Rachael has been working in the bioenergy sector since 2014, joining Hawkins Wright in August 2017 where she contributes to Hawkins Wright’s monthly Forest Energy Monitor report, the quarterly Outlook for Wood Pellets service and the Asia Pacific Biomass report.
Prior to joining Hawkins Wright, Rachael worked at commodity price reporting agency Argus Media on its biomass editorial team. Her previous role involved price reporting, news coverage and in-depth analysis of the market with a focus on international trade. Prior to her work in bioenergy, Rachael spent five years reporting on and analysing the fixed income markets. Rachael holds a biological sciences degree from the University of Leicester.

Dominique Kühner is an accomplished professional with over 25 years of experience delivering equipment, systems, and comprehensive solutions for various industrial applications in Mining/Minerals, Chemical, and Agriculture. After obtaining his Process Engineering degree from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zürich, he began his career as a Project Manager and Commissioning specialist at W. Kunz dryTec AG in 1996.
 
Mr. Kühner quickly advanced to the role of Managing Director before moving to GEA Barr-Rosin in 2006, where he served as a Senior Business Development Manager. In 2012, he relocated to the UK, assuming the role of global Director of Sales Responsibility.
 
Subsequently, in 2016, Mr. Kühner joined the Moret Industries Group as Director of Sales and Technology, initially supporting Promill S.A.S in France before transitioning to VetterTec Ltd in the UK.
 
In 2021, Mr. Kühner became part of ANDRITZ Feed & Biofuel as Industry Director for Biomass, Waste and Industrial Application. Leading a diverse global team spanning Denmark, The Netherlands, France, and Brazil, he is responsible for developing and executing the global strategy for Biomass, Waste, and other Industrial Applications within the ANDRITZ Feed & Biofuel product portfolio. Additionally, he spearheads the development and implementation of a Plant Solution-based approach optimized to meet the evolving needs of the company’s customers worldwide.

David is the Co-founcer of Dutch renewable energy company Maatschappij Wilhelmina NV - an innovative renewable energy company, turning agricultural waste streams into sustainable energy, while reducing coal consumption, CO2 and methane emissions.

The company is investing US$60 million (RM283 million) to build a TG2 black pellet plant, the first of its kind in the world, that uses empty fruit bunches (EFB) from oil palms as feedstock to produce drop-in coal replacement fuel in Malaysia.

Shutong has a master degree from VU University Amsterdam in Environment and Energy studies. He started biofuel career at SkyNRG- the world’s first Sustainable Aviation Fuel provider back in 2011. Shutong is one of the first to export Chinese UCO to Europe. Since then he has been working in developing sustainable alternative fuel supply chain. In 2015, Shutong moved back to China and founded MotionECO, a company building sustainable supply chain and promoting biofuels in China. MotionECO provides consultancy, brokerage, advisory and EU-RED, CORSIA, ISCC/RSB  certification services etc. MotionECO covers biofuel for all trasnportaion sectors including, biodiesel, SAF, bio marine fuel and green methanol/ethanol etc.

With 10 years of bunker trading expertise in the Asia market at CPN, KK currently excels as the Head of Alternative Energy.

Following the MEPC 75 in 2020, he led his team to pioneer alternative fuels, concentrating on the Hong Kong market. Under his leadership, CPN debuted Hong Kong's first B24 Marine Biofuel supply in 2023, establishing CPN as the sole provider capable of satisfying the growing demand at the port.  His commitment to innovation and market acumen propels CPN's role in offering sustainable fuel solutions.

Eason is currently serving as the Assistant General Manager of Sichuan Tianzhou New Energy Group and the General Manager of Tianzhou International Trading Group, responsible for the strategic development, global raw material procurement, and product sales of Sichuan Tianzhou.

Eason has previously worked at ExxonMobil and BP, two of the world's top energy giants. Before joining Sichuan Tianzhou, Eason was the first General Manager of the joint venture between BP and China National Aviation Fuel General Aviation Company. He has a profound understanding of carbon reduction in the aviation industry and energy transition.

Sichuan Tianzhou is constructing the very first SAF plant in Western China, which is expected to be commissioned by 2025. Its in-house technology is at leading position of the industry.

Tony Khan is President and Representative Director of DHL Japan, Inc. and a member of the DHL Express Asia Pacific Management Board since January 1, 2020. He has over 36 years of experience in the industry, and he is managing the Express business and its overall operations in Japan, an important market for DHL Express globally.

Tony has led the company navigate a number of crises including the pandemic and geopolitical tensions in the global sphere. He has united the employees “AS ONE”, who upheld excellent quality of service and maintained operations without a single day of service suspension. Under Tony’s strong leadership, the company has further achieved number 1 market share position in Japan as well as continuous business growth.

