Reinhard Haas is associate professor of Energy Economics at TU Wien. Since 2001 he has been the vice head of the Institute of Power Systems and Energy Economics. He gives lectures on Energy Economics, Regulation and Competition in Energy markets, and Energy Modelling. His current research interests include dissemination strategies for renewables, sustainable energy systems as well as liberalisation versus regulation of energy markets. Since ten years he has been working in these fields and has published various papers in reviewed international journals. Moreover, he coordinated projects for Austrian institutions as well as the European Commission.

Amela Ajanovic is a senior research scientist at Energy Economics Group at TU Wien. She is responsible for conducting research, project acquisition and scientific coordination.
She is engaged in energy economics with a specific focus on heading toward sustainable transport systems. Her main research interests are alternative fuels, alternative automotive technologies, as well as transport demand analyses. On these topics she has published more than 50 papers in journals, conference proceedings, and books.
She holds a master degree in electrical engineering and a PhD in energy economics at TU Wien.

Jan W. Bleyl has pursued studies in energy and process engineering as well as in energy economics at TU Berlin and Humboldt State University, California. Over the last 20 years, Mr. Bleyl has acquired knowledge and experiences in a broad range of energy (efficiency) systems in national (Austria, Germany) and international (Europe, Asia, Africa) context. Since 1994 he developed and managed the ESCo division of Berlin Energy Agency Ltd and served as authorized manager (Prokurist). In 2002 he founded “Energetic Solutions”, an independent energy services and efficiency consultancy and joined Graz Energy Agency Ltd as senior consultant (until 2012).

Since 2006, Mr. Bleyl leads Task 16, the Energy Services task of the International Energy Agency’s Demand Side Management Implementing Agreement (IEA DSM).

During the last 5 years Jan has developed a special interest in bankable project calculations, translating MWh into cash flows and vice versa (for technical due diligence).

Dr. Horst Brandlmaier, MBA, has been serving as a member of the board of directors of OeMAG, the clearinghouse for Ökostrom AG, since January 1, 2007. He is responsible for the areas of balance group management, finance and accounting, billing, as well as IT and data management. Prior to this role, he served as a proxy in the finance and organization department at Energie-Control GmbH.

Horst Brandlmaier studied business administration at the University of Graz. He pursued his doctoral studies alongside his professional career at the Institute of Administrative Law and Administrative Science at the University of Linz. In the year 2000, he was granted professional certification as a tax consultant by the Chamber of Certified Public Accountants after successfully passing all examinations.

Upon completing another part-time program, he obtained his Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in the field of risk management in 2005.

Helfried Brunner studied Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, specializing on Power Engineering at the University of Technology Graz and Innovation and Technology Management at the University for Applied Sciences Technikum Vienna.

From 2004 to 2008 was researcher and project manager at the Austrian Institute of Technology - AIT, Energy Department in the topic distributed generation integration in distribution networks. Since 2009 Helfried Brunner is deputy head of business unit Electric Energy Systems. He is responsible for the research field Smart Grids and related projects in this topic. He is representative of AIT within the European Energy Research Alliance (EERA) Joint Programme Smart Grids and member of CIRED Session 4 Advisory Group. Since 2008 operating agent of Annex II – DG System Integration in Distribution Networks – within the IEA Implementing Agreements ENARD (Electricity Networks Analysis, Research and Development) and member of board of the national technology platform Smart Grids Austria.

Since 2009 he gives lectures at the University for Applied Sciences Technikum Vienna, bachelor degree program Urban Renewable Energy Technologies and master degree program Renewable Urban Energy Systems, in the topics electricity network components and smart grids.

Univ.Prof.Dr. Burger studied business administration at Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, worked as assistant professor at Vienna University and habilitated at this University in 1991 by his paper about decision-making costing for flexible manufacturing systems. Later on he was Professor at University of Bielefeld and Cologne, since 1993 he has been holding a chair for General Management and Management Accounting at Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt.
His working and research areas are: Management Accounting and Controlling, Financial Accounting (especially International Accounting) and Bankruptcies.

