Speakers & responsible persons

Dr. Monika Griefahn is chairwoman of the board of the eFuel Alliance and a founding member of Greenpeace Germany. From 1984 to 1990, Monika Griefahn was the first woman to serve on the International Board of Greenpeace. From 1990 to 1998, she served as Environment Minister in Lower Saxony. Then as now, she advocated for a new energy policy: for renewable energies and the phase-out of nuclear energy. From 2012 to 2018, Monika Griefahn was also Director of Environment and Society at the cruise line AIDA Cruises. She played a key role in the company's realignment toward the use of liquefied natural gas as a ship fuel. Monika Griefahn is involved in many voluntary commitments and was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany in 2018.

Andreas Henke is vice chairman of the board at eFuel Alliance. The former co-CEO of the automotive start-up Piëch, based in Zurich and Munich, spent before 18 years in the management of Porsche in the areas of strategy, marketing and sales, most recently as Marketing Director. Between his automotive positions at Porsche and Piëch, the graduate economist and political scientist was CEO of the high-end audio company Burmester in Berlin.

Petter Vådal is currently head of Fuel Category in Circle-K Europe and is Global lead on fuel Sustainability in the company.  He holds a Master in Marketing and has more than 14 years’ experience in the upstream market. From 2010-2012 he was on the Board of Statoil Fuel& Retail. Before joining Circle-K he held various commercial roles within IT and Staffing industry. Petter Vådal is member of the board of the eFuel Aliance.

Mattias Goldmann has been elected Sweden's most influential in sustainability, he was knighted by the French President for his climate work and has won the lobbyist of the year award. He has been Chief Sustainability Officer of Europe's largest technical consultancy firm Sweco, CEO of Sweden's green and liberal think tank Fores, spokesperson for the Swedish Green Motorists and elected for office for the Green Party. He is the CEO of Goldmann Green and founder and spokesperson of the 2030-secretariat for a fossil independent transport sector. Mattias is Swedish, Geneva-born but lives in Bangkok where he is focusing on sustainable mobility. He is member of the board of the eFuel Alliance.

Thorsten Herdan is CEO of HIF EMEA and board member of the eFuel Alliance. Thorsten has a broad experience in industry as well as government business. As former Director General Energy in the German Ministry of Economy and Energy and current Chairman of the supervisory board of the first German state-owned fund, he combines financial experience from an industry, government, and asset management perspective. He holds a Dipl.Ing. Degree Mechanical Engineering from the RWTH University of Aachen.

Karl Dums is a member of the board of the eFuel Alliance. A graduate in mechanical engineering, he started his career at Robert Bosch Engineering GmbH and Bosch Engineering GmbH, where he held various leading positions in the area of Otto engines. In 2008, he joined Porsche AG, where he worked as a specialist for hybrid development and alternative drives, and subsequently as head of aggregate strategy & Powertrain Predevelopment. Since 2021, Karl Dums is responsible for the team management Politics & Governmental Affairs. Since 2018, he has also been a board member of the Forschungsvereinigung Verbrennungskraftmaschinen e.V. (FVV).

Karsten Schulze, an automobile technician, was born in Berlin, managed a medium-sized bus and travel company for almost 30 years and has been a member of ADAC since 1982, with a brief interruption. Among other things, he was an honorary member of the presidium and the plenary assembly of the Berlin Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the German Chamber of Commerce (DIHK), was a member of the SME advisory board of the Federal Ministry of Economics, was active in the Federal Association of German Bus and Coach Operators e.V. and is currently a member of the advisory board of the Berlin Public Transport Company BVG AöR, board member for technology of ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg e.V. and board member of the eFuel Alliance. Karsten Schulze has been Technology President of ADAC e.V. since 2019. In his presidential honorary office, he is particularly concerned about affordable and safe mobility for all, the fair handling of our data, and a climate-friendly solution for internal combustion engines.

Photo: ©ADAC/Peter Neusser

Tomas Malango is a BS in Chemical Engineering from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, with postgraduate education in Advanced Management from IE Business School and Management of Research, Development and Technology Transfer from IESE Business School. Tomas Malango joined Repsol in 2001 at the Puertollano Refinery, where he was operation head in different areas before joining the Repsol Technology Center team as Senior Refining Technologist in 2008. Since then, Tomas Malango has managed different technology development projects for Refining and Mobility businesses at Repsol Technology Lab. He was also Hydrogen Director, responsible of creation and development of the renewable hydrogen strategy in Repsol. Since 2022 he is Director of renewable fuels and circular economy and also President of SHYNE (Spanish Hydrogen Network). He is member of the board of the eFuel Alliance.