Since joining DHL in 1988, Tony Khan has held a number of key positions, particularly in the Asia region. This includes the management of Central Asia Hub in Hong Kong that plays an important role in the company’s global aviation network, and the opening and expansion of a number of major facilities in Japan. These have contributed significantly to the development of the DHL business. The experiences have provided him with a great depth of knowledge and perspective into international logistics, particularly in Asia.

Tony has lived in Japan for 23 years. He was born in Pakistan in May 1965. He graduated from the University of Karachi with a degree in Economics in 1987, and is fluent in Japanese and Chinese.

After working as Asia Pacific Pricing Tactics Advisor at ExxonMobil, Hiroshi joined DHL in 2006 as Pricing & Costing Manager and Head of Direct Sales before current position as Director, Commercial Planning & Research in 2012. Has been leading the implementation of DHL GoGreen Plus in Japan since 2024. In addition to internal project execution, is responsible for coordination with external stakeholders and external communications. 

Hiroshi has received his MBA from Graduate School of Business Administration, Keio University in 1998.

Stefanus is a Director and Head of Business Development and Strategy of Sinarmas Agribusiness Group (Golden Agri-Resources Ltd). GAR is the leading and largest private palm plantation group in Indonesia with planted area of 534k ha. It has pioneered and adopted policies to reduce deforestation, greenhouse gas emissions and biodiversity loss, and has been accredited by RSPO, ISCC and ISPO for these effiorts. Stefanus has been spearheading the business development and expansion of the group in the Renewables and Biomass business, including the development of the renewable energy business in Europe and palm kernel shells export to Japan.

Stefanus holds a masters' degree from Cambridge University, UK.

Azusa Nakajima is a General Manager, Next-Generation Energy Development Team, Carbon Solution Development Unit of Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (MOL). She is responsible for overseeing the entire value chain of next-generation energy and upstream project investment. This Carbon Solution Development Unit was created in April 2024 to lead the forefront of the proactive movement towards realizing a decarbonized society with an aim to transform MOL from being a traditional shipping company to becoming a social infrastructure enterprise. Before being assigned for this position in May 2024, she was mainly involved in business development and project execution of LNG downstream projects, such as FSRU and LNG-to-Powership business.

John-Paul (JP) Taylor is the Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Enviva. 

Over the course of his career, JP has developed an acute acumen for market analysis with a focus on renewable energy. Since joining Enviva in 2014, JP has evaluated and developed opportunities to optimize and monetize capital-light margin expansion initiatives, developed strategies to leverage Enviva’s infrastructure to provide value to other participants in the wood pellet sector, analyzed the broader market at large, and has deployed customized logistical solutions for customers to continually improve the Enviva value chain. Furthermore, he has been instrumental in developing new markets in Asia and manages contractual processes as they relate to executing new long-term offtake agreements which underpin the infrastructure development of the company.

Prior to joining Enviva, JP was Vice President of Biomass Brokerage at New York-based Evolution Markets, where he developed and grew the company’s biomass business. JP holds a bachelor of commerce degree and a master of international economics and finance from Ryerson University in Toronto.

Mr.Goto joined Erex in December 2016 as Deputy Manager of Energy Trading Department and has been doing procurement & sales activity of biomass fuel. From October 2019, he changed its activity base from Japan to Singapore where is more accessible to suppliers in Asia Pacific region. After Covid-19, in 2021, he was back to Japan and he is still actively working for biomass fuel procurement, such as PKS and Wood Pellets etc.

Prior to joining Erex, he worked for a Japanese trade house based in Tokyo, Osaka, Australia and Singapore in the fields of minerals & resources business and business development for over 25 years.

Naoya Ishida has almost 10 years bunker industry experience and was a member of the committee that prepared guidelines for the handling of biofuels on ships for the Japanese Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport, and Tourism in 2022.

Since 2023, he has been the manager of the renewable section and is involved in the trading of 2 million tons of PKS and WP per year. and also as the head of the Bio Liquids team, he is responsible for trading biofuel feedstock and establishing a system for biofuel supply at Japanese ports.

Mr. Kobayashi has joined Marubeni Corporation in 2012 and had belonged to Energy Division for 13 years and used to work for Marubeni Qatar/Doha office and China/Beijing office in past. He is in charge of bunker trading business including bio-bunker and also do UCO/UCOME feedstock trading business as well.

