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Tony Collins
Department of Environment, Climate and Communications, Principal Officer, Heat Policy Division Tony Collins is the Principal Officer responsible for renewable heat policy and schemes, district heating policy and transposition of the Renewable Energy Directives, in addition to being the lead contact for the Heat and Built Environment Taskforce. |
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Valerie Hughes
Energy, Air & Adaptation Division, Department of Transport Valerie Hughes leads on the implementation of the Renewable Fuels for Transport Policy within the Department of Transport. This work sits within the Department’s Climate Action Division, which is responsible for developing and delivering climate action policy for the transport sector in line with Ireland’s national and international obligations. |
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Redmond McEvoy
Assistant Principal in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Redmond McEvoy is the bioenergy policy lead in DAFM focusing on energy efficiency, deployment of renewable technologies at farm level, and the supply of bioenergy feedstocks as key agricultural contributions to the energy transition. Redmond is currently working on a number of bioenergy policy projects including the National Biomethane Strategy. |
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Philip Connolly
KPMG, Associate Director Sustainable Futures Philip Connolly's focus is Future Fuels and Energy Decarbonisation. He has over 9 years’ experience working in the energy industry in Ireland in large utility companies and with the Department of Environment, Climate and Communications. Philip has spent most of his time working on energy policy in Ireland and has a deep understanding of Ireland’s current energy and climate plans. He has been involved in large scale energy decarbonisation projects, business case appraisals for energy projects and drafting energy policy position papers for the Department including the first Renewable Heat Obligation position paper. Philip has extensive experience working on renewables with a keen focus on the development of biomethane in Ireland. Philip is currently working alongside the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to develop Ireland’s National Biomethane Strategy. |
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Daniel Hayes
Celignis Analytical, Founder and CEO Daniel Hayes took Celignis Analytical from a concept in a research project to being the bioeconomy's premier provider of analytical and bioprocessing expertise. Daniel has extensive experience in the analysis of biomass and in the evaluation and development of biomass conversion technologies particularly those for the production of advanced biofuels. As part of this PhD, he has been responsible for the development of a series of mathematical models that allow for many of the important properties of biomass (for production of second generation biofuels) to be predicted from their near infrared (NIR) spectra. This allows for analysis to be carried out much more quickly and at a lower cost than through conventional wet-chemical techniques. |
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Kathleen Draper
International Biochar Initiative (IBI) Board Chair Kathleen Draper focuses on education, research and consulting on a variety of biochar uses and markets both in the agricultural space and in composites for the building and packaging industries. Most recently she designed and hosted IBI’s first Biochar Academy which focused on workforce development to support the rapidly growing industry. Kathleen has co-authored two books on biochar: BURN Using Fire to Cool the Earth, and Terra Preta How the World’s Most Fertile Soil Can Help Reverse Climate Change and Reduce World Hunger, she has also written white papers and articles about biochar for a decade. |
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Kenneth Worrell
Worrell Harvesting, Founder and Managing Director The company offer a range of services from forest harvesting to supply and delivery of woodchip and haulage. Worrell Harvesting manage all stages of forest management, from first thinning, second thinning and clear fell. With over 20 years of experience in forestry, Ken Worrell oversees the day-to-day running of the business from negotiating new contracts to developing new aspects of the business. |
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Fergus Sharkey
Sustainability Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI) Head of Business Supports and Transport Fergus Sharkey's team is responsible for working with SME's, large industry and the transport sector to provide supports for energy efficiency improvement. Support range from advice and training on energy management, monitoring and reporting, best practice, project development, to grants and other financial support. Fergus is a chartered engineer with experience in the power generation, renewables and energy efficiency sectors. Prior to joining SEAI, Fergus worked in a range of positions in ESB. |
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Colin Brown