Luca Giansanti is Head of European Government Affairs at Eni, based in Brussels. He joined Eni in 2019.
He is a former diplomat with the Italian foreign service where he held various senior positions. He benefits from an extended experience in a wide range of European issues (from energy and climate to foreign policy and security) and in the working methods of the EU institutions.
He graduated in Political Science from the Institut d'Etudes Politiques in Paris (SciencesPo) and the LUISS University in Rome.
Luca Giansanti is member of the board of the eFuel Alliance.

Jens-Christian Senger is Managing Director of ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH and Chairman of the Board of ExxonMobil Central Europe Holding GmbH. He holds a Master of Engineering in Petroleum Engineering and has many years of professional experience in upstream operations and technical engineering. Before joining ExxonMobil in 2002, he held positions at Petroleum Development Oman and BEB Erdöl & Erdgas GmbH. Among other positions, he is Chairman of the Board of Bundesverband Erdgas, Erdöl und Geoenergie e.V. (BVEG) as well as a board member of the German Petroleum Industry Association (Mineralölwirtschaftsverband e.V.) and the eFuel Alliance.

Mr. Diomidis Stamoulis is Senior Director of Strategic Planning for Industrial Activities (Refining, Petrochemicals) and of Participations (in Electric Energy and Natural Gas) in the HELLENiQ ENERGY HOLDINGS S.A. Group. His role is focused on the group's transformation towards decarbonization by diversifying the industrial activities portfolio by gradually moving away from fossil sources, investing in new sustainable technologies developing new equity participations in clean energy. Prior to joining the HELLENiQ ENERGY HOLDINGS S.A. Group in 2008, he was employed by HELLENIC ASPROPYRGOS REFINERIES S.A., managing Production Planning and Optimization, and VIOHALCO S.A., the largest metallurgical industrial Group in Greece and Balkans, producing aluminum, copper, and steel products. He holds a MSc in Chemical Engineering from the National Technical University of Athens, a Ph.D. in Applied Thermodynamics from the Delft University of Technology and an MBA from the Athens Laboratory of Business Administration. He is member of the board of the eFuel Alliance.

Dr. Volkmar Pflug is Vice President Energy Economics at Siemens Energy and Field-of-Action Lead for Power-to-X. In his capacity, he is striving to make hydrogen and Power-to-X solutions and services a vital element of Siemens Energy’s business portfolio. One of the first project initiatives now under implementation, had been about eFuels. Before, he held various management positions in the power industry and IT industry.
Volkmar holds a Master degree in Physics, a Master degree in Business Economics and a PhD in Computer Science. He is a board member of the eFuel Alliance and of VDMA Power-to-X-for-Applications.

Claudia Stuckmann-Invernizzi is a member of the eFuel Alliance Board. Since 2023, she has headed Neste's global public affairs activities as Vice President. Previously, Ms Stuckmann-Invernizzi held senior positions in public affairs and government relations at international companies, associations and consulting firms with a focus on the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the University of Coventry. She holds an M.Phil. from the University of Cambridge; M.Sc. in Management from the University of Hagen and an INSEAD Executive Education Certificate in Global Management.

Dr. Peter Seifried is member of the board of the eFuel Alliance. Dr. Seifried, who holds a doctorate in chemical engineering, began his industrial career in process development at Bayer AG before moving to the petroleum industry at UK Wesseling. He then headed the lubricants business at DEA Mineraloel AG and later the refineries, supply and logistics and crude oil purchasing divisions. After DEA was taken over by Shell, he worked in portfolio management in London. In addition, he took over the chairmanship of the management of Shell Deutschland Oil GmbH in Hamburg in 2008 until his retirement. He was active in associations and on supervisory boards of various companies over many years.