Dr. Phuc Xuan To has a PhD in resource governance. He has been working extensively in the global academic and political arenas for more than 20 years. His work focuses on the dynamics of natural resource use and management in Vietnam and Southeast Asian countries. His research examines the dynamics of cross-border trade of forest-risk commodities such as timber, rubber, cassava. His recent work has been focusing on emission reductions in Vietnam.

Phuc works with Forest Trends as a senior policy analyst. He has provided policy advice to the governments of Vietnam, Laos, US, UK, among others in sustainable resource management and trade. He has been collaborating closely with private sector in Vietnam. In recent years, he has advocated for the transition from fossil fuel to biomass products including wood pellets. He strongly supported the establishment of the Vietnam Wood Pellet Association in 2022 and has been servicing as an advisor to the association since then.

Minoru Isobe currently is the technical advisor for Tokuyama's biomass and carbon neutrality.  With Chemical Engineering Masters from Kyushu University and over 30 years experience in Tokuyama, Minoru has vast knowledge in process engineering, especially with cross border transfer of process technology.

Kazuki Maruyama is an Associate at Forest Resources Business Unit. Joined Sumitomo Corporation in 2022 and has worked for Biomass Pellet Team since that time. In charge of multiple suppliers and off-takers, FSC/PEFC/SBP Certification and Clean Wood Act.

Aoi Tanabe has around 6 years of experience in the biomass industry.  He is in charge of the development and fuel procurement of RENOVA's biomass power plants.

Steve joined ArcelorMittal in 2015, first as corporate buyer for a year, before embarking the journey in energy. responsible for the sourcing of liquid fuels for all ArcelorMitttal sites in Europe. After 4 years of fascinating mission and once ArcelorMittal made his commitment towards decarbonization, he took up the responsibility of a new perimeter called “Alternative Reductants biomass and waste” to decrease our carbon footprint. Since then, Steve has been actively sourcing biocoal and biochar to substitute fossil coal from all their processes.

Steve started his career in the pharmaceutical industry for Sanofi followed with 2 years with TotalEnergies in La Defense, Paris. He was in charge of different purchasing categories until he graduated Kedge Business School.

Lauren joined the Argus Biofuels desk in Singapore in March 2020 and is now Editor leading the Asia-Pacific Biofuels team. During this time, she has developed Argus’ daily biofuels and feedstock price coverage across the Chinese, Strait of Malacca, northeast Asian and Australian markets, and helped to establish Argus as the benchmark provider in the Asian biofuels market. She has spoken at regional conferences on biofuels including Future Energy Asia and the MPOB International Palm Oil Congress.

Takuto Nagata is the Chief Global Officer at TOWING Co., Ltd, a climate and ag tech company. He manages the company's overseas business in North America, South America, and APAC.

Prior to TOWING, Takuto held several roles related to management consulting and sustainable infrastructure investment at companies such as Sumitomo Corporation and Shizen Energy, where he worked on strategy development, partnership formulation, and equity financing. He holds a Master of Business Administration from IESE Business School (Europe) and a bachelor's degree in economics from Keio University (Japan).

Takanobu Aikawa has been in his current position in Tokyo, since July 2024.

As he has been working for deploying bioenergy with focusing on
sustainability issues, in April 2019, he was appointed as a member Biomass Sustainability Committee organized Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, which aims to develop sustainability requirements under the FiT scheme in Japan. He frequently works as an independent advisor for other ministries and local governments, as well as private companies.

He was previously employed as a senior researcher for Renewable Energy Institute from 2016 to 2024 as a bioenergy expert while leading its flagship research project to develop long-term scenario based on renewable energy.

He obtained his master’s degree in forest ecology from the Graduate School of Agriculture, Kyoto University. In March 2016, Taka completed his doctorate in agricultural studies on the theme of human resources development policy in the area of forest management.

Jiro Omura is managing director of Control Union Japan.  He has been with Control Union for 15 years, began his career with CU as inspector for numerous sustainable certification schemes including FSC, PEFC, RSPO and etc.  Since 2012, he assumed the role of general manager for inspection division, as well as business development in biomass related businesses in Southeast Asia.

Kelvin Lee is Head of Sustainability for the Asia-Pacific region at the International Air Transport Association (IATA). IATA is the trade association for the world’s airlines, representing some 340 airlines or 80% of total air traffic. IATA supports many areas of aviation activity and helps formulate industry policy on critical aviation issues. In his role, Kelvin looks after environment and sustainability matters for the region. He works with governments and the wider industry to support member airlines in the transition to Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) to achieve the industry goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. Kelvin has extensive experience in the aviation industry and has served in both government and airline roles before joining IATA.