Mag. Dr. Burian studied economics at the University of Vienna and business administration at the University of World Trade in Vienna. He wrote his dissertation in economics at the University of Vienna (1977). From 1974 to 1977 he was trainer for communications and rhetoric. In 1977 he started his career at the former Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry (personal referent at the minister’s office, head of several departments).

Since 2000 he has been head of department of International Regional Policy and Finance at the Ministry for Economic Affairs and Labour. Within his functions he was evaluator of the EU framework program, and national EU coordinator for all regulated academic professions. He was responsible in the Ministry for the coordination of EU regional policy and structural funds as well as for the European Territorial Cooperation Programs (ETC). In his field of responsibilities were also UNIDO and International Finance Institutions (IFI’s).

Currently he works in the Center for European Integration and External Trade, department for International Environmental Policy in the Ministry for Economy, Family and Youth.
Dr. Burian is president of ETRI - European Training and Research Institute, member of advisory board of the Vienna Institute for comparative Studies (WIIW), Co-founder and board member of European Center of Renewable Energy Güssing.

Stefka Christodulova is the founder of Wit4Grit e.U., a Vienna based firm providing consulting, training and coaching services with a particular focus on improving Teams and Leaders Effectiveness through Resilience and Agility development, especially needed in the context of Change and Transformation processes. As a trainer she focuses on the areas of Resilience, Presentation Skills and Cross-Cultural Management.
Prior to founding Wit4Grit in late 2017 she spent over 20 years in the corporate world gaining extensive professional experience across a number of industries in Europe and in the USA - including banking, IT, publishing and fashion. This includes over ten years in project and program management in the areas of Mergers and Acquisitions as well as in Organizational and Leadership Development in the divisions of Group Strategy and Group HR in a major Austrian Banking Group. Along with that she started giving internal trainings in 2005.
Throughout the years she has facilitated numerous international working sessions and seminars, and has held many presentations and speeches both in front of large and small audiences, including the Executive Board room. This experience has taught her the value of strategic preparation and mental resilience as key success factors for reaching out to an audience with impact, purpose and results.
Mrs. Christodulova holds a Master's degree in Marketing from Webster University, Austria and a Bachelor's degree in International Business from the University of Bridgeport, USA. She is also a certified OD Consultant and Coach, Resilience Training Facilitator, Scrum Master, Mental Strength Trainer and a Jack Canfield Success Principles™ Trainer.

Benedikt Ennser has joined the Austrian Federal Ministry for Climate Action as Head of Department Energy – Legal Affairs in 2016. His area of responsibility includes legislative, constitutional and administrative issues of energy law as well as relevant aspects of EU law. During the Austrian EU presidency in 2018 he chaired the Council Working Party on Energy for the negotiations on electricity market design.
He previously served at the Legal department of the National Regulatory Authority (E-Control) and the Austrian Chamber of Economy.
Mr Ennser holds a Doctor in Law degree from the University of Vienna. He is author of several publications in the fields of EU law and energy law and gives lectures at TU Wien, JKU Linz and Donau-Universität Krems.

From 1993 to 2008 Hubert Fechner  with "Österreichisches Forschungs- und Prüfzentrum Arsenal" - arsenal research.
Since 1998 he has been developing and chairing of a business unit "renewable energy technologies". Focus of his research work is solar thermal energy, photovoltaics as well as distributed generation of electricity.
Beside the scientific work, he is chairing the national solarthermal standardisation, acting as national representative of the Photovoltaic research Programme of the International energy agency (IEA), as well as actively participating in various national and European associations of renewable energy.
Since 1.1.2009 he is the program director for the MSc. Study "Renewable Urban Energy Systems" at Fachhochschule Technikum Wien.
He is deputy chair of the “Photovoltaic Power Systems Program” of the international energy agency (IEA), as well as general secretary of the Austrian Photovoltaic Technology platform. He is working as consultant for the Austrian ministry of transport innovation and technology since 2001 and scientific chair of the annual Austrian Photovoltaic Conference as well as the annual “International Smart Grids Week”.

