Speakers

Daria is an expert in climate and energy policy and regulation. Over the past decade she has worked with energy companies, industry associations, policymakers and consultancies helping them navigate the policy and regulatory landscape in Europe, as well as building and successfully implementing their advocacy strategies. Daria’s main focus areas have been the development of the enabling policy and legislative framework for hydrogen, carbon pricing and the design of the European wholesale energy markets.

David Bryson has been Uniper’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Sustainability Officer since November 2019. Combining the two roles reflects Uniper’s determination to tackle the climate challenge in an integrated way. David also heads the company’s hydrogen portfolio which is organized in a joint structure with its majority shareholder, Fortum.

 A chartered engineer who spent 24 years developing as a leader and manager in the British Army, Bryson joined the energy industry more than 14 years ago. In various senior management positions at E.ON he helped develop an open-minded culture that was central to expanding the business’s operations, raising awareness of works-safety and driving business transformation through a dedicated focus of operational excellence to listen to the customer’s needs.

 Since Uniper’s first days, Bryson has been responsible for its asset business’s international operations. As a long-term champion of diversity, he always sees both sides of the coin and considers the view of all stakeholders in his decision-making. These qualities led him to become a key figure in Uniper’s pursuit of more constructive conversations with sustainability-focused NGOs.

Dr Tony Ballance is Cadent’s Chief Regulation Officer, leading the organisation in managing regulation and progressing regulatory reform for the benefit of business and the wider sector. He has extensive experience in utility policy and regulation, and has previously held roles as a consultant and economist.

Professor Dr. Emmanouil Kakaras has been Executive Vice President NEXT Energy Business at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries EMEA since 1 April 2021.

Prior to this role, he was Senior Vice President for New Products and Energy Solutions at MHI Group company Mitsubishi Power Europe since January 2018. Up until then he served as Vice President and Head of Research & Development at Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Europe since September 2012. His R&D activities mainly focus on flexible operation of thermal plants, on fuel cells and electrolysers, the  development of  large  scale  energy  storage  and the utilization of CO₂. He is a member of the Board of Directors of EU Turbines.

Professor Kakaras’ academic background is on clean energy generation technologies and since December 1991 he has been Professor at the National Technical University of Athens, Greece. He has been  also guest lecturer at the Universities of Warsaw and Tokyo. He participates as an external member in various working groups organized by the European Commission (CAG, Energy Committee), the Advisory Council of the Technology Platforms on Zero Emission Power Plants and on Smart Networks for Energy Transition as well as the Scientific Board of Industrial Associations (VGB, Rhein Ruhr Power, BDI). Professor Kakaras is also a member of several advisory committees of academic institutions (EASAC, Academy of Athens, EASE).

Ivo Bols is president, Europe and Africa, at Air Products. He is responsible for driving the strategy and profitability of the company’s Industrial Gases business in these regions. 

Joining Air Products in 1988 as a financial analyst Ivo has held a number of senior executive roles in France, Germany and Singapore. In 2011 he relocated to the U.S. where he was appointed vice president and general manager, Global Liquid Bulk, Generated Gases and Helium. He held the position of vice president and general manager, Merchant Gases–Europe, in 2012, prior to assuming his current position.

Ivo holds a degree as a bio-engineer from the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium, as well as an MBA specializing in operations research, finance, and marketing.  

With over 25 years experience in the Building Services sector, including consultancy, design and contracting, Jeff plays a key role in the development of company strategy within Baxi. Jeff has a wealth of technical, commercial and legislative knowledge relating the residential and commercial building services sector including low and zero carbon technologies

In his current role Jeff is widely involved in setting the agenda regarding legislation and policy for the heating sector, regularly representing both Baxi and the wider industry at Government and trade body meetings to offer advice and analysis.

Karen Boswell OBE joined Baxi Heating as Managing Director UK and Ireland in September 2020.  She will lead the next stage of Baxi Heating’s journey towards a sustainable future and net zero carbon.

Baxi Heating is part of BDR Thermea Group, a global organisation that manufactures and distributes smart thermal comfort solutions and services that save energy and cut carbon emissions. Baxi Heating has a portfolio of some of the best known market-leading heating and hot water brands in the UK and Ireland.  It is actively involved with designing products that will take us into the zero carbon future, like hydrogen boilers and smart electric hot water cylinders.

Her career has spanned many sectors, including hospitality, services, facilities, rail and transport, supply chain and technical manufacturing, energy and industrial.  As a senior board director, she has delivered strategic and commercial success in private, public and government sectors.  Most recently, she was Managing Director for Hitachi Rail Europe.

Karen is passionate about delivering environmental, social and economic sustainability and is a great advocate for equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.  Her energetic leadership style drives consistently high performance and positive engagement with all stakeholders, delivering customer and colleague satisfaction.

In 2019, Karen became a board member of Enginuity, an innovative not-for-profit organisation transforming engineering skills and productivity so that UK industries can compete globally. She received an OBE for services to the UK railway industry in the Queen’s 2016 Birthday Honours list.

Baxi Heating was established in 1866 and has always been at the cutting edge of heating innovation.  Karen is looking forward to leading the business through the exciting next phase of its story.

