Conferences

World
Sustainable
Energy Days 2026

24 - 27 February 2026
in Wels

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Speakers 2013

Raymond J. Albrecht

  • Technical advisor and member of board of directors of Biomass Thermal Energy Council (BTEC), USA
  • Past chairman of ASHRAE Technical Committee 6.10 for fuels and combustion
  • Degrees in engineering; Bachelor and Master of Science

Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Rudi Anschober

  • Regional Minister for Energy, Austria

Opening Address

Bogdan Atanasiu

  • Senior energy efficiency expert at the Buildings Performance Institute (BPIE)
  • Before scientific officer at EC Joint Research Centre
  • PhD in power management and in stand-alone photovoltaic systems

Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Martin Bentele

  • Chief Executive Officer of the "Deutscher Energieholz- und Pellet-Verband (DEPV)", Germany
  • Managing Director of the "Deutsches Pelletinstitut (DEPI)"
  • Degree in Forestry (Albert-Ludwigs University of Freiburg, Germany)

Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Vrinda Bhandarkar

  • Director of Research, LED Lighting, Strategies Unlimited
  • Before, analyst and author of industry reports on LED lighting markets
  • MA Economics and MA Sociology

Speaker at the Conference "LED - innovative lighting solutions"

Hans Bloem

  • for more than 27 years at the European Commission, Joint Research Centre
  • Renewable Energies Unit of the Institute for Energy and Transport
  • Member of several EU research networks

Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Nils Borg

  • Executive Director of the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy (eceee)
  • Responsible for the organisation’s activities in the areas of ecodesign, product energy standards and labelling
  • Educational background: languages, political science and economic history

Speaker at the Conference "LED - innovative lighting solutions"

Martina Caminada

  • Managing Director proPellets.ch, Switzerland
  • Before, canton forestry administration St. Gallen, research assistant at the ETH Zurich
  • MSc Environmental Science (ETH Zurich)

Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Claudia Canevari

  • Deputy Head of the Energy Efficiency Unit of DG Energy, European Commission
  • Before, policy assistant of the Director-General in DG Communication, Member of Cabinet of Commissioner Dimas and coordinator of the climate change team of DG Environment in international negotiations
  • Lawyer; LLM, London School of Economics

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Energy Efficiency Watch"
<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Bernd Clauss

  • Project manager international projects, Zumtobel Austria
  • 6 years’ experience in facade construction (project manager and head of project management), 5 years’ experience in professional lighting
  • Degree in Engineering, Civil engineering; International Master Project Management

<link>Speaker at the Conference "LED - innovative lighting solutions"

Maarten De Groote

  • Policy officer at the Flemish Energy Agency (VEA)
  • Before, Flemish NZEB action plan project manager
  • Postgraduate Energy & Climate, Master Industrial Design

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Estelle Delangle

  • Director of the AER Regional Expertise Centre
  • Assembly of European Regions as policy coordinator in charge of cohesion policy, rural development and agriculture, energy and climate change, economic development, innovation and research
  • Master in European Relations, Graduate from the Institute of Political Science

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Gerhard Dell

  • Energy Commissioner to the Upper Austrian Government
  • Director of OÖ Energiesparverband
  • National award for energy research
  • Lecturer at the University of Linz
  • Degree and a post-graduate degree (PhDengineering, Dr.tech.) in Electrical Engineering and Energy Economics. He worked as researcher on renewable energy sources and energy efficiency projects at the Technical University Graz

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Diane Diacon

  • Director, Building and Social Housing Foundation, UK
  • UK Representative to CECODHAS Housing Europe
  • Judge for 25 years of the International World Habitat Awards Competition
  • MA in Town and Country Planning, BA (Hons) Geography

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Ilze Dimdiņa

  • Research assistant at the University of Latvia
  • HVAC system designer at the "Indutec LV", Ltd.
  • Professional master’s degree heat, gas and water technology (Riga Technical University, Latvia), Bachelor of Science degree in Physics (University of Latvia)

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Stefan Döring

  • Managing Partner of Plant Engineering GmbH, Germany
  • Before, operation and planning of pellet production plants, biomass CHPs and Diesel/HFO engine CHPs
  • Studies and PhD at University of Excellence RWTH Aachen

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Christiane Egger

  • Deputy manager of the OÖ Energiesparverband
  • Conference director of the World Sustainable Energy Days
  • Lawyer and environmental engineer with long-term experience in developing and implementing sustainable energy projects on international and regional levels

