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International Symposium
Woody biomass for transforming the local energy system(Nagano City)
-Learning from global experiences

24 May 2017

  • Remigijus Lapinskas
    President, World Bioenergy Association (WBA)
    Remigijus Lapinskas was founder (2004) and president (2004-2014) of Lithuanian biomass energy association LITBIOMA. From 2006 to 2010 he was twice elected as board member in European Biomass Association (AEBIOM). He was also founder (2003) and the chairman of the board (2003- 2008) of the biggest biomass production company in Lithuania. He is also experienced in biomass supply chain and international trade. Today Mr. Lapinskas is an investor, chairman and a board member of various production and service companies. He is also a President of the Green Policy Institute, aiming to the target of sustainable development in different spheres of society, also the President of the World Bioenergy Association (WBA) and a board member of association LITBIOMA, supervising Enplus certification system in Lithuania.
  • Luigi Finocchiaro
    Senior Commercial officer, Advantage Austria, Austrian Embassy– Commercial Section
    ・Since 2005 Senior Commercial Officer at the Austrian Embassy – commercial Section (Advantage Austria) in charge of environmental business and in particular for the wooden biomass sector, promotion of forestry technology and machinery.
    ・Since 2012 promoting also special forestry education and training to foster specialists in this field.
    ・Since 2014 also in charge of regional revitalization.
    ・Prior to the current assignment, worked in private industry, field of Japan-Europe trade for furniture and interior construction material.
  • Heinz Kopetz
    Founder of Austrian Biomass Association
    Former Chairman of European Biomass Association (AEBIOM)
    Former president of the World Bioenergy Association (WBA)
    Heinz Kopetz of Austria has been president of the European Biomass Association (AEBIOM) from 2005 – 2010 and served as president of the World Bioenergy Association (WBA) from 2012 – 2016. At present he works with WBA as senior consultant. He graduated from the University of Life Sciences in Vienna and Iowa State University in the United States with degrees in economics (1966). After his studies, he served as the managing director of an agricultural agency in Austria. In the 1980s, he developed the concept of the farmer as a producer of energy and implemented financial and educational programs in this field. At the same time, he also founded the Austrian Biomass Association, was engaged in the deployment of district heating systems using biomass, and started the first programs of short rotation forestry in Austria. Throughout his professional career, he has been engaged in a wide variety of positions related to energy, such as member of the supervisory board of a public utility for electricity and district heating, chairman of the European Biomass Association (AEBIOM) in Brussels, and member of the advisory committee on Energy of the European Commission, also in Brussels. He works on issues that encompass potential, sustainability, carbon neutrality, and efficient utilisation of biomass, and has written several books on these subjects.
  • Hisashi Kajiyama
    President, Bioenergy Research and Investment (BERI)
    After graduating from Keio University with a Master’s degree and studying abroad at the University of Tübingen in Germany, Hisashi Kajiyama worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Nikko Research Center, Inc., and Fujitsu Research Institute and served as Deputy Director General, Cabinet Secretariat within the National Policy Unit, Cabinet Secretariat from November 2009 through October 2011. He returned to Fujitsu Research Institute in November 2011. He was seconded to Keizai Doyukai (Japan Association of Corporate Executives) Secretariat from June 2001 through May 2003 and was responsible for the Environment and Energy Committee, and because of this, he started to mainly research forestry and biomass energy. He has been serving as the Representative Director of WBenergy Corporation and the President of Bioenergy Research and Investment (BERI) Inc. since July 2015.
  • Volker Lenz
    Department Leader, Thermo-chemical Conversion, German Biomass Research Centre(DBFZ)
    Volker Lenz works as department leader at the German Biomass Research Centre (DBFZ Deutsches Biomasseforschungszentrum gemeinnützige GmbH) in Leipzig. He is responsible for research on the concept of SmartBiomassHeat, which includes grid stabilizing power production from biomass, especially in combination with other renewable energy sources. Further research topics include emission reduction and advanced solid biomass fuels.
  • Martin Nöbauer
    Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Austria (BMLFUW)
    - Since June 2014: Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Section Chief III/2 – Forestry Education, Promotion and Research.
    - Since March 2007: Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Section Chief IV/2 – Forestry Education, Training and Advanced Training.
    - Since October 2002: Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, Section IV/1 – Forestry Policy and Forest Information. Direct assistant of the Forestry Department Chief, Dipl.-Ing. Gerhard Mannsberger. Compliance with the tasks of the department leader and Representative of Deputy for Official Duties.
    - October 2001 - October 2002: International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), Deputy Secretary General and Project Leader of the "Global Forest Information Systems (GFIS)".
  • Ben Moxham
    Director, Europe
    Enviva
    Ben Moxham is Director, Europe for Enviva where he focuses on marketing and business development. From 2011 to 2013 he served as senior policy adviser for energy and environment to the UK Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. Before that he was at Riverstone, a large energy private equity investor, where he focused on renewable energy investing. He started his career at BP Plc.
