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.

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.

Roger Cracknell has a PhD in Chemistry from Imperial College London. He joined Shell in 1994 and has the role of Senior Principal Science Expert.

Roger is a Fellow of the Society of Automotive Engineers, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a Fellow of the Combustion Institute, and a Visiting Professor of Mechanical Engineering at both the University of Leeds and Queen Mary University of London. He is a member of the Powertrain Systems and Fuel Boards of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering and has just completed a term as a member of the International Board of Directors of the Combustion Institute.

He has authored approximately 200 refereed journal and conference papers and has thirteen granted patents.

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:
• Vocational training as a tiled stove and air heating engineer
• Studied environmental engineering at the Amberg-Weiden University of Applied Sciences
• Doctorate at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg on the subject of ‘Ignition, combustion and emission behaviour of various vegetable oils’
• Since 2006 at the Technology and Support Centre, Straubing

Current areas of responsibility in the Renewable Fuels and Materials department:
• Head of technical centre and laboratories at TFZ
• Operating and emission behaviour of tractors with alternative fuels
• Standardisation of rapeseed oil and pure plant oil fuel - Chairman of the standardisation subcommittee at DIN for this standards

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)

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.

Katharina Friedrich studied food chemistry at the Technical University of Braunschweig from 2014 to 2019 and then completed the second state examination for food chemistry at the Lower Saxony State Office for Consumer Protection and Food Safety (LAVES).

In 2020, she moved to the Association Quality Management Biodiesel (AGQM Biodiesel) as quality manager and was the contact person for the member companies for quality and analytical issues as well as for the international round robin tests FAME and vegetable oils and the additive tests (no-harm tests).

In October 2024, Ms Friedrich took over the management of AGQM Biodiesel. In addition to managing the association's business and representing AGQM on various committees, Ms Friedrich is actively involved in standardisation work at national and international level.

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

Andy Gradel completed his doctorate in chemical process engineering at the University of Bayreuth in 2020 and subsequently founded BtX energy GmbH, which is now the technology leader in biohydrogen production. Until December 24, he was deputy head of the Institute for Hydrogen and Energy Technology at Hof University of Applied Sciences and continues to volunteer on various IHK committees and as a moderator in the BMWK hydrogen research network.

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.

After graduating as engineer in agriculture at the Comprehensive University of Kassel and
environmental scientist at the Friedrich-Schiller University in Jena, Hartmut Höppner started
his career as a research assistant of the UNEP/UNESCO/BMU International Postgraduate
Training Programme on Environmental Management at the Technical University of Dresden.
From 2000 to 2021 he worked at the German Bundestag before he served in various
positions as Managing Director and Spokesman of the Rhineland-Palatinate FDP, Deputy
Spokesman of the Rhineland-Palatinate state government and as high political coordinator
on Minister level.
Since 2022, Hartmut Höppner is State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for Digital 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