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference<link>
Speaker at the Conference "Energy Efficiency Watch"<link>
Speaker at the LED-Conference

Anselm Eisentraut

  • Bioenergy Analyst in the Renewable Energy Division of the International Energy Agency (IEA)
  • Lead author of the recently published technology roadmap "Biofuels for Transport and Bioenergy for Heat and Power"
  • Before, BKN Biostrom AG, Berlin and NLU Projektgesellschaft, Münster
  • Diploma in Landscape Ecology from University Münster

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Hans Erhorn

  • Head of the department of heat technology at the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics, Germany
  • Since 2004 Coreteam Leader at the EU EPBD Concerted Action project
  • Academic degrees in building services engineering (TFH Berlin) and in environmental engineering (TU Berlin)

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Hazir Farouk

  • Lecturer in school of mechanical, College of Engineering, Sudan University of Science and Technology
  • Researcher in biodiesel production (mainly from jatropha oil)
  • MSc in mechanical engineering (Malaysia), BSc in mechanical engineering (Sudan)

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Josef Frauscher

  • Director of Frauscher Holding GmbH and Frauscher Energietechnik GmbH, advisor of the private trust Josef Frauscher, Austria
  • Founder of the companies in the Frauscher corporate group
  • Since 2001, management of the research and development of sterling machinery of Frauscher Energietechnik GmbH
  • Degree in engineering

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Daniel Frering

  • Manager of Education, Lighting Research Center, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, USA
  • directs the Education Programs including teaching, and course and curriculum development
  • Bachelor of Arts, Education; Master of Education; Master of Science in Lighting

<link>Speaker at the Conference "LED - innovative lighting solutions"

Pau Garcia Audí

  • Project officer of the Energy Efficiency Unit of the European Commission’s Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI)
  • Before, building services engineer at Pick Everard (UK) and project manager at FormelD (Spain)
  • Mechanical Engineering Degree (UPC, Spain), BEng in Mechanical Engineering (De Montfort, UK); MSc in Building Services (Loughborough University, UK)

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Jan Geiss

  • Secretary General of EUFORES – The European Forum for Renewable Energy Sources
  • Since 2011, President of the Renewable Energy House, Brussels
  • Dipl.-Kulturwirt, PhD in Political Science and Economics (University of Passau, Germany)

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Energy Efficiency Watch"

Johan Granath

  • Senior Vice President Bioenergy, Ekman, Sweden
  • Before consumer credit marketing at GE Capital and finance and risk management at Ekman
  • Master in Business Administration from Gothenburg School of Economics

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Thomas RC Hartman

  • Partner, Coldham&Hartman Architects, USA
  • professional design services for residential, commercial and institutional clients committed to creating green buildings and communities throughout the Northeast
  • Bachelor of Architecture (University of Southern California, Los Angeles, USA), Associate of Architectural Engineering (Wenworth Institute of Technology, Boston, USA)

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Walter Haslinger

  • Manager of the small-scale-boilers area and of the location Wieselburg of the K1 Biomassekompetenzzentrum BIOENERGY 2020+, Austria
  • Key Researcher in the biomass technology field of the K-project “Future Building” of the Austrian initiative “Competence Centers for Excellent Technologies” – COMET
  • Degree in mechanical engineering, doctorate (Technical University of Vienna)

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Jennifer Hedrick

  • Executive Director, Pellet Fuels Institute
  • Before, association manager, Pellet Fuels Institute; programme associate, workplace flexibility 2010, Georgetown University Law Centre
  • Master of Arts, Verginia Tech; Bachelor of Science, Bridgewater College

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Daniel Hegele

  • Division manager development biomass combustion at Hoval Liechtenstein
  • 15 years' experience in the development of log wood and pellet boilers, before experience in the solar industry
  • graduate engineer (FH)

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Nandakumar Janardhanan

  • Energy Policy Specialist, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan
  • work experience in energy sector research, policy research experience with leading think tanks in India and Japan, research experience on nuclear power, oil & gas, renewable energy, climate change, and low carbon development
  • Energy related publications in books and journals
  • Doctorate in energy policy

<link>Speaker at the Conference "LED - innovative lighting solutions"

Adrian Joyce

  • Secretary General of EuroACE
  • Campaign Director of the Renovate Europe Campaign
  • Before private practice; Practice Director of the Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland; Director of the Architects’ Council of Europe
  • Architect (University College Dublin)

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Mel Kendal

  • Deputy Leader Hampshire County Council, UK
  • Executive Member for Environment & Transport, Hampshire County Council
  • New Forest District Councillor