Since 1985 Prof. Friedl has been scientist at the TU Wien and is head in the research area "Thermal Process Engineering and Simulation". The main targets are fundamental and applied research in the field of “Sustainable Process Engineering”.
International research activities have been performed in the period of 1989 to 1990 at the Massey University, Department of Biotechnology in Palmerston North, New Zealand and 1991 at the University of California, Department of Chemical Engineering, Berkeley, California, USA.
From 1996 to 1999 he was project manager for power stations and industrial boilers at "Austrian Energy and Environment-SGP/Waagner Biro Ges.m.b.H.".

Dr. Werner Friedl is working for AIT Austrian Institute of Technology (since 2015) where he is heading and coordinating the research field "Integrated Energy Systems". In parallel he is member of the Board of Directors of EUREC (T he Association of European Renewable Energy Research Centres) and Operating Agent of ISGAN (The International Smart Grid Action Network). Furthermore, he is lecturer at Universities and give courses in Smart Grids/Internet of Energy, Energy Markets and Energy Law. After studies in Electrical Engineering with the focus on Energy Technologies, he worked at the Institute of Electrical Power Systems (TU Graz) in the fields of grid planning, safety and protection, decentralised generation and power quality and did his doctorate in grid planning and grid development. He achieved his expertise in energy policy and electricity market design during his time at Energie Control Austria (from 2008 2015). His work at the Austrian regulatory authority included innovation, smart grids, quality of supply, balancing energy and energy control. From 2011 2015 he headed the working group "Electricity Quality of Supply and Smart Grids" at the Council of European Energy Regulators (CEER) and coordinated Smart Grids activities with in CEER.

Wolfgang Gawlik studied Electrical Engineering at the University Erlangen-Nürnberg. He was constructing engineer of turbo-generators and deputy team leader at Siemens AG.

His PhD thesis dealt with harmonic compensators. His next career step was Senior Key Expert System Dynamics and Project Manager at Siemens AG, Power Technologies International in the field of network planning and analysis.

Roger Hackstock graduated as electrotechnical engineer at the TU Wien. He is an expert in technology deployment, specialised on a systematic approach.

For many years he gained knowledge working in the Ministry of Science and Research, the Austrian Academy of Science, the Austrian Energy Agency and the Climate and Energy Fund.

In 2002 he became managing director of the solar industry association Austria Solar for twelve years, where he attained professional insights on market mechanisms of renewable energy. The first solar powered annual report , opens an external URL in a new window– content was only visible in full sunlight – he launched 2012 attracted worldwide attention of art directors.

In his book “Energiewende – Die Revolution hat schon begonnen, opens an external URL in a new window” he focussed on future energy solutions from a system perspective. He is an expert on implementation of integrated renewable energy solutions that are profitable as well as socially accepted.

Martina Handler has been the manager of the department Participation in the Austrian Society for Environment and Technology (OeGUT) since 2004. She graduated in political science. The focus of her work is public participation, environmental mediation, consensual conflict resolution, sustainable development, education and intercultural communication. Besides her scholar work Martina Handler worked as a trainer for communication and social skills in the job training sector between 1997 and 2003. From 2000 to 2002 she was educational manager in a large institution for vocational training.

Dr. Michael Harasek is assistant professor at the TU Wien, he received his PhD in chemical engineering from the same university. As head of the research group “Thermal Process Engineering - Computational Fluid Dynamics” he guides a team of fourteen PhD students and post-docs at the Institute of Chemical Engineering.

