The virtual kick-off meeting of the Industrial Board took place last 31 of August 2020. The Industrial Board is one of the key organisational bodies of the SUNERGY initiative, it comprises representatives from companies and industrial associations all over Europe and from different sectors. Currently, the board is composed by ten members:
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Maximilian Fleischer (Chair, Chief Expert Energy, Siemens Energy)
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Christoph Gürtler (Head of Catalysis & Technology Incubation, Covestro)
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Alex van der Made (Senior Principal Expert, Shell)
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Anastasios Perimenis (CCU Officer, CO2 Value Europe)
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Jan Mertens (Chief Scientific Officer R&D, Engie)
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Marie Godard-Pithon (Performance and Investments Director, VICAT)
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Philippe Jacques (Managing Director, EMIRI – Energy Materials Industrial Research Initiative)
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Andreas Förster (Head of Department Research Management and Conferences, DECHEMA – Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology e.V.)
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Poul Georg Moses (Director Exploratory R&D, Haldor Topsøe)
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Eric De Coninck (General Manager Group CTO, Arcelor Mittal)
All the members participated in the kick-off meeting, except Poul Georg Moses, who was subsituted by Søren Dahl (R&D director, Advanced Materials) and Philippe Jacques. In addition, Bert Weckhuysen (SUNERGY Coordinator) and Frédéric Chandezon (SUNERGY Deputy Coordinator) attended the meeting providing a status update of the initiative, aiming to provide a comprehensive coverage of solar fuels and chemicals across all the value chain. A unique goal, currently not fully envisaged by other actions within Europe.
The discussions were focused on the different challenges and interests from each member of the Industrial Board, going from energy carriers to production of green fuels and gases. The board members expressed their interest in participate in research and innovation projects, not only as an advisory body, but also having an active role through their R&D or other departments.
Industrial Board meetings will be regularly organised every six weeks, while joint meetings with the Executive Board are also foreseen, as well as participation in SUNERGY webinars.