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Claudia Kunz

  • Consultant for energy economy, project manager "research radar renewable energy" at the Agentur für Erneuerbare Energien, Germany
  • Before, consultant for energy and climate policy at the WWF Germany
  • Degree in environmental sciences, focus on environmental law and communication, University Lüneburg

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Jarek Kurnitski

  • Professor in Energy Performance of Buildings and Indoor Climate, Tallin University of Technology
  • leader of the NZEB research group at the University
  • 2009 - 2012 senior lead in the energy programme for SITRA, the Finnish Innovation Fund

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Andrew Lang

  • Vice President of the World Bioenergy Association and board member representing "Australasia" and Oceania
  • Secretary of Farm Forest Growers Victoria
  • Before teacher, farm management lecturer, freelance journalist on agriculture and bioenergy, bioenergy consultant
  • Bachelor of Agricultural Science, Diploma of Education

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Marcus Martín Larrañaga

  • Vice President of the European Biomass Association (AEBIOM)
  • Manager of the Spanish Bioenergy Association (AVEBIOM)
  • CEO of Bioenergy Strategies S.L.
  • Master of Engineering in Forestry (Universidad de Valladolid)

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Gordon Murray

  • Executive director of the Wood Pellet Association of Canada (WPAC)
  • Worked in senior management for international forest products manufacturers, owner and operator of a forestry services company
  • Bachelor of Science in Forestry (University of British Columbia)

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Cornelius Neumann

  • Professor at the Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe and director of the Light Technology Institute
  • Before, more than 10 years optical research at Hella KG and Hella lighting systems
  • degree in physics and philosophy, University Bielefeld, Germany

<link>Speaker at the Conference "LED - innovative lighting solutions"

Christine Öhlinger

  • Head of Sector International Tasks at OÖ Energiesparverband
  • Project management of international projects in the field of energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, scientific work ranging from technical publications to the organisation of seminars and workshops.
  • Diploma in law, post graduate training on energy & environmental advice

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Herbert Ortner

  • 1989: Foundation of ÖkoFEN Forschungs- und Entwicklungs Ges.m.b.H. and Managing Director of ÖkoFEN Forschungs- und Entwicklungs Ges.m.b.H.
  • 1997: development and market launch of the first pellet-heating in Austria

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Dimitar Panayotov Paskalev

  • Managing Director and Project Leader, Architectonika Studio Ltd., Bulgaria
  • Co-founder of Building Systems Design Ltd.
  • Before, lead architect in Elite Studio Ltd.
  • Diploma (MA) in Architecture, University of Architecture Civil Engineering and Geodesy, Bulgaria

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Michael Paula

  • Head of the Department of Energy and Environmental Technologies at the Federal Ministry of Transport, Innovation and Technology, Austria
  • Initiation of the “Austrian Strategieprozess ENERGIE 2050”
  • R&D strategies in the field of technological sustainability

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Carsten Petersdorff

  • Director and Regional Director Germany/Austria/Switzerland, Ecofys Germany GmbH
  • 15 years’ experience in the area of energy efficiency and renewable energy
  • Degree in Physics (RWTH Aachen), focus on energy efficiency of buildings, solar energy and energy storage systems

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Energy Efficiency Watch<link><link>"

Caroline Petrovick

  • Project Manager/Designer, Coldham&Hartman Architects, USA
  • has assisted with construction administration on a range of projects
  • Bachelor of Arts in film (Yale University, USA), Master of Architecture (University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA)

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Andreas Pilzecker

  • Policy Officer at the European Commission, DG Energy
  • Area of work: Renewable energy policy, in particular bioenergy
  • Before, agricultural economist in university research, international trade and farm advisory services in Germany and Portugal
  • Master in Agricultural Sciences

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Olga S. Rakitova

  • Executive director of the National Bioenergy Union since 2007
  • Before, bioenergy director in the Wood Industries Confederation of North-West Russia
  • General director and chief editor of the magazine “The Bioenergy International, Russia” since 2006
  • Master in Management, woodworking and forestry specialization (St. Petersburg State Forest Technical Academy), MBA-program in the Reutlingen University of Applied Science (Germany)

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Christian Rakos

  • Since 2005, Managing Director of proPellets Austria, President oft he European Pellet Council
  • Before, responsible for the issue renewable energy sources at the Energieverwertungsagentur
  • Study of Physics, Philosophy and History

