News & events

On 14^th September 2021, the World Bioenergy Association (WBA) convened the Annual Meetings (AM) 2021. The meeting was in a hybrid format with participants joining us physically in Vienna as well as via conference call. On the previous day, WBA delegates had an opportunity to participate in site visits near Vienna including a visit to the company Polytechnik, a new CHP facility in the city of Sulz, and discussions with the Wienerwald Forestry Agency.

Watch the video here: Link 

On 14^th September, the Steering Committee of WBA re-elected Christian Rakos as president of the association at the WBA Annual Meetings 2021. Also, a new board was elected.

The list of the current WBA board includes:  

1. Alarik Sandrup, Lantmännen, Sweden
2. Ben Moxham, Camberwell Energy, UK
3. Christian Rakos, Propellets, Austria (President)
4. Hazir Farouk, Sudan University of Science and Technology, Sudan
5. Hong Hao, Great Resources, China (Vice President)
6. Zygmunt Gzyra, Polish Chamber of Biofuels, Poland
7. Mika Ohbayashi, Renewable Energy Institute, Japan
8. Remigijus Lapinskas, LITBIOMA, Lithuania
9. Saku Rantanen, Tasma Bioenergy, Singapore
10. Tanay Sidki Uyar, Marmara University, Turkey (Vice President)
11. Werner Sitzmann, Amandus Kahl, Germany
12. Georgiy Geletukha, UABIO, Ukraine
13. Glaucia Souza, University of Sao Paolo, Brazil
14. Larissa Rose, Below50, Australia
15. Oscar Mijares Espinosa, Pellet MX, Mexico
16. Pharoah Le Feuvre, International Energy Agency, France
17. Vadim Zubayev, Hungarian Ethanol Association, Hungary
18. Seth Ginter, US Industrial Pellets Association, USA 

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. 

At the General Assembly (GA) 2021, the members approved the Annual Report 2020 and provided inputs to the activities of WBA for the year 2021 and future work plan 2022. Discussions involved topics related to communication and outreach, events including COP26, as well as the challenges faced by the bioenergy sector around the world. The AM 2021 also involved the 56^th meeting of the WBA Board. 

We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the team of ProPellets Austria for hosting the delegation.