For more than twenty years, he has been working on the design of new processes and technologies in the process industries and related fields. A major part of his research work is dedicated to the development of environmentally friendly technologies focussing on membrane processes and the integration of renewable energy pathways, e.g. the production of biofuels, and the production and upgrading of biogas.

With his group, he is partner in numerous national and international research projects, currently he also coordinates a FP7-SME project. Michael Harasek works also on the application of experimental and computational fluid dynamics in many fields of chemical engineering for process analysis and optimization. He is author or co-author of more than 50 publications and 7 patents.

Marcus Hummel joined the EEG in 2009. He holds a degree in process engineering (Energy and Environmental Engineering) at the TU Wien. In his diploma thesis he developed a "Model for scenario analyses about the technical possibilities of renewable energy systems" working as a research assistant at the Institute of Industrial Ecology in St.Pölten. One year he studied at the University of Granada in Spain.
His research interests include technical and environmental as well as economical and political aspects of energy systems. Focus lies on the understanding of possible future developments of energy systems using techno-economic modelling approaches. The aim is to help develop sound political measures for the transition to sustainable energy systems in a low-carbon society.
Special working focus lies on industrial energy systems as well as the space heating and hot water in buildings market. Due to the existing overlapping concerning buildings as well as processes his work also covers the service sector. His research topics cover both energy efficiency improvement and renewable energy integration.
Marcus Hummel works on national and international research projects and takes care of project acquisition and coordination.
Since 2010 he takes care of the "Energiegespräche" (Energy Talks) at the Vienna Museum of Technology, a quarterly event for discussing recent energy related topics in public.
Marcus Hummel and Raphael Bointner together lead the Student Chapter of the Austrian Association for Energy Economics (AAEE). The aim is to connect PhD-Students in the field of Energy Economics on the national as well as international level and to foster scientific discussion in the field. Highlight is the organisation of an international PhD-Day once a year at EEG.

Dr. Gerfried Jungmeier studied Mechanical Engineering at Graz University of Technology. He wrote his PhD on "Greenhouse gas balance of bio energy systems" in 1999. Since 1993 he has been employed as scientist at the Institute of Energy Research at Joanneum Research Forschungsgesellschaft mbH. Dr. Jungmeier is Chairperson of Cost Action E31 "Management of Recovered Wood". His research interests include life cycle assessment, bioenergy, emission and energy balances, and sustainable energy systems.

Dr. Jungmeier works currently in national and European founded projects on biofuels for transportation, hydrogen as future energy carrier, recovered wood as well as scenarios for future sustainable energy systems.

Dr. Marek Kobialka is since 2010 Assistant Professor at TU Wien, Institute of Management Science, Department of Finance and Management Control. His research interests include Corporate Finance, International Finance, Regulatory Economics and Integrated Management Information Systems.
Outside the university he gained experience as Managing Director and Senior Consultant of BOC ITC in Warsaw and Process Coordinator and Analyst in Generali Finance, Warsaw.

Lukas Kranzl has studied Industrial Engineering at Vienna University of Technoloy. Since 1999 he works at the Energy Economics Group. In 2002 he made his PhD in the field of energy econmics with the thesis “Economic relevance of bioenergy utilization”.

Current fields research are strategic and system analyses of sustainable energy systems with a strong focus bioenergy, modelling, scenario development and optimization of promotion strategies for renewable energy systems and energy efficiency as well as macroeconomic and socio-economic investigations. In these fields Lukas Kranzl is responsible for project acquisition, scientific coordination and research activities.

Andreas Krenn has been working for Energiewerkstatt since 2006. In his role as project manager he is responsible for the development of wind energy projects in Austria and South East Europe.
Since 2008 he has been coordinating the international RTD project SEEWIND, which focuses on the installation of pilot wind turbines in Serbia, Bosnia and Croatia. Since 2009 he has been working as the Austrian Representative in IEA Task 19, which addresses challenges of wind energy in cold climate.
Andreas Krenn holds a master degree from the University of Applied Sciences, Vienna and is author of several publications in the field of wind energy in complex terrain and cold climate.

