Programme 2023

Opening conference and Keynote speech

Room Auditorium. Moderator: Sasha Twining

• Anders Mathiasson, President, EBA
• Harmen Dekker, CEO, EBA

Morning plenary – 1+1=3 – The energy mix of the future

Room Auditorium. Moderator: Sasha Twining

The future energy mix will be dominated by renewable energy sources. Together with wind and solar, renewable gases such as biomethane and renewable hydrogen, will play a pivotal role in delivering Europe’s long-term energy security and climate mitigation objectives. The smart and flexible integration of multiple renewable energy sources will allow for the optimisation of the energy system as a whole, rather than making separate efficiency gains in each sector independently. The session will explore the role of biogas and biomethane in a future-proof energy system.

• Jörg Fischer, Member of the board, EnviTec Biogas AG – BIP TF2 co-chair
• Hermann Benning, Project Developer, revis Bioenergy
• Antoine Sabatier, Head of Renewable Gas, ENGIE
• Catherine Banet, CERRE Research Fellow, University of Oslo
• Luigi Lazzaro – President, Legambiente Volontariato Veneto

Breakout session 1: Biogases: game changers for decarbonised industries

Room Auditorium. Moderator: Sasha Twining

EU industries are racing to decarbonise their processes while safeguarding their competitiveness. Biomethane, bio-hydrogen and biogas are enabling green energy sources for a cost-competitive transition. In this session, end-users will showcase their success in greening their production and identify regulatory and market challenges.

• Laure Baillargeon, Policy Officer, DG for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, European Commission – BIP TF2 co-chair
• Nicola Rega, Executive Director Climate Change and Energy, CEFIC
• Marisa Cascardo Vido Tejada, Global Energy Buyer, Heineken
• Lars Kaspersen, Head of Communication & Corporate Affairs, Nature Energy
• Estelle Ballon, Market Director, OneB2B, TotalEnergies

Breakout session 2: Technology, operations and design: increasing sustainability

Room Studio. Moderator: Giulia Cancian

While anaerobic digestion is already a sustainable technology per se, new technologies and operational procedures can provide further benefits. This session highlights efficiency gains resulting from improvements in plant design and emission monitoring systems.

• Oliver Hurtig, Project Officer alternative fuels, JRC European Commission
• Mieke Decorte, Technical and Project Manager, EBA
• Olivier Louedin, EU/China Industrial Director for Biogas, Air Liquide
• Goher Ur Rehman Mir, Global Policy Manager Sustainable Fuels, SHV Energy
• Thierry Arnaud, Director of Transformation & Scientific Services, Veolia

Afternoon plenary – 2030 biomethane scale-up: national and global milestones

Room Auditorium. Moderator: Sasha Twining

The EU’s 35 bcm biomethane target for 2030 will support the implementation of the REPowerEU Plan with the individual contributions of all member states, who will need to develop their national biomethane strategies. This session will explore the progress made and will also look into the actions carried out oversees to advance biomethane deployment.

• Tom Howes, Advisor, Green energy transition and energy market regulation, DG ENER, European Commission
• Daphné Boret Camguilhem, Head of Renewable and Low-Carbon Gas Office, Ministry of Ecology, Energy and Territories of France
• Dinand Drankier, Program manager biomethane, Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs and Climate Policy BIP TF1 co-chair
• Bill Callanan, Chief Scientist, Head of the Environmental Directorate, Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Ireland
• Mariia Malaia, First Deputy Head of State Agency on Energy Efficiency and Energy Saving of Ukraine

Closing day 1 and EBA Awards ceremony

Room Auditorium: Moderator: Sasha Twining

The EBA Awards recognise outstanding individuals and companies for their innovation in energy transition and renewables. In 2023 the Awards will see their third edition, with the following categories: Biogas Booster-Harm Grobrügge Award, Biogas Groundbreaker, Efficiency Champion, Women leading the way to climate-neutrality and Top Biogas Young Talent. Read more

Networking cocktail and exhibition

Room Riverside

Gala Dinner

Room Restaurant

Registrations. Welcome coffee and opening exhibition

Room Hall and Riverside

Welcome and Keynote speeches

Room Auditorium. Moderator: Sasha Twining

• Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy
• Jorge Pinto Antunes, Deputy Head of Cabinet, Cabinet of Commissioner Wojciechowski, European Commission
• Giulia Laura Cancian, Secretary General, EBA

Spotlight speech: Biomethane: the road to a build-to-core investment Room Auditorium

• Matteo Botto Poala, Managing Director, Infrastructure Investing, Goldman Sachs Asset Management

Morning plenary – Biomethane Economics

Room Auditorium. Moderator: Sasha Twining

A solid European value chain is an advantage to guarantee incentives have a greater local impact. Energy prices volatility and geopolitical instability have caused the immediate reprioritisation of easing the burden on consumers and investing in clean technologies. This session will unravel biomethane economics, analysing impact of local incentives, added value for communities and contribution to strategic autonomy.