Dr. Marco Warth is member of the board of the eFuel Alliance. He studied Mechanical and Process Engineering at ETH Zurich, where he received his Ph.D. in 2005 having worked on mathematical models and optimization of Diesel engines. 2006 he joined MAHLE in Stuttgart as a project manager in the corporate research and advanced engineering department. In 2010 he moved to Northampton in the UK and took over the responsibility for the product group Diesel within MAHLE Powertrain. From 2011 he was Engineering Director of MAHLE Powertrain Ltd. and responsible for all development activities. From 2014 until April 2021 he was heading up the corporate advanced engineering at MAHLE in Stuttgart and in charge of the transformation as key element of MAHLE’s “dual strategy”. Since May 2021 Dr. Marco Warth is responsible for the global product development engine systems and components at MAHLE.

Jürgen Roth is a board member of the eFuel Alliance and head of the newly founded eFuel Alliance Austria. He is Federal Chairman of the Austrian Energy Trade, Vice President of EuroCommerce, member of the Board of Verbund and member of the European Economic and Social Committee.. Jürgen Roth studied International Economics in the USA and Austria and has been working in the field of energy trading, logistics and gas stations since 1998. Since 2015 he is CEO and owner of Tank Roth GmbH.

Kirsten Lühmann is a member of the Sounding Board of the eFuel Alliance. She was a police officer for the state of Lower Saxony from 1983 to 2009, where she was, among other things, a member of the Eastern Control Group for the control of heavy goods traffic, focusing on load securing and technical defects on vehicles. From 2007 to 2022, she was elected three times as deputy chairwoman of the civil servants' association and collective bargaining union. From 2009 to 2022 she was a member of the German Bundestag and from 2013 to 2022 she was the transport policy spokeswoman of the SPD parliamentary group. She is one of the vice-presidents of Verkehrswacht Deutschland.

Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralph Mayer graduated in 2001 with a degree in engineering. He then worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Automotive Engineering at the Technical University of Munich from 2001-2007. In 2007-2014, he worked in chassis development at Daimler AG, Sindelfingen. Since 2014 he has held the professorship of vehicle system design at TU Chemnitz and since 2017 he has headed the µ-Club as a long-standing association of experts from industry and academia in the field of brake technology and has been involved in the program committee of several symposia. Prof. Dr. Ralph Mayer is a member of the eFuel Alliance's Sounding board.

Dr. Felix Leach is an Associate Professor of Engineering Science at the University of Oxford, and Fellow and Tutor in Engineering Science at Keble College. Heis a Chartered Engineer (MIMechE), a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy, and a Member of the Society of Automotive Engineers. His research interests are in combustion, and specifically emissions and efficiency in thermal propulsion systems. Felix’s work has focussed on, amongst others, fuel effects on combustion and emissions both in diesel and gasoline applications. He has a substantial ongoing interest in both bio- and e-fuels. He is the author of the book Racing Toward Zero: The Untold Story of Driving Green (SAE, 2021), which advocates for a life-cycle approach to rapid decarbonisation of transportation. Dr. Felix Leach is a member of the eFuel Alliance's Sounding board.

David Chiaramonti, PhD, is full professor of Energy Systems and Energy Economics at the Polytechnic of Turin and chairs the Renewable Energy Consortium for Research and Demonstration (RE-CORD). He authored over 180 publications and participated in over 27 research and development projects of the European Union. Mr. Chiaramonti is member of EUBCE (European Biomass Conference & Exhibition), ISAF (International Symposium on Alcohol Fuels), and ICAE International Conferences, he was former member of IEA-Bioenergy, Task 34 and Task 39 (Liquid Biofuel), and today member of UN-ICAO task force Fuel Transport Group on Alternative Fuels for aviation and ETIP-B. He was the scientific coordinator of the DG Energy Alternative and Renewable Transport Fuel Forum. He manages the H2020 projects BIO4A (on Sustainable Aviation fuels) and BIKE (on low ILUC feedstock biofuels), and is member of the Board of the Italian Cluster SPRING on Bioeconomy.

He was awarded the Linneborn Prize for outstanding merits in biomass at EUBCE 2017 in Stockholm, and included in the Stanford University list of 2% most cited scientists.

Kurt-Christoph von Knobelsdorff is a graduate economist and, following professional positions at the Association of the German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) and the German Association of Family Businesses, he held senior positions in the Berlin Senate and the Ministry of Economic Affairs in Schleswig-Holstein. Before joining NOW GmbH as Managing Director, he was Head of Department at the Brandenburg Ministry of Energy.

With its coordination of federal government programmes, political consulting and networking at the interface of politics, industry, municipalities and science, NOW GmbH makes a major contribution to achieving the climate objectives to which Germany has committed itself.