From 1995 to 1999 Martin Krill worked for Siemens/KWU-Power Generation in Germany in the business areas project management and research (increasing the degree of efficiency for plants). From 1999 to 2003 he was employed at the Austrian District Heating Company in Vienna, where he was the manager of the technical and of the sales department building up also the new field of business activity "Wind Energy".

In 2003 Martin Krill founded the company PROFES and is managing director of this company. The main business areas of PROFES are energy efficiency and renewable energies with the main focus on wind energy and photovoltaics. Performed services are project management, design and planning, operation and consulting.
Currently Martin Krill gives also lectures on Energy Efficiency/Renewable Energies at the polytechnic school in Vienna. 

Martin Krill is also certified mediator and member of the board of the Austrian Wind Energy Association, opens an external URL in a new window. Details see www.profes.at, opens an external URL in a new window

Robert Maier is Head of Corporate Finance and Structured Finance at Raiffeisenbank Niederösterreich Wien AG. He studied Business and Administration (University of Graz) and is a certified Chartered Tax Consultant (Austrian chamber of chartered public accountants and tax consultants).
Robert Maier joined Raiffeisenlandesbank NÖ-Wien in the beginning of 2006. He is in charge of the Corporate Finance and Structured Finance departement focussing on acquisition finance and project finance. In 1995 Robert started his professional career in the department of credit for industry at Bank für Arbeit und Wirtschaft. In 1998 he moved to Brussels working as an official at the European Commission. The first 3 years of his overall 5 years Commission career he worked in Commission’s Budget Directorate General’s department. In his last two years in Brussels he was part of Competition Directorate General’s “Merger Task Force”, the head office of European merger control.
In 2003 he joined KPMG Vienna’s Financial Advisory team as a manager. During his over two years career at KPMG he was in charge of numerous consulting mandates in areas such as Financing, PPP and Project Feasibility. In 2005 he finalised his exams for becoming a Chartered Tax Consultant.

After graduating from the HTL Braunau (Secondary College of Engineering) in the areas of electrical engineering and power electronics and then completing a graduate degree at the Faculty of Natural Science on the University of Salzburg, Helmut Maislinger pursued his interest in renewable energy and, in 2001, joined the team of the Energiewerkstatt GmbH, the largest planning office for wind energy in Austria.

The Energiewerkstatt GmbH is a consulting engineering office for electro-technology and biology. Helmut Maislinger is managing director of the Office of Biology at the Energiewerkstatt GmbH, supervisor of the planning department and project manager. In addition to his participation in the technical planning of projects, Helmut Maislinger focuses on Environmental Impact Assessment and strategic environmental scoping.

Hungarian University of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department Head, Professor

Department of Precision Agriculture and Digital Farming

Institute of Agronomy

Research Interests

Geographical Information systems, Remote sensing

Courses Taught

Remote sensing

Martin Mittelbach from the Institute of Chemistry has been engaged in biodiesel activities since 1980, under his guidance the first pilot plant worldwide for the production of rape seed oil methyl esters was put into operation in 1985. He was the leading scientific person for the development of biodiesel in Austria. Within the working group “Renewable Resources” over 70 scientific publications and several book contributions have been published, M.Mittelbach is also publisher of the first comprehensive handbook for biodiesel. The most important research topics on biodiesel are the development of process technology for biodiesel production as well as development of analytical methods for the characterization of biodiesel.
Numerous national and international research projects on biofuels have been carried out during the last 20 years.  Within these projects cooperation with a lot of institutions with engagement on biodiesel was carried out.
M. Mittelbach is member of national and European specification committees for biodiesel and also member of the Steering Committee of the Biofuels Technology Platform of the European Commission.

