Vice President biofuels value chain, BP Europe SE

As Vice President biofuels value chain Niels is responsible for the biofuels business in bp’s customer & products group. He drives bp’s biofuels strategy, develops bp’s regulatory positions and is responsible for the financial delivery of the biofuels agenda globally, with a specific focus on Europe and the Americas.

Niels has more than 20 years of industry experience. He has worked in the value chain in various roles, reaching from retail to supply and trading, and prior to his current role managed bp’s supply business in Northwest Europe. He has worked 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.

Chairman of the Board of Bundesverband Bioenergie e.V. (BBE)

Sean Bartlett has over a decade of price reporting and journalism experience encompassing physical biofuels and certificates markets, gasoline components, grains and sugar. Prior to Quantum, Sean was most recently at Census/Fastmarkets and for 9 years prior to that worked at S&P Global Platts where he headed up the agriculture editorial team in London.

Dr.-Ing. Ralph-Uwe Dietrich leads the research area Techno Economic Assessment(TEA)at the Institute of Engineering Thermodynamics at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Stuttgartsince 2015. He is responsible for the research group on techno economic and ecologic evaluation of alternative fuels for aviation and global transport. He received his PhD in Engineering at the Technical University Clausthal in 2013 as a scientific associateat the Clausthaler Umwelttechnik Institute (CUTEC-Institut GmbH). Before that, he got 15 years of project manager experience at different enterprises (SME and Fortune 500) of the process and automation industry.

Nik Pais dos Santos is Senior Reporter at Argus Media Germany covering the road fuel market. He has developed expertise in the German biofuels market, including HVO and biomethane. Additionally, he is responsible for the assessment and coverage of the German greenhouse gas tickets, enabling him to calculate and analyse all price components in the fuel market effectively.

Nik Pais dos Santos holds a Master of Arts in Philosophy and a Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry and Philosophy.

John Cosmo Dwelle is Head of Operations and Business Development at Landwärme, one of Europe's leading biomethane supply companies based in Munich. Landwärme stands out as a leading player in the German and European market not only by specializing in trading biomethane and other renewable gases, but also by taking a proactive approach to the development and operation of biogas upgrading plants, incorporating innovative CCUS technology. The company also offers comprehensive services along the entire biomethane value chain, consolidating its position as one of the leading biomethane suppliers in Europe.

Before taking on various positions at Landwärme, John Cosmo Dwelle honed his expertise by working with renowned organizations, including the law firm Peters, Schönberger & Partner and Siemens France SAS. Dwelle's background is characterized by a solid university education with a Legum Baccalaureus and a Master's degree in sustainable resource management from the Technical University of Munich. He also has several years of interdisciplinary experience in the field of renewable energies.

Professional career

since 10/2012

Technology and Promotion Center at the Competence Center for Renewable Resources (TFZ)

Department: Renewable fuels and materials

Activities: Head of test benches as well as research on regenerative drives.

University education

11/2013 - 05/2021
Technical University of Munich (TUM)

Doctorate on the topic of "Real exhaust emission behavior
of tractors on the test bench and in the field", degree: Doctor of Agricultural Sciences (Dr. agr.)

10/2010 - 09/2012

Technical University of Munich (TUM) at the Straubing site

Course of studies: Renewable raw materials, Degree: Master of Science (M. Sc.)

09/2006 - 10/2010
Weihenstephan-Triesdorf University of Applied Sciences

Course of studies: Agriculture, Degree: Diplom-Ingenieur (FH)

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

Christoph Falter is Head of Strategy at Synhelion. Synhelion is a Swiss cleantech company that uses solar energy to produce renewable solar fuels to decarbonize transportation. The fuels produced by Synhelion – such as solar kerosene, gasoline, or diesel – can directly replace fossil fuels as they are fully compatible with existing global infrastructure. With its solar fuel technology, Synhelion offers a sustainable and economically viable alternative to fossil fuels and unlocks a clean future of transportation.

Christoph received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from RWTH Aachen in 2017. He has more than ten years of experience in the experimental and theoretical analysis of various alternative fuel pathways including biofuels, power-to-liquid fuels, and solar thermochemical fuels. He has published several scientific journal articles quantifying their thermodynamic, environmental, and economic potential. Christoph worked at a German research institute and in the Laboratory for Aviation and the Environment at MIT before joining Synhelion.