Mr von Knobelsdorff is member of the sounding board of the eFuel Alliance.

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Michael Sterner researches and teaches the fields of hydrogen, energy storage, energy economics and integration of renewable energies at OTH Regensburg. He developed and patented the storage technology Power-to-Gas with Dr. Specht and is the namesake of Power-to-X. He acts in advisory boards on hydrogen for the German government and the European Commission. He initiated the VDI guideline 4635 on Power-to-X, scientifically accompanied the development of H2Global and is active in VDE and IPCC. Together with Prof. Stadler, he has published the standard work 'Handbook of Energy Storage' with Springer-Nature-Editors. In addition to numerous scientific publications, he has given well over 600 lectures on the energy transition and received several awards on PtX.

Prof. Dr. Bernhard Geringer is university professor for powertrain and automotive technology and director of the Institute for Powertrains and Automotive Technology at the Vienna University of Technology.  His research focuses on conventional and alternative powertrains, exhaust gas after-treatment, alternative fuels and forecasts of future vehicle technology considering the challenges confronting society today. Since 2012, he is member of the board of the Austrian Society of Automotive Engineers (ÖVK) and President since 2017.

Dr. Michael Vesper is member of our sounding board since February 2021. He has decades of political experience and an extensive network of contacts from the worlds of politics, sport and economics. He is a founding member of the party “Die Grünen” (The Green Party) and was Chief of the party from 1983 to 1990. From 1990 to 1995 he was Parliamentary Director of the state party, Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, in North Rhine Westphalia (NRW). As a member of NRW state government, Dr. Vesper led various departments between 1995 and 2005, until his final position as Minister for Urban Development, Housing, Culture and Sport. At the same time, he held the position of deputy state premier of North Rhine Westphalia under the direction of Johannes Rau, Wolfgang Clement and Peer Steinbrück.

Norbert Haug is a motorsport journalist. He spent more than two decades as motorsport manager and vice president at Mercedes and was responsible for the group's return to Formula 1, signing up motorsport greats such as Michael Schumacher, among others. Norbert Haug is a member of the sounding board of the eFuel Alliance.

Prof. Öivind Andersson is Professor of Combustion Engines at Lund University, Sweden, and a sounding board member of the eFuel Alliance. After his research studies in combustion physics, Öivind Andersson worked for seven years with the development of diesel combustion systems at Volvo Car Corporation. His research is mainly concerned with combustion in diesel engines. In 2012, he published the book "Experiment!: Planning, Implementing and Interpreting" with John Wiley & Sons.

Johannes Remmel is a member of the Sounding Board of the eFuel Alliance. From 1995 to 2010 and from 2017 to 2022, he was a member of the North Rhine-Westphalia state parliament for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (Alliance 90/The Greens). Between 2000 and 2010, he was parliamentary manager of the North Rhine-Westphalian state parliament and from 2010 - 2017 Minister for Climate Protection, Environment, Agriculture, Nature Conservation and Consumer Protection of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. From 2017 to 2022, he held the position of Spokesman for European Policy and Urban Development of the state parliamentary group.

Ole von Beust is a lawyer and founding member of the eFuel Alliance. Until February 2021 he was managing director and changed then in the sounding board. From 1993 to 2001 he was the parliamentary leader in the Hamburg Parliament and from 2001 to 2010 was the First Mayor of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. Furthermore, he was also a member of the Federal Executive of the CDU in Germany. He continues to advise the council, currently helping the Committee on the Future. He has extensive media experience. His detailed knowledge of political decision-making processes and his non-partisan approach to tackling problems provide him with access to the politically relevant camps.

Ralf Diemer is the CEO of the eFuel Alliance e.V. based in Berlin and Brussels. During his law degree in Tuebingen, he worked in the Baden-Wuerttemberg state parliament and in the European Parliament. He then started his professional career in Berlin as an office manager in the German parliament. After moving to the German Association of the Automotive Industry, he headed the Brussels branch there for ten years and then the department for Economic, Trade and Climate Protection Policy in Berlin. He was involved in numerous legislative processes on a national and European level, with a focus on climate, environmental and trade policy. Political interest and involvement in politics have always been of central importance to him. Ralf Diemer is Director at the consulting company von Beust & Coll. Beratungsgesellschaft.