Gerhard Mütter is Technical Director of Alteso (Alternative Energy Solutions GmbH), where he leads in function of ORA (Owner Representative Advisory) supervision of O&M for PV-Parks.
With his team he developed PEAK, the AES Performance Efficiency Acceleration Key technology, a leading-edge data analysis service using special algorithms including machine learning for exploring big data. This software toolset allows to control multi-MW PV-parks based on perceptions of deep analysis of large datasets taken from monitoring systems.
Gerhard worked in Renewable Energies for Product Management, Product Development and PV for Austrians largest solar-companies since more than 10 years. Since 2011 he is technical head of large PV parks. He has analysed with his team more than 2.5 GW of large PV plants all over Europe and India, is Technical Director of Rising Alternative Energy Pvt Ltd, New Delhi, India, member of the Scientific Committee of EU-PVSEC and lector for Photovoltaics at Technical University Vienna.

Graduated mechanical engineer (Politechnical University Budapest)

Research Interests

• Development of the technical background of precision agriculture;

• Modelling of heat and mass transfer of biological materials;

• Modelling of mixing of granular materials and special soil particles;

• Measurements of physical properties of agricultural and food materials;
• Non-food utilization of agricultural products for bio-fuel and bio-plastic use and natural fibre products

Courses Taught

Involved in BSc., MSc. And Ph.D courses, supervisor and reviewer of diplomas and Ph.D. dissertations.

Memberships

Member of the Doctoral Committee of the University of West-Hungary and the University Szent István (Gödöllo)
Chairman of the Professor Council of the Pannon Agricultiral University (1996-1999)
Member of the Faculty Senate
Member of the Senate of the University of West-Hungary (01. 2000-)
Member of the International Federation of Process Control (IFAC) (Technical Committee on Modelling and Control in Agricultural Processes)
Member of the Hung. Branch of ISTRO (Int. Soil Tillage Research Organisation)
External Member of the Columbia University, Seminars on Pollution and Water Resources
Member of the Editorial Board of the Hungarian Electric Journal of Environmental Sciences
Associated editor of Pollution and Water Resources (Columbia University Seminar Proceedings)
Member of the Editorial Board of the Biosystems Engineering (formerly Journal of Agricultural Engineering Research)
Member of the New Jersey Academy of Sciences
Member of the Advisory Board of Process in Agricultural Engineering Sciences, Akademic Press, Budapest, Wolters Kluwe Group
Head of the Habilitation Board of the University of West Hungary

Karl Newertal is partner of BDO and head of the location in Bruck/Leitha.
He has more than 30 years of practical experience in tax and transaction consulting as well as in the field of due diligence.
His areas of expertise include taxation and advice related to the international posting of employees (expatriates). Karl Newertal is a recognized expert for evaluation questions and a sought-after speaker. Furthermore, he is our Austrian contact person for energy-related issues.
His focus in the field of advisory services is on due diligence, transaction consulting and start-up consulting.
Industry focus:
• Alternative energy & clean tech
• Austrian family businesses with international orientation
• Non-profit organisations
• Technology and media
• Raw material production & processing

Carlo Obersteiner is working at the energy economics department of Wien Energie since 2010. Formerly he worked as a research assistant at the Energy Economics Group, TU Wien. He holds a PhD in energy economics and a master degree in power engineering, both from TU Wien.

His research focused on economic aspects of market and grid integration of renewable energies. For his PhD he investigated parameters affecting the market value of wind power from a generator's perspective. At Wien Energie he deals with long-term and strategic issues.

Dr. Mario Ortner graduated from the TU Wien in Mechanical Engineering in 1990. In 2001 he obtained his PhD in chemical engineering.

Over 15 years of post graduate professional experience. Development including design, financing, operation etc. of renewable energy based heating and cogeneration plants and distribution facilities. Emphasis on biomass, biogas and geothermie as renewable energy sources including experience with operation of Biomass and Biodiesel plants. Energy efficiency measures on the demand side. Considerable project experience in Central and Eastern Europe and EU countries.