  • Kelvin Hong
    Great Resources, China
    Kelvin Hong graduated from Peking University with a major in environmental science . Now serves as executive member of the council of World Biomass Association, global advisor of South Korean Green Consortium on Climate Change Committee, member of the National Energy Administration Biomass Heating Standards committee, Vice President of China New Energy Chamber of Commerce and Chairman of the board of Great Resources (Ji Lin) Co.,Plc. etc. Focusing on biomass energy industry for more than 10 years, he successfully created the whole industry chain from grain production and fuel transport to heating operation and had built up the ultra-high energy efficiency distributed biomass CHPP demonstration project in the technical cooperation between China and Sweden. He participates in formulation programmes including the State Standard of Straw Briquette Fuel Heating and the 13th Five-year Plan of National Biomass Energy Development etc. Mastery the industry policy and development direction.
  • Hironao Matsubara
    Chief Researcher, Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies (ISEP)
    Hironao Matsubara is chief researcher of Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies (ISEP) in Tokyo, Japan. His research fields are statistics database, scenario study, policy framework and business model of renewable energy in Japan. He is an editor in chief of Renewables Japan Status Report since 2010. He managed business development of green energy certificates for renewable energy in Japanese market until 2011. He took a degree as doctor of Engineering for Energy Conversion from Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1990.
  • Chiaki Ikeya
    Lab Forest Inc.
    After graduating from the Faculty of Agriculture, Shinshu University, Chiaki Ikeya joined a consulting company specializing in woody biomass energy. During her eight years at the company, she was in charge of formulating administrative visions, coordinating project planning, and carrying out cost analyses related to biomass power generation. She currently works for Lab Forest Inc., a design and system development company focused on biomass introduction. Making use of her experience as a consultant, she is engaged in a wide range of different stages from survey and planning to introduction and operation.
  • Katsunori Maruyama
    Director, Local Materials Promotion Office, Local Timber Utilization Division, Forestry Department, Nagano Prefectural Government
    ・1962 Born in Nagano Prefecture (Nagano City)
    ・1985 Graduated from the Faculty of Agriculture, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology
    ・1986 Entered Nagano Prefectural Government
     Engaged in various operations in the field of forestry, such as forest roads, dissemination and planning
    ・2015 Director, Forestry Division, Matsumoto Regional Office
    ・2017 Director, Local Materials Promotion Office
  • Minoru Kumazaki
    Chairman, Japan Woody Bioenergy Association
    Minoru Kumazaki has held many positions including Director of the Department of Forest Management of the Forest Experiment Station (present-day Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute), Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry; professor at the Institute of Agriculture and Forestry, University of Tsukuba; and president of Gifu Academy of Forest Science and Culture. He is currently serving as University of Tsukuba professor emeritus; Chairman of Japan Wood Pellet Association; and Chairman of Japan Woody Bioenergy Association. He is an expert in the field of international forestry resources with a doctorate in agriculture. He has written numerous books, including Forestry Management Reader, Expectations of Wood Biomass Power Generation, Outlook of Wood-based Energy Business and editing Generating with Woody Biomass Power with a Cogeneration System (Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun).
  • Mika Ohbayashi
    Director, Renewable Energy Institute
    Mika Ohbayashi is a founding member and Director at Renewable Energy Institute since August 2011. Before joining the Institute, Ohbayashi worked for International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) in Abu Dhabi as Policy and Project Regional Manager for Asia Oceania. She served as Deputy Director at Institute for Sustainable Energy Policies for 8 years since its establishment in 2000. She also worked for UKFCO at the British Embassy to Japan, as Advisor for Climate Change Projects and Policies, and started her carrier in the energy field by joining Citizens' Nuclear Information Center in 1992. She coordinates many scientific study projects, takes leadership to team up various networks including national parliamentarians and local authorities, domestically and internationally to improve sustainable energy society.
  • Takanobu Aikawa
    Senior Researcher, Renewable Energy Institute
    Takanobu Aikawa obtained his Masters degree in forest ecology from the Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University. He joined Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., Ltd. and was involved in investigations and consulting activities on forest sector. Spurred by the Great East Japan Earthquake, he began to engage in a variety of bioenergy projects, mainly focusing on woody biomass, and has been in his current position since June 2016. In March the same year, he completed his doctorate in agricultural studies on the theme of human resources development policy in the area of forest management. His publications include Conditions for Success in Woody Biomass Projects in Forestry Regions and Investigating the Laws of Forestry in Advanced Countries, both published by Zenkoku Ringyo Fukyu Kyokai.

Program Page

External Links

  • JCI 気候変動イニシアティブ
  • 自然エネルギー協議会
  • 指定都市 自然エネルギー協議会
  • irelp
  • 全球能源互联网发展合作组织

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