Hotel Manager, Royal Marine Hotel, Dun Laoghaire, Dublin Colin Brown having graduated from Shannon College of Hotel Management trained in London hotels before returning to Ireland to expand his experience in various managerial positions. He joins the team at the Royal Marine Hotel having gained a wealth of knowledge from previous roles as Deputy GM at the Clayton Hotel, City of London, Deputy GM of the Clayton Hotel, Lapps Quay Cork, Hotel Manager at The Lodge at Ashford and General Manager at Glenlo Abbey Hotel in Galway. |
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Anna Venturini
European Biogas Association, Policy Officer Anna Venturini joined the EBA in June 2022 as the Policy Officer in charge of following the transport dossiers and managing EBA Working Groups dealing with transport related topics. Before joining the EBA Team, Anna worked in Brussels for almost five years, first at the European Parliament for an Italian MEP member of the TRAN Committee, then as Policy and Communication Advisor at the Federation of European Private Port Companies and Terminals. Anna graduated with a Master’s in European Studies at ULB in 2017 and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy from the University of Trieste. |
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Giacomo Bozio Madé
Bioenergy Europe, Policy Officer Giacomo Bozio Madè is a Policy Officer at Bioenergy Europe, the European association that represents the interests of the solid biomass value chain across the European Union. He is specialising in the heating and cooling (H&C) sector, with a focus on the sustainability of biomass heating technologies in the residential sector and district heating. He has a bachelor’s degree in Foreign Languages, and four master’s degrees in Political Science, International Relations, Law and Diplomacy. He has recently been introduced in the field of European energy legislation, in which, thanks to his multidisciplinary background, he carries out activities of analysis, monitoring and advocacy with a broad and comprehensive perspective. |
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Sebastian Manhart
Carbonfuture, Senior Policy Advisor (Online Presentation) Sebastian Manhart's role is to engage policy makers globally to make sure that the future of carbon markets - voluntary and regulated alike, reflects a high quality and auditability standard. Sebastian spent a decade in start-ups, including as Chief Operating Officer of the world´s only non-profit biometrics company (Simprints). He was then asked to join Angela Merkel´s Office as an Advisor and EU lobbyist for progressive digitisation. More recently, he has been working as an Advisor for the World Bank where he says he stumbled upon carbon removal and decided to focus his time in this area. Sebastian is a trained economist with a BA from the University College London, an MPhil from Cambridge University, and ExecEd from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government. |
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Mark Sommerfeld
Association for Renewable Energy & Clean Technology (REA) UK Deputy Director of Policy Mark Sommerfeld has managed policy and regulation across both generation and retail renewable energy projects for over ten years. He is Deputy Director of Policy at the Association for Renewable Energy and Clean Technology (REA), the UK’s largest trade body for the sector. Mark led the development of the REA’s 2019 Bioenergy Strategy and has worked closely with industry stakeholders and civil servants to inform the UK’s new Biomass Strategy, published this summer. He is an alumnus of Cambridge University and the Cambridge Institute for Sustainable Leadership, as well as a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. |
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Seán Finan
CEO, IrBEA Seán Finan is the Chief Executive Officer of the Irish Bioenergy Association (IrBEA). He is a Chartered Engineer and holds a Bachelor of Civil Engineering (Hons) Degree from National University of Ireland, Galway. Prior to joining IrBEA, Seán working in the construction sector and held the role of 35th National President of Macra na Feirme, the young farmers representative organisation, from 2015 – 2017. Seán leads IrBEA and its members for a sustainable future in bioenergy and to strategically position the Biomass, Biogas, Biofuels, Biochar, Wood fuels and Energy crop sectors to play a key role in Ireland’s Sustainability Renewable Energy Roadmap. Seán will be hosting the panel discussions at the conference. |
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Noel Gavigan
IrBEA, Technical Executive
Noel Gavigan is the Technical Executive for IrBEA since 2010, his main role is project delivery and technical backup for members. Noel has worked centrally on some of IrBEA’s main projects including the Biomass Trade Centres, Biogas3, Digestate Standard and Wood Fuel Quality Assurance.
Noel will be MC at this event.
IrBEA, Technical Executive
Noel Gavigan is the Technical Executive for IrBEA since 2010, his main role is project delivery and technical backup for members. Noel has worked centrally on some of IrBEA’s main projects including the Biomass Trade Centres, Biogas3, Digestate Standard and Wood Fuel Quality Assurance.
Noel will be MC at this event.