Georg Ehrmann is a lawyer, CFO of the eFuel Alliance and since 2013 Managing Partner of von Beust & Coll. Beratungsgesellschaft. Within the eFuel Alliance he is responsible for finance, press, human resources and legal affairs. For 13 years, Georg Ehrmann headed an international NGO that was based in Berlin and Brussels. Prior to that he was a legal advisor for a physicians' health insurance association. As an expert in UN and EU affairs and official adviser to the Federal Government, with numerous appearances before committees in the EU Parliament, Bundestag, Joint Federal Committee, and Landtag (state parliament), and as an expert in committees of inquiry, he has extensive experience in specific legislative procedures and political lobbying.

Dr. Tobias Block is an industrial engineer and Chief Strategy Officer at the eFuel alliance. He is an all-rounder when it comes to technical, economic and political challenges at the interface between renewable energies and the automotive industry. After studying energy and environmental management at the University of Flensburg he obtained his doctorate on eFuels business models at the University of St. Gallen. Following his studies, he worked for more than five years in the technical development department of AUDI AG. As the success of synthetic fuels depends more on the political framework conditions than on technical solutions, he joined the German Association of the Automotive Industry (Verband der Automobilindustrie e.V.) in the summer of 2018 and coordinated the political activities related to renewable fuels for more than two years – initially in Berlin and later from Brussels.

Algara Castle is head of EU affairs of the eFuel Alliance e.V. based in Brussels and London. With more than seven years of experience as a spokesperson in the European Parliament, she provides expertise on EU policy and regulation, communications and outreach to European decision-makers across a range of sectors. Algara studied at the Otto Suhr Institute of political science in Berlin and started her career in the German parliament before moving to Brussels to work for the social democrats in the European Parliament. In 2015 she won an Alfa Fellowship in Moscow. Algara Castle is an Executive Consultant at von Beust & Coll. Beratungsgesellschaft.

Jan Wehrhold is Head of Press and Public Relations at the eFuel Alliance e.V. in Berlin. Alongside all the communications topics, he is responsible for the CO2 emissions standards for Heavy Duty Vehicles. Before joining the eFuel Alliance, Jan Wehrhold worked at DWReco and Medienbüro am Reichstag in the House of the Federal Press Conference. He graduated from Zeppelin University with a master's degree in politics, administration and international relations.

Inesa Kachmarchyk is Head of Administration and Policy Officer of the eFuel Alliance e.V. in Berlin. She supports the management in operational and strategic tasks. Inesa completed her German studies at the State Pedagogical University in Ukraine and a diploma programme in political science with a focus on Eastern Europe at the Free University of Berlin. Before joining the eFuel Alliance e.V., Inesa Kachmarchyk worked for the Women's Union at the CDU federal office and the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) in Berlin. She gained practical experience in the German Bundestag and as personal assistant to National Councillor Tim Guldimann.

Lars Hummel is policy officer at the eFuel Alliance e.V. in Brussels. Before joining the eFuel Alliance e.V., Lars Hummel worked for Evonik Industries AG and the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) in Brussels. He completed his master's degree at the University of Konstanz (MA Political and Administrative Science) and the University of Utrecht (MSc European Governance). He is a consultant at von Beust & Coll. Beratungsgesellschaft.

Marlene Hermfisse is Head of Berlin Office of the eFuel Alliance e.V. at the Berlin office and is responsible for following current policy developments on the topic of eFuels especially in Germany. Marlene holds a B.A. in Economics and Slavic Studies from the Humboldt-University of Berlin and a M.A. Eastern European Studies with a focus on politics from Freie Universität Berlin. She previously worked for the German Eastern Business Association (Ost-Ausschuss der Deutschen Wirtschaft), where she gained experience in association work. She is a consultant at von Beust & Coll. Beratungsgesellschaft.

Anja Köppen has served as Project Controller at the Hamburg office of von Beust und Coll. Beratungsgesellschaft since 2023. She oversees project controlling for associations like the eFuel Alliance and more. Anja Köppen brings experience as an industrial specialist in the field of consulting and mediation, as a regulation manager and as a controller. She has sufficient experience from the energy industry, where she was responsible for controlling as a project manager. Her experience as an accountant in the field of finance rounds off her profile. Before joining von Beust & Coll., she worked as an authorised personnel manager in a medium-sized company.