• Kees van Der Leun, Managing Director Common Futures – BIP TF4
• Stefan Rauh, Managing Director, Fachverband Biogas e.V.
• Jesse Scharf, President, European Renewable Gas Registry (ERGaR)
• Anthony Lorin, Policy Officer EBA
• Tom van Essen, Head of new business, Green Create

Breakout session 3: Fostering soil health with sustainable biogas systems

Room Studio. Moderator: Sasha Twining

Regenerative agriculture and sustainable management of European soils are essential to climate change mitigation and adaptation. This session will focus on the benefits of innovative agronomic practices including digestate utilisation for increasing soil organic carbon and reducing nutrient losses, taking into consideration current policy opportunities, such as the Soil Health Law proposal.

• Ion Codescu, Head of Unit Land Use and Management at the DirectorateGeneral for Environment, European Commission
• Guido Bezzi, Head of Agronomy Area, CIB
• Florent Levavasseur, PhDs on biogas systems evaluations in relation to soils, INRAE
• Stefanie Siebert, Executive Director, European Compost Network
• Nick Primmer, Policy Lead, Future Biogas

Breakout session 4: Delivery on negative emissions: Bio-CO2 valorisation and carbon storage solutions

Room Auditorium. Moderator: Mieke Decorte

Short carbon cycle anaerobic digestion provides a sustainable and renewable energy source of energy. Europe must timely abate its emissions to reach climate-neutrality by mid-century and to this end, unlocking negative emissions solutions is a precondition. Valorising biogenic CO2 as a coproduct of anaerobic digestion must be recognised as a key option. This session will focus on the industrial applications in place and other options under development.

• Christian Holzleitner, Head of Unit for Land Economy and Carbon Removals, DG CLIMA, European Commission
• Maria Georgiadou, Senior Expert Renewable energy R&I policy, DG Research and Innovation, European Commission – BIP TF5 co-chair
• Alessandro Agostini, Researcher, ENEA
• Camilla Cabano, Process Engineer B.U. Industry & Renewables, Ecospray
• Leonardo Senatori, Renewables Global Portfolio Leader, Pietro Fiorentini

Coffee break and end of the exhibition

Room Riverside

Afternoon plenary – On the fast lane for transport decarbonisation with biomethane

Room Auditorium. Moderator: Sasha Twining

Even if it represents only 2% of the EU fleet running of EU roads, the heavy-duty vehicles segment is responsible for roughly one third of the total transport emissions in the EU. As recognised by the European Commission, the decarbonisation of this sector will need an array of solutions. This session will focus on the contribution of biomethane to abate transport emissions now and in the long-term, analyse the impact of an ever-evolving transport policy and provide future outlook of the industry.

• Henna Maria Virkkunen, Member of the Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, European Parliament
• Carlos Calvo Ambel, Senior Director, non-road policy and analysis, Transport & Environment (T&E)
• Matti Vikkula, CEO Biokraft – BIP TF4 co-chair
• Giustino Manzo, Head of Government Affairs, Iveco Group
• Jérémy Olivier, Head of energetic transition for buses and coaches, Île-deFrance Mobilités

Closing and wrap-up of the conference

Room Auditorium. Moderator: Sasha Twining

– Harmen Dekker, CEO, EBA

Visit to the CoHop Brewery

Bus transportation on a biomethane bus will be organised from the conference venue to the brewery. Read more CoHop is an eco-responsible cooperative of microbreweries in Brussels. CoHop recovers spent beer grains and uses them as feedstock to produce biogas.

Visit to a Biomethane facility: the Sustainable Fuel Plant Zeeland

Bus transportation on a biomethane bus will be organised from the conference venue to the SFP plant. Read more

SFP Zeeland, located in the province of Zeeland in the Netherlands, is a state-of-the-art facility dedicated to producing renewable, high-quality biomethane from manure and organic residual materials. SFP’s mission is to accelerate the energy transition, especially in the transport sector and industry, by upscaling the production of green gas and bio-LNG.