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2024 October 31 - 2024 October 22

World Bioenergy Association GA 2024 elects New Board

At the recent WBA General Assembly (GA) held in Sao Paulo, Brazil on 22nd October 2024, a new board was elected. The board members bring in a wealth of knowledge and experience while capturing the versatility of the bioenergy sector with diverse representation in terms of background, geography, affiliations, and gender. Below is the list of board members for 2024:  

  1. Alarik Sandrup, Director, Public and Regulatory Affairs, Lantmännen, Sweden 
  2. Christian Rakos, Former CEO, Propellets Austria, Austria 
  3. Dave Lello, CEO, Ekasi Energy, South Africa* 
  4. Elizabeth Woodworth, Interim Executive Director, US Indutrial Pellet Association, USA 
  5. Glaucia Souza, Professor, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil 
  6. Guangqing Liu, Chairman, Chinese Rural Energy Industry Administration, China  
  7. Jamie Stephen, Managing Director, Torchlight Bioresources Ltd., Canada 
  8. Justine Akumu, Senior Energy Officer, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda* 
  9. Ketaki Kokil, Director, Ecosense Appliances Pvt. Ltd., India 
  10. Mariano Molina, VP Government Affairs and Stakeholder Relations, Elimini, UK*
  11. Marion Peterson, Chief Operations Officer, Emerging Cooking Solutions, Zambia* 
  12. Mika Ohbayashi, Director, Renewable Energy Institute, Japan  
  13. Oscar Espinosa Mijares, CEO, Pellet Mexico Bioenergia, Mexico 
  14. Remigijus Lapinskas, Member of the Board, Lithuania Biomass Energy Association, Lithuania 
  15. Rodrigo O’Ryan, President, Chilean Biomass Association, Chile  
  16. Werner Sitzmann, Head of Technology, Amandus Kahl, Germany  
  17. Zoltan Szabo, Secretary General, Climate Ethanol Alliance, Hungary  
  18. Zygmunt Gzyra, Chairman of Board, Polish Chamber of Biofuels, Poland  

* Newly elected for the 1st time

Christian Rakos continues as the President of the World Bioenergy Association.
  

WBA also expresses sincere gratitude to outgoing board members who finish 10 years as part of the WBA board: Kelvin Hong (Great Resources Ltd, China) and Hazir Farouk (Sudan University of Science and Technology, Sudan) for their great support over the years.  


The GA also elected a new nominating committee who oversees the election of the board. The committee includes:  

  • Gustav Melin, Chairman WTS Biofuels, Sweden 
  • Jean Marc Jossart, Secretary General, Bioenergy Europe, Belgium  
  • Christoph Pfemeter, Managing Director, Austria Biomass Association, Austria  
  • Alan Sherrard, Editor in Chief, Bioenergy International, Sweden
      

For a full list of current board members, please click here: Link