Marieke Abbink is the CEO of New Energy Coalition and organisation that brings organisations together to create partnerships that accelerate the transition to a sustainable energy economy. New Energy Coalition specialises in connecting companies, government authorities and knowledge institutions and sharing the insights from these collaborations with the wider world.

She’s also been a director and board member of the RBO Foundation, an organization dealing with issues around education and the labour market. Previously she trained as a professional teacher and lecturer.

Abbink is married with two daughters and lives with her family in Grijpskerk near Groningen.

Rod Christie is Executive Vice President of the Baker Hughes Turbomachinery & Process Solutions (TPS) business, which is headquartered in Florence, Italy. With operations across 120 countries, TPS boasts one of the industry’s most extensive portfolios for rotating equipment, process flow, transmission technology, and lifecycle services serving the entire energy value stream, including onshore-and-offshore production, gas processing, pipeline, liquefied natural gas (LNG), refining, petrochemical, heavy industry and process industries, and new energy frontiers such as hydrogen, CCUS and energy storage.

Rod is an industry veteran with more than 30 years of international experience in the Power & Energy industry. In his current role, he leads the Baker Hughes Technology Leadership Council and is also responsible for overseeing the development of the company’s overall CCUS, Hydrogen and Clean Integrated Power Solutions portfolio and strategy.

Rod is highly engaged in global energy transition initiatives and serves on the Hydrogen Council and the European Clean Hydrogen Alliance. Prior to joining Baker Hughes, Rod spent 15 years with Scottish Hydro Electric (now Scottish & Southern Electric) in a wide range of engineering, project development and management roles. Rod holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Glasgow Caledonian University.

Roman Kramarchuk leads efforts at Platts to analyze the impacts of the energy transition – driven by policy changes and technology advancements – on energy sector and market short medium and longer term outlooks, with a special focus on clean energy technologies (i.e. hydrogen, stationary storage, electric vehicles/alternative transport, renewables, etc.). He oversees the Platts Analytics Future Energy Outlooks Service – advising clients on energy transition and long term energy market views (including 2 degree scenarios) – as well as the GHG and North American Environmental Markets Services – offering insights into environmental markets & policies.

Prior to joining PIRA, now part of S&P Global Platts, he was at the U.S. EPA, developing key power plant and industrial emissions regulations at the Clean Air Markets Division. With both PG&E NEG and PA Consulting / PHB Hagler Bailly, he evaluated strategies regarding fuel choice, capital investments and trading. Roman also worked on international projects to develop power markets and regulatory capacity in the former Soviet Union and India. At the Federal Reserve Board, Roman analyzed trends in industrial production.

He has an M.P.P. from the Harvard Kennedy School and a B.A. in economics and B.S.E. in systems engineering from the University of Pennsylvania.

Seifi Ghasemi became chairman, president and chief executive officer of Air Products in July 2014. In this role, he is focused on setting the strategy and policies of the company, developing leadership, and meeting shareholder commitments.

Mr. Ghasemi is a member of The Business Council, an association of the chief executive officers of the world’s most important business enterprises. In 2020, he was appointed to the Board of Directors of the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum. In 2019 he was elected to the Board of Directors of the US-China Business Council. Mr. Ghasemi also was the recipient of the 2017 biennial International Palladium Medal from the Société de Chimie Industrielle for his distinguished contributions to the chemical industry.

Prior to joining Air Products, from 2001-2014, Mr. Ghasemi served as chairman and chief executive officer of Rockwood Holdings, a global leader in inorganic specialty chemicals and advanced materials that was acquired by Albemarle Corporation in January 2015. From 1997-2001, he held leadership roles at GKN, a global industrial company, including positions as director of the Main Board of GKN, plc, and chairman and chief executive officer of GKN Sinter Metals, Inc. and Hoeganes Corporation. Earlier in his career, Mr. Ghasemi spent nearly 20 years with The BOC Group (the industrial gas company which is now part of Linde AG) in positions including director of the Main Board of BOC Group, plc; president of BOC Gases Americas; and chairman and chief executive officer of BOC Process Plants, Ltd. and Cryostar.

Mr. Ghasemi earned his undergraduate degree from Abadan Institute of Technology and holds an M.S. degree in mechanical engineering from Stanford University. He also was awarded an honorary Doctor of Science degree from Lafayette College in 2017 and an honorary Doctor of Engineering degree from Stevens Institute of Technology in 2018.

After a year at the National Research Council Canada, he worked for, and then managed, the Research Centre for Refrigeration and Heat Pumps in Germany.  

Later, he headed his own consultancy undertaking research for international industries, NGOs and governments. He implemented projects in India and China, and was part of delegations to the Montreal Protocol and its Multilateral Fund. He served as a technical expert on several international panels. 

In 2004, he started work in the United Nations as Senior Programme Officer with the Multilateral Fund.  

Joining UNIDO in 2014, he became Director of the Department of Environment in 2015. In that role, he focused the department on reduction of emissions of Greenhouse Gases and of industrial pollution, and on circular economy. Since June 2020, he is Managing Director of the Directorate of Environment and Energy in UNIDO. 

He was recognized for his contribution, as coordinating lead author for IPCC, to the Nobel Peace Prize 2007, and has received an US-EPA Ozone Award. 

Mr. Sicars holds the equivalent of a Master’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Hanover, Germany.