Free University of Bozen

BE.in Chemical Engineering Gauhati University, India
MSc. in Renewable EnergyCarl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg
Masters of Business and Management, The University of Waikato, New Zealand
Phd in Sustainable Energy and Technologies, The Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

Air Liquide Engineering & Construction   

Armin Günther studied chemistry at Goethe University Frankfurt, worked at the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (CNR) in Bologna, received his doctorate in chemistry in Frankfurt and worked in atmospheric research. He headed the department for project management and renewable energies of an engineering company and was responsible for national and international projects in traditional plant construction and renewable energies. At LURGI AG he held various functions and positions such as Director Market Group Renewables and e.g. Director Innovation & Development and Director High Temperature Center (HTC) at Air Liquide Global E&C Solutions. He is an international technical expert for the Air Liquide Group and currently holds the position of Director New Technologies & Energy Transition.

1987-1992: Studied agricultural economics at the Gesamthochschule Kassel/ Witzenhausen, graduating with a degree in agricultural economics.

1992-1994 Development service in Kamsar, Guinea.

1994-1996 Postgraduate studies in environmental sciences at the Friedrich Schiller University in Jena, graduating as an environmental scientist.

1997-2000: Research assistant at the UNEP/UNESCO/BMU International Postgraduate Training Programme on Environmental Management at the Technical University of Dresden.

From 2000: Head of the office of Marita Sehn, Member of the German Bundestag and Chair of the Petitions Committee of the German Bundestag.

2004 - 2013 as office manager of the deputy chairman and financial policy spokesman of the FDP parliamentary group and chairman of the FDP Rhineland-Palatinate, Dr Volker Wissing, MdB.

2014 - 2016 Chief Executive and Press Spokesman of the FDP Rhineland-Palatinate.

2016-2017 Deputy Speaker of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Government.

2017-2021 Head of the Office of the Minister of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate for Economic Affairs, Transport, Agriculture and Viticulture, Dr Volker Wissing; also Deputy Spokesperson of the Rhineland-Palatinate State Government in 2021.

Since 2022 State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport

2014 - B. Sc. Process Engineering, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (DE)

2016 - M. Sc. Chemical Engineering, TU Munich (DE)

2016 - Research Affiliate, University of Sydney (AU) (PROMOS Scholarship)

2018 - Research Assistant, Chair of Energy and Application Technology, TU Munich (DE)

CHP Field Testing, Energy Flexibility Modelling in Industry & Distribution Grid Level

2022 - Research & Development Engineer, Miele & Cie. KG (DE)

Energy Efficiency Testing, Material Development, Environmental Officer

Current  - Process Engineer, Nexxoil GmbH (DE)

Pilot Scale Process Development and Engineering

Current - Research Assistant, Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (DE)

PhD Candidate, University of the West of Scotland (GB)

Chemical Recycling of Plastic Waste

REDcert GmbH

• Since its foundation in 2010, Managing Director of REDcert GmbH, which was founded by the leading associations of the agricultural and biofuel industry to establish an industry-based certification system for sustainably produced biofuels and bioliquids under the European Renewable Energy Directive.
• Also responsible for the subsidiary Sustainable Resources Verification Scheme (SURE), which was founded by REDcert in 2019 as a joint venture with the European umbrella organization Bioenergy Europe and focuses on the sustainability certification of solid and gaseous biomass for electricity and heat generation.
• Responsible for the SeedGuard certification system for seed treatment facilities and the supporting organization of the same name
• For almost 20 years, responsible for ORGAINVENT GmbH, which operates the only testing system for the origin labeling of meat in Germany.

Institute for Energy Research, Ostwestfalen-Lippe University of Applied Sciences, Lemgo

Department of Mechanical Engineering and Mechatronics

East Westphalia-Lippe University of Applied Sciences, Lemgo

since 2011 Professor of Fluid Dynamics, Fluid Machinery and Energy Technology, Lemgo  

Modeling of flows and heat transport as well as energy systems, power-to-X, e-fuels, biofuels

•     2007 -2011 Development Manager Fans, mdexx/Siemens Bremen
•     2004 -2007 Project Manager Development, GEA Lufttechnik, Herne, Germany
•     2000 -2004 Flow simulation, Bayer Technology Services, Leverkusen  
•     2000 Doctorate, Institute of Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Otto-von-Guericke University, Magdeburg

Botagoz is a Senior Market Analyst at SGS INSPIRE, where she is responsible for conducting research and analysis on European Union policies and legislative developments within EU Member States. Based in Brussels, Belgium, she brings 13 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, specializing in regulatory affairs and commercial management.

Before joining SGS INSPIRE, Botagoz held various positions at Chevron Kazakhstan, where she worked across public affairs, regulatory compliance, marketing, and transportation departments.

Botagoz holds a bachelor's degree in Economics from the Institute of Oil & Gas, a postgraduate certification in Marketing from the European School of Economics, and a master’s degree in Clean Technology Management.

She also gained experience at SABIC in the Netherlands, where she was responsible for analyzing opportunities and constraints related to the company’s sustainable fuel strategy in response to recent EU regulations in the energy and transportation sectors.