from Lithuania, who steps down as President after four years. In addition to his duties as managing director of proPellets Austria, Rakos is looking forward to his new role: “The sustainable use of bioenergy plays an important role in our fight against climate change. Using bioenergy based on modern technology and sustainable management has enormous potential. It is a great pleasure and honor for me to be able to contribute in this context. Promoting the transitionto a sustainable bioenergy use is my most important goal as the new President of the World Bioenergy Association.”

Former President, Remigijus Lapinskas wishes Rakos all the best “Bioenergy plays an outstanding role among renewable energy sources and it is imperative to utilize all RE sources to overcome the challenge of decarbonizing the energy sector. Bioenergy already provides clean and sustainable options for heating, electricity and transportation. Personally, for the past 4 years, I am glad to have been the President and help guide the mission of promoting sustainable development worldwide. I also wish my successor Christian Rakos all the best in his new role”. Remigijus will continue to serve as the WBA board member.

Bharadwaj Kummamuru, Executive Director of WBA says, “On behalf of the Secretariat, we are pleased to have Christian Rakos take up the role of President. The most important qualities required in the current times of global crisis is leadership and collaboration. We are grateful for the decision of the Steering Committee and look forward to working closely with Rakos and also the new board”. 

Christian Rakos: Rakos, a physicist, has spent his entire professional life dealing with the use of renewable energy. First at the Institute for Technology Assessment of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, then at the Austrian Energy Agency and finally as Managing Director of the Austrian Pellet Association. Rakos was also the founding president of the European Pellet Association and a board member of the Forum of Austrian Scientists for Environmental Protection and the Austrian Society for Environment and Technology. He is active on the board of the Austrian Biomass Association and the Umbrella Association for Renewable Energy Austria.

New Board: At the Steering Committee meeting, a new board was also elected. WBA welcomes the board members who were re-elected as well as new candidates. The list of the current WBA board includes:  Alarik Sandrup, Lantmännen, Sweden; Ben Moxham, Camberwell Energy, UK; Christian Rakos, Propellets, Austria (President); Hazir Farouk, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Sudan ; Hong Hao, Great Resources, China (Vice President); Zygmunt Gzyra, Polish Chamber of Biofuels, Poland; Dawn Lambe, Biomass North Develompent Centre, Canada; Jean Marc Jossart, Bioenergy Europe, Belgium; Mika Ohbayashi, Renewable Energy Institute, Japan; Remigijus Lapinskas, LITBIOMA, Lithuania; Saku Rantanen, Tasma Bioenergy, Singapore; Tanay Sidki Uyar, Marmara University, Turkey (Vice President) ; Werner Sitzmann, Amandus Kahl, Germany; Georgiy Geletukha, UABIO, Ukraine; Glaucia Souza, University of Sao Paolo, Brazil; Larissa Rose, Below50, Australia; Oscar Mijares Espinosa, Pellet MX, Mexico; Pharoah Le Feuvre, International Energy Agency, France; Vadim Zubayev, Hungarian Ethanol Association, Hungary.  

Nominating Committee: The SC also voted for a new Nominating Committee in charge of proposing candidates for WBA board for the future. Its members include Gustav Melin, Svebio, Sweden (Convener); Christoph Pfemeter, Austrian Biomass Association, Austria; Andrew Lang, WBA, Australia.