The 17th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, being held from June 29-July 3 in Hamburg, German, opened today with global specialists and industry representatives in the biomass sector.
The opening address included Giovanni Federigo De Santi, Director of the Institute for Energy (IE), Joint Research Center (JRC) – European Commission, and Michael Müller, Parliamentarian Secretary of State at the German Federal Ministry for the Environment.
Fabrizio Barbaso, European Commission, Deputy Director General for Energy and Transport, who presented after a short introduction of the RES-E Directive of 2001 and Biofuels Directive of 2003 and EU Biomass Action Plan of 2005, the RES targets and sectors (including heating and cooling) and the national renewable energy action plans, including biomass availability and mobilization.
Other speakers included Valri Lightner, Biomass Program Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Josè Moreira, Director CENBIO – Brazilian National Biomass Reference Center, Brazil, and Sergey Mazurenko, Head of Federal Agency for Science and Innovations, Russia.
In addition, the Johannes Linneborn Prize for Achievements in Biomass Development was awarded to Professor Bryan M. Jenkins, University of California (Davis), USA. Jenkins has been in the biomass field for 30 years, during which he has produced more than 130 papers, with additional textbook contributions and prominent reports, which have contributed further to the credibility of the California Biomass Collaborative. This Institute, founded and directed by Prof. Jenkins, provides a strong base for the collaboration of academia, companies, environmental organisations and the government, in order to analyse, plan and co-operate towards a better and more sustainable future.
The professional background of Prof. Jenkins includes the functions as Senior Resource Engineer for the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, as an Affiliate Researcher for the California Senate Office of Research and he is currently the Director of the University of California Davis Energy Institute.