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2025 July 16

New WBA Board Elected at General Assembly in Kampala

The World Bioenergy Association (WBA) is pleased to announce the new Board elected at the General Assembly held on July 10 in Kampala, Uganda. The new Board brings together 20 experts from 19 countries, representing a diverse mix of industry, associations, academia, and government, around the globe. 

Half of the Board Members are representatives of national or regional bioenergy associations. The new board also spans diverse representation in terms of background, know-how, and gender.  

Here is the list of board members elected in 2025:   

  1. Anna Törner, Swedish Bioenergy Association, Sweden 
  2. Christian Rakos, Propellets Austria, Austria 
  3. Darrel Smith, US Industrial Pellet Association 
  4. Dave Lello, Ekasi Energy, South Africa 
  5. Gabriel Ho, Asia SAF Association, Singapore 
  6. Gaurav Kedia, Indian Biogas Association, India 
  7. Glaucia Souza, University of São Paulo, Brazil  
  8. Guangqing Liu, Chinese Rural Energy Industry Administration, China   
  9. Jamie Stephen, Torchlight Bioresources Ltd., Canada  
  10. Justine Akumu, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Development, Uganda 
  11. Ketaki Kokil, Ecosense Appliances Pvt. Ltd., India  
  12. Mariano Molina, Elimini, UK 
  13. Marion Peterson, Emerging Cooking Solutions, Zambia 
  14. Mika Ohbayashi, Renewable Energy Institute, Japan   
  15. Oscar Espinosa Mijares, Bioforestal, Mexico  
  16. Remigijus Lapinskas, Lithuania Biomass Energy Association, Lithuania  
  17. Rodrigo O’Ryan, Chilean Wood Corporation (CORMA), Chile   
  18. Werner Sitzmann, Amandus Kahl, Germany   
  19. Zoltan Szabo, Climate Ethanol Alliance, Hungary   
  20. Zygmunt Gzyra, Polish Chamber of Biofuels, Poland   

Christian Rakos continues as the President of the World Bioenergy Association for 2025-2026. 

WBA warmly thanks the outgoing Board Members, Alarik Sandrup (Lantmännen, Sweden) and Elizabeth Woodworth (US Industrial Pellet Association, USA), for their valuable contributions. 

The WBA also thanks the Nominating Committee for overseeing Board elections. The nominating committee was reelected at the GA with the following members:  

  • Gustav Melin, CEO, BKTech, Sweden (Convenor)  
  • Jean Marc Jossart, Secretary General, Bioenergy Europe, Belgium 
  • Christoph Pfemeter, Managing Director, Austria Biomass Association, Austria 
  • Alan Sherrard, Editor in Chief, Bioenergy International, Sweden 

With this new leadership, WBA looks forward to strengthening our efforts to promote sustainable bioenergy worldwide.   

For the full list of current Board Members, please click here: Link