Dr. Christian Panzer is working at Wien Energie GmbH, a power and gas utility. There, he is involved in the corporate development and the long-term strategic decisions of the utility. He holds a master degree in Electrical Engineering (Energy Technology) and a PhD in Energy Economics at TU Wien.

His interests focus on the area of energy policies and energy economics, especially on renewable energy technologies as well as international gas markets. Mr. Panzer´s main activities include the development of a long-term strategy for the utility as well as analyzing international energy markets. Thus he has a deep understanding of energy price drivers and functioning of energy markets, in particular on the power and gas market.

Architect Georg Wolfgang Reinberg, (born in Vienna in 1950), is based in Vienna. He studied Architecture at Vienna Technical University and Syracuse University (NY, USA) and received grants from Schütte and Fulbright.

From 1983 till 1986 he was assistant of Professor Anton Schweighofer at the Vienna Technical University. Since 1980 he is working as an independent Architect and runs his own “Ziviltechnikerbüro” since 1985. From 1983 to1990 he was member of “Arge Architekten Reinberg, Treberspurg, Raith”. He is managing his office together with his wife Martha Enriquez-Reinberg, lic. Arch. 2006 the name of his firm was changed into "Architekturbüro Reinberg ZT GmbH". This office which recently has 8 stuff members, is working in design as well as detailed planning and construction management.  Architect Reinberg has realized more than 100 ecologically oriented projects.

In connection with those projects Reinberg has engaged in various research activities.

He won  numerous competitions, honours and prizes.

He has taught at Solarbauschule Vorarlberg (1994 – 95). He is lecturing at the Vienna Technical University (since 1995); is visiting Professor at the Danube University in Krems (Solar Architecture, since 1997) and teaches at the University of Applied Sciences in Vienna (FH Campus, since 2013). He is also teaching and giving lectures internationally.

Georg W. Reinberg has published - among others - the following books: “Ecology and Architecture: Architecture by Georg W. Reinberg”, 1998; “Georg W. Reinberg: Solar Architecture”, 2005; “Ecological Architecture-Design, Planning, Realization”, 2008.

Gustav Resch is working as senior researcher at TU Wien, Energy Economics Group. He holds a degree in electrical engineering (Energy Technology) and a PhD in energy economics at TU Wien. He is responsible for research, project acquisition and scientific coordination in the area of energy policy and energy economics with a focus on renewable energy technologies - with proven expertise on international level. His fields of activity include potential and cost assessment of (renewable) energy technologies, evaluation and design assessment of energy policy instruments and energy modeling (focusing on policy interactions and technology dynamics).

Rusbeh Rezania was born in Linz (Austria), on December 14, 1979. He holds his master in power engineering from the TU Wien in November 2009. He analyzed in his master thesis the impact of various grid integration methods on the grid tariffs and economics of decentralized power plants.

Since February 2009 he has been working as a junior researcher at TU Wien, Energy Economics Group (EEG). His major fields of research are micro CHP and integration of electric vehicles as well as storage systems into the energy system

Fabian Schipfer studied Physics at the University of Vienna, Austria and the University of Sevilla, Spain. Since 2012 he is working for the Energy Economics Group with the focus on the market introduction and market diffusion of bioenergy technologies and their respective commodities. He graduated in 2017. In several national and international research and consultant projects he conducts techno-economic assessments from a system perspective on biomass-to-end-use chains for modern and traditional bioenergy carriers and biomaterials. His main tools include desktop research, modelling, scenario modelling and -discussion implying scientific interdisciplinary exchange and cooperation as well as communication with and towards stakeholder and policy makers.

Dr. Fritz Stastny has been working in the field of human resources and organizational development since 1980. He is a management trainer and consultant and works as a facilitator for processes of team development and change management.He focuses mainly on management trainings, social skills, communication, and cooperation trainings, presentation and facilitation trainings, personality development as well as trainings for trainers and university teachers.