Graduated with a Law degree from Rikkyo University in 2011, Yohei worked in the Ministry of Defense and  SoftBank Group before joining Nippon Paper Industries in 2023, as manager of the Business Transformation Promotion Office, Biomass Material Business Division.

He worked for Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL) and its subsidiaries for 36 years, mainly in the corporate sector, including finance, corporate planning, and as Head of Investor Relations. After serving as General Manager of Corporate Communications of MOL and Director of MOL Chemical Tankers, he joined Four Pride Group in 2023.

Yisung began his career as a fine chemical trader in 2011 and has been involved in biofuel business development and trading since 2019. He has pioneered UCO trading and studied the feasibility of HVO in Hyosung. 

In 2021, he moved to DS DANSUK (a Representative UCOME producer and exporter in Korea).  At DS , he has led and managed the HVO/SAF project through the Joint Venture with LG Chemical as Project Manager, in charge of planning feedstock procurement and the marketing of Sustainable Aviation Fuel.

He also led the sustainable marine fuel development in 2024 in KPIC, and now he is leading the biofuel business at STX Corporation as project manager.

Takehiro joined BloombergNEF in December 2012 and has since covered a range of topics, including Japan’s renewable energy sector and distributed energy solutions for off-grid areas in emerging markets. In April 2021, he joined the Commercial Transport Team, where he specializes in aviation decarbonization. His research focuses on airline sustainability strategies, electric and hydrogen aircraft propulsion, and advanced air mobility.

Takehiro holds a Master’s degree in Environmental Studies and Sustainability Science from Lund University, Sweden, and a Bachelor’s degree in Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering from Tohoku University, Japan.

Deborah is a senior market reporter with almost four years of pricing experience with Argus Media based in Singapore. She previously covered southeast Asian biomass and coal markets before transitioning to the biofuels market. During this time, she launched Argus’ prices assessments for wood pellets delivered to Japan and Malaysian palm kernel shells, and grew the Asian Argus biomass report. She also covered regular news on the palm oil industry. Currently, she is working with the Asia Biofuels & Net Zero team, focusing on ethanol & bio-naphtha. The team assesses prices and covers news and analysis across a range of biofuels and feedstocks in Asia and Europe including SAF, HVO, biodiesel, UCO and bio-marine fuel.

Alisa Schackmann is the lead for sustainability at Boeing Japan, where she is responsible for coordinating the company’s in-country sustainability strategy. She also serves as chief of staff to the president of Boeing Japan and is president of the Boeing Women Inspiring Leadership (BWIL) employee resource group’s Japan chapter.

Prior to joining Boeing Ms. Schackmann spent 15 years engaging top industry leaders and senior government officials as an energy & climate security analyst and diplomat. Her experience spans sectors ranging from energy and electric power, to cybersecurity and export controls, with most of her time based in Washington, DC and Tokyo. She has co-authored publications on energy security with the Brookings Institution and has held positions in Japan including international climate policy advisor at the Federation of Electric Power Companies, and US Foreign Service Officer at the American Embassy in Tokyo. Ms. Schackmann holds a master’s degree in International Energy, Environment & Technology Policy from the University of Texas at Austin, and a bachelor’s degree in Italian and International Relations from the University of Southern California. Outside of work she is an avid recreational athlete, pilot, and cross-culture advisor.

Dai Miyata is the General Manager of the Zero-Emission Shipping Strategy Team within the Corporate Sustainability Division at Mitsui O.S.K. Lines Ltd. (MOL). In this role, Dai oversees the planning and development of strategies for adopting zero-emission and low-carbon marine fuels, addressing both voluntary market demands and relevant regulations.

Prior to this position, which he assumed in April 2025, Dai was instrumental in the business development of MOL's carbon insetting program. This initiative culminated in the launch of the "BLUE ACTION NET-ZERO ALLIANCE" in February 2025, a group-wide carbon inset program, following two years of investigation as a member of Tanker Unit 2.

Shunsuke Kawagishi specializes in climate change policy and system design, technology and market research in related fields, and business support. In recent years, he has conducted numerous surveys in the fields of biomass and biofuels.

After graduated from the School of Engineering at the University of Tokyo in 2006, he joined Mitsubishi Research Institute in 2006. He seconded to the Global Environment Office of the Industrial Technology and Environment Bureau of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry from 2009 to 2012.

He was nominated to Expert Reviewer of the IPCC WG3 Fifth Assessment Report (2012), IPCC WG3 Sixth Assessment Report (2020), RIETI Consulting Fellow (2013).

He has been an expert nominated by the Japan (since 2020) to the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Committee on Aviation Environmental Protection (CAEP) where contributed to the Long-Term Aspirational Goal Task Group and currently is contributing to the Working Group on CORSIA.

