Bioenergy Europe has announced the election of ten members of its Board of Directors and the nomination of Christoph Pfemeter as President of the association as decided during the General Assembly (GA) held earlier this week in conjunction with the European Bioenergy Future (EBF) conference held on November 22-23, 2022, in Brussels, Belgium.
Christoph Pfemeter, who is also the Managing Director of the Austrian Biomass Association (ABA), succeeds Hannes Tuohiniitty, Sector Manager at the Finnish Bioenergy Association (Bioenergia ry), who has served as President of Bioenergy Europe for the last four years.
Bioenergy enables us to break free from the use of fossil fuels in various areas and sectors while supporting the ability of forests to adapt to climate change. Central Europe and Scandinavia are world leaders in bioenergy technology and sustainable forest management. In Europe, both wood supply and the use of bioenergy have increased at the same time. Let us look at the federal state of Kärnten in the south of Austria for example: here, bioenergy has surpassed oil and is now the most important energy source – considering also road and air traffic, said Christoph Pfemeter.
Pfemeter is looking forward to steering the association’s work while being critical of the EU Parliament’s current proposals regarding the energy transition, especially when considering rural areas.
The current legislative proposals within the Green Deal are very far from what is happening on the ground and hinder the regional utilization of renewable raw materials as well as the sustainable management of forests. At the same time, coal and nuclear plants are being pushed forward. If the legislation does not properly consider all renewable energy sources, it will set back the energy transition for many years, Christoph Pfemeter said.
Hannes Tuohiniitty was, together with nine other candidates, elected to serve as a Board Member. The following are new Bioenergy Europe board members:
Ana Dijan, CROBIOM (Croatian Biomass Association)
Didzis Palejs, LATbio (Latvian Bioenergy Association)
Georgii Geletukha, UABIO (Ukrainian Bioenergy Association)
Gordon Murray, WPAC (Wood Pellet Association of Canada)
Henrik Brodin, Svebio (Swedish Bioenergy Association)
Herbert Ortner, ökoFEN
Jan Habart, CZ-Biom (Czech Biomass Association)
Myrsini Christou, Hellabiom (Hellenic Biomass Association)
Vanessa Gallo, Fiper (Italian Federation of Energy Producers from Renewable Sources)