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Hubert Röder

  • Senior consultant and project leader at Pöyry Management Consulting, Munich
  • Specialized in biofuel and biomass availability analysis, biomass utilisation strategies and renewable energy / forest industry cluster concepts
  • Degree in Forest Sciences (University of Munich), PhD

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

MEP Paul Rübig

  • Since 1996, member of the European Parliament
  • Foundation of companies in Germany, France and Great Britain
  • Studies of business administration, marketing and production technologies (University of Linz)

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Stefan Scheuer

  • Secretary General for the Coalition for Energy Savings, Brussels
  • Before, EU environmental and energy policy making including lecturing environmental policies at the Universities of California and Edinburgh, Policy Director of the European Environmental Bureau and Chairman of ECOS
  • MSc in Hydrology in Freiburg, Germany

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Energy Efficiency Watch"

Waltraud Schmid

  • Head of Sector in the Energy Efficiency Unit of the European Commission's Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation (EACI)
  • Before, national expert in European Commission DG TREN, unit demand management, Austrian Energy Agency
  • Economist (University of Graz)

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Energy Efficiency Watch"

Richard Sikkema

  • Programme Manager "Biomass & Biofuels" with Control Union Certifications
  • PhD student Bioenergy, biomass trade & sustainable forest resources, Utrecht University
  • Before finance and policy officer at the Ministry for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality
  • Master in Forest & Nature Management (Wageningen Agricultural University, Utrecht)

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Franz Söllhinger

  • Head of Division Energy Industry, Scheuch, Austria
  • Before, construction, project leader and sales in the field of industrial plant manufacturing; project leader and sales management in the automotive supplier industry
  • Degree in law, MBA general management, engineer engineering

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Christian Stettner

  • Project development, customer acquisition, calculation of profitability, contracts and financing at Südwärme Gesellschaft für Energielieferung AG
  • Lecturer Master programme ClimaDesign at the Technical University Munich
  • Before devision manager "Municipal and urban energy supply concepts" Ingenieurbüro Hausladen GmbH; project development/-controlling of biogas plants at Loick Bioenergie GmbH
  • Degree in industrial engineering (FH)

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

John Swaan

  • President PFIT Consulting, BioMass/BioEnergy Specialist
  • Canadian wood pellet manufacturing pioneer, initiated global export of Canadian wood pellets, refined wood pellet pilot projects, steam treatment and Torrefaction
  • Before, technical Adviser, Horizon BioEnergy, The Netherlands; executive Director, Wood Pellet Association of Canada

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference

Menno Treffers

  • Secretary General of the Zhaga Consortium
  • Chairman of the Wireless Power Consortium
  • Senior director of standardisation at Philips Electronics
  • PhD in Physics at Leiden University

<link>Speaker at the Conference "LED - innovative lighting solutions"

MEP Claude Turmes

  • Since 1999, member of the Green/EFA (European Free Alliance) in the European Parliament
  • Since 2002, vice-president of the Green/EFA
  • Rapporteur of the Energy Efficiency Directive 2012

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Energy Efficiency Watch"

Martin Vaché

  • Researcher, focus on residential market analyses, housing policy and urban development, Institut Wohnen und Umwelt (IWU), Germany
  • Before, architect, designer and consultant for the real estate industry in the field of sustainability and energy in China, research projects in the fields of residential and real estate market research
  • graduate engineer in architecture, M.Sc. for real estate industry

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Gert Wemmer

  • Owner of we lite lighting design & consulting
  • 30 years’ experience at the lightings industry: measuring, lamp development, product management of lamps and luminaires, light planning, international technical consultant for the UNEP, World Bank and other public organisations, author of a number of governmental on lighting
  • PhD.

<link>Speaker at the Conference "LED - innovative lighting solutions"

Theodor Zillner

  • Deputy head of the division for energy and environmental technologies at the Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (BMVIT)
  • Programme manager of the impulse programme “Haus der Zukunft” (house of the future)
  • Chair of the executive committee of the European network "ERACOBUILD"
  • Degree in mechanical and process engineering (Technical University Vienna)

<link>Speaker at the Conference "Nearly Zero Energy Buildings"

Vasil Zlatev

  • Sustainable energy expert, Coordinator of projects at the Energy Agency of Plovdiv, Bulgaria
  • Before, consultant at Leap Strategies, Senior Research Assistant at Oberlin College, Psychology Department
  • Master of Sciences in Environmental Management and Policy, Lund University, Sweden; Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Psychology, Oberlin College, USA

<link>Speaker at the European Pellet Conference