Alarik Sandrup, Director of Public and Regulatory Affairs at the Swedish agricultural cooperative Lantmännen, has been elected as chairman of the Swedish Bioenergy Association (Svebio). Sandrup succeeds Karin Medin, CEO of Söderenergi, who held the post for the previous four years.
Celebrating 40 years as an organization, the Swedish Bioenergy Association (Svebio) is an industry trade organization and an interdisciplinary meeting place for companies, researchers, opinion makers, and decision-makers with around 265 member companies.
Alarik Sandrup was elected during Svebio’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on April 2, 2020, which on account of current coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) restrictions, was held as a live broadcast over the Internet from the Stockholm office for AGM participants.
Bioenergy from forests, fields, and waste has been Sweden’s largest energy source for more than ten years. Bioenergy can continue to grow for many years to come and is the most important piece of the puzzle to reach a fossil-free Sweden. In my new role, I look forward to helping to implement this in practice, said Alarik Sandrup.
Well and widely versed
Sandrup is no stranger to bioenergy or in bioenergy circles. Since 2009, he has been working as Director Public and Regulatory Affairs at Lantmännen with responsibility for political contacts and social contacts both in Sweden and in Brussels, Belgium.
With over 25 000 members, the Lantmännen agricultural cooperative is ranked by Swedish consumers as the second most sustainable food brand in the Sustainable Brand Index. Perhaps not as well known is that Lantmännen is also one of Sweden’s largest producers and suppliers of bioenergy.
Through its subsidiaries Lantmännen Agroetanol and Lantmännen Agroenergi, the group produces biofuels and supplies bioheat. Lantmännen has also a 50 percent stake in Scandbio, Sweden’s largest pellet producer and supplier.
Alarik Sandrup became a board member of Svebio in 2008 and he currently holds assignments in several other relevant organizations. He is currently serving as President of the European Renewable Ethanol Association (ePURE) and serves on the board of the World Bioenergy Association (WBA) and the Swedish Petroleum and Biofuels Institute (SBPI).
Sandrup is also engaged with European Farmers and European Agri-cooperatives (COPA & COGECA), is on the steering committee for the Swedish International Agriculture Network Initiative (SIANI) and is a member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KSLA).
New board members elected
At the AGM, several new representatives were elected to the Svebio Board of Directors, including Åsa Håkansson, Business Developer, Preem AB; Per Dahlberg, CEO, Falun Energi & Vatten AB; Douglas Heilborn, CEO, Port of Oxelösund; Dr Johanna Mossberg, Focus Area Manager, RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, and Johanna Lindén, CEO, PetroBio AB.
Board members re-elected for a new term were Karin Medin, CEO, Söderenergi AB; Dr Erik Dotzauer, Energy Policy Expert, Stockholm Exergi AB and Karin Varverud, CEO, Energifabriken.
Svebio’s recently published “Roadmap Bioenergy” provides a hint of just how large this potential for bioenergy growth in Sweden is. Alarik Sandrup, together with the Svebio board and staff, has a wealth of experience and a formidable network to draw from.
Not just in getting Sweden to 250 TWh bioenergy by 2045 but also in improving the general public’s understanding and appreciation of bioenergy’s contribution to the country’s energy system and local economies.