Patrick Buergi is a sustainability entrepreneur and expert with 22 of experience in carbon markets, climate policy, corporate sustainability and impact investing. He is a co-founder of both the myclimate Foundation in 2002 and South Pole in 2006. 

In mid 2022, Patrick relocated to Tokyo to lead the establishment of South Pole’s presence in Japan. In addition, Patrick also acts as a Senior Innovation Advisor within South Pole working across a portfolio of innovation and R&D initiatives, including Net Zero strategies, carbon removals (CDR), regenerative agriculture, plastic stewardship and digital growth opportunities, for example.

Mr. Seung Kon Lee (SK) is the Country Manager of Korea at CM Biomass, the world's largest biomass trader, aggregator and producer.

SK founded the CM Biomass Korea office in 2023 and has fortified sales channels with IPPs and GENCO. He develops biomass sourcing options throughout Asia, and has sold 100,000MT of wood pellets into Korea during his first year of sales.

SK's expertise, which expands throughout the biomass value chain, is backed by a decade of proven track record in driving growth.

Fiona is a bioenergy consultant and market analyst with fourteen years’ experience in the renewable energy industry. She joined Hawkins Wright in 2013 and is now responsible for overseeing the company's bioenergy activities. She is the co-author of Hawkins Wright’s market-leading Outlook for Wood Pellets service and Editor of the monthly Forest Energy Monitor. Fiona regularly undertakes consultancy projects for clients in Asia, Europe and North America on topics including wood pellet and biomass markets, sustainability, and energy policy. She has a degree in Physics from the University of York and is an APMP qualified Project Manager.

Mads is the managing director for the world-leading value-adding biomass aggregator and producer, CM Biomass.
 
His role revolves around managing the global biomass portfolio (wood pellets in particular) of CM Biomass with a key focus on caretaking the company’s commercial activities in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and Mediterranean. His activities strives towards balancing supply and demand through flexible and efficient logistics solutions in a market characterised by constant change and volatility, where adding value throughout the value chain from the suppliers to the end-users is considered vital.
 
Before joining CM Biomass 7 years ago, he spent several years working within the shipping and commodity industry already back then focusing on energy commodities, in particular.

Carsten Huljus is Chief Executive Officer of the Sustainable Biomass Program (SBP), a not-for-profit multi-stakeholder organisation that has developed an independent third-party certification system to provide assurance that woody biomass is sourced from legal and sustainable sources. Initially trained as a forester he has been working in the voluntary sustainability certification sector with schemes like FSC, PEFC and SBP in global forest industries for more than 21 years, in various management positions.

Berg is a registered professional forester who has worked throughout the province, beginning as a silviculture technician in Invermere. He then worked as a silviculture forester in Grand Forks and a forest planning manager in Squamish. He also held district manager roles over 14 years with the BC Forest Service, both in northern B.C. (Hazelton) and the southern Interior (Kamloops).

Berg spent six years working as a regional executive director with the then-Ministry of Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation before becoming the Province’s deputy chief forester in April 2017.

As chief forester, Berg works collaboratively to manage B.C.’s forests and range lands in a sustainable, ecosystem-based manner, using the best science available and culturally relevant data as the foundation for decision-making. The Office of the Chief Forester delivers independent, professional judgement based on information ranging from technical forestry reports to First Nations and public input and the government’s social and economic goals.

In 2020, Mr. Kimura joined the Thermal Power Department, Daigas Gas and Power Solution Co, Ltd as an engineer, where he was involved in digital transformation projects and technical study related to power generation plants.

In 2023, he experienced the silo fire incident, and was in charge of the cause analysis and planning of preventive measures.  Since then, he has managed the countermeasure construction project as a project manager.

He is currently manager of biomass power engineering section at headquarters.  Before this, he worked for 8 years as an EPC engineer to the development of the oxygen-blown Integrated Coal Gasification Combined Cycle Power Demonstration Plant in Japan.

Brock Harrington has spent more than 35 years  in the Biomass and Waste Industry. He has been the Global Sales Director for Alternative Fuels and Industrial at CPM for 18 months. Brock was previously the President of Scotia Machinery in Indianapolis, USA where he sold CBI Grinders and chippers. Brock sits on the Board of the IBTC. He resides in Alberta Canada.

Joris is Yilkins' Business Development Manager for Europe and Asia.  Being a mechanical engineer from education with over 25 years of experience in the international Pulp & Paper industry through several different functions including the development of sustainable solutions to produce paper within Norske Skog.

Since the start of Yilkins in 2015 part of the team as a business developer supporting the growth of the company and realized the sale of three projects last year.