In addition to his function in one of the largest banks in central Europe Dr. Fritz Stastny has been working as a trainer and consultant for national and international companies for the past 25 years.He has also been involved in teaching classes at the Vienna University of Business Administration, and at other Universities of Applied Science in the fields of social skills and personal growth for many years.

Pall Valdimarsson is a mechanical engineer with degrees from Iceland and Germany, and a Dr.Scient.Ing. degree from the University of Iceland.   He was at the University of Iceland from 1986 to 2012 thereof a full professor from 1996, with reduced duties since 2005, after becoming director R&D for Enex hf in Iceland.  He has three decades of experience in geothermal utilization, both for production of electricity as well as district heating, and has been a lecturer at the United Nations University Geothermal Training Program since 1986.

Pall Valdimarsson has done consulting and lecturing for various European Universities, the World Bank and energy companies such as NUON of Holland and Norsk Hydro. Other activities have included work in the field of internal combustion engines, hydrogen projects and aircraft propulsion.  He has been the president of the Icelandic Council of Standardization, member of the Icelandic Aircraft Accident Investigation Board as well as member of scientific councils within the Nordic Energy Research Program (NEFP).  He has now a consulting company, pvald ehf in addition to being adjunct professor at Reykjavik University.  His main client is Arctic Green Energy working on geothermal power production and geothermal district heating projects in China.  He is as well a consortium partner in the GeoSmart research project within the European Union Horizon 2020 program.

Lukas Weißensteiner is working as business development manager and power markets expert at RP Global Austria. His professional expertise covers economic aspects of renewables and according market designs and regulations. Headquartered in Vienna, RP Global Group is an international developer and investor in renewable energy projects, primarily wind and small hydro power plants.

Until 2011, Lukas Weißensteiner was researcher at Energy Economics Group (EEG), TU Wien. He was in charge of national and international research projects on various aspects of market integration of electricity from renewable energy sources. He holds a master degree in industrial engineering and a PhD in energy economics from TU Wien.

Werner Weiss is founding member and director of AEE – Institute for Sustainable Technologies (AEE  INTEC) in Gleisdorf, Austria and since June 2010 chairman of the Solar Heating and Cooling Programme of the International Energy Agency (IEA). Furthermore he is board member of the European Technology Platform on Renewable Heating and Cooling.
He has been project co-ordinator of more than 30 national, European and international solar thermal energy projects.
His main research activities are on solar combi-systems and solar heat for industrial processes.

Membership of professional bodies

• Vice-chairman of the European Solar Thermal Technology Pannel
• Board member of the European Technology Platform on Renewable Heating and Cooling
• Austrian representative in the Executive Committee of the Solar Heating and Cooling Programme of the International Energy Agency (IEA)
• Member of ISES (International Solar Energy Society)
• Member of the Austrian Standards Institute FNA 173
• Consultant of United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO)

Arthur Wellinger is managing director of Triple E&M, an internationally operating consulting company located in Aadorf, Switzerland. Before he was for several decades’ founding director of Nova Energie, a research and consulting company located in Switzerland.

After having earned his PhD in natural sciences (ecological microbiology) he spent a couple of years teaching at the University of Illinois, Department of Civil Engineering before he specialized in Research & Development, consulting and PR later on in the field of renewable energies and efficient energy utilization.
Arthur Wellinger is best known for his contributions in the development of AD processes for agricultural wastes and MSW including gas upgrading utilities.

He has also merits in editing and policy making. He is member of a number of national and international asso¬ciations and expert groups such as the Bioenergy Agreement of the Interna¬tional Energy Agency (IEA) where he serves Technical Coordinator. He is currently president of the European Biogas Association (EBA), vice-president of the Swiss AD and composting plant operators’ association (VKS-ASIC) and general manager of the Swiss Biomass Association (Biomasse Schweiz).

Arthur Wellinger has written more than 80 scientific publications, most of them in the field of biological and mechanical waste treatment.