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- Heinz Kopetz
- Founder of Austrian Biomass Association
- Former Chairman of European Biomass Association (AEBIOM)
- Former president of the World Bioenergy Association (WBA)
- www.worldbioenergy.org
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.