Kyriakos Maniatis awarded for Europe’s Top Bioenergy Prize at the 18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition – Europe’s prime event for the world’s Biomass specialists
Lyon, 3 May 2010 – On the occasion of the 18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, taking place in Lyon, France, the Johannes Linneborn Prize for achievements in biomass development was awarded to Kyriakos Maniatis, Principal Administrator, Directorate General for Energy, European Commission.
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Kyriakos Maniatis graduated with a BSc. from University College London (1977) and obtained a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the University of Aston in Birmingham (1987). Over the last 20 years, he has managed the Bioenergy demonstration part of the European Commission Framework Programmes and has been responsible for all technical issues related to 1st and 2nd generation biofuels at DG Energy. Kyriakos Maniatis is also responsible for the DG Energy demonstration component of the sectors of biofuels and polygeneration in the Commission’s 7th Framework Programme. Moreover, he contributes a lot to the legislative actions of the EC.
During his career, he also initiated the CEN standardisation work for solid biomass fuels, solid recovered fuels, bioethanol, biodiesel and biomethane. He led the EU team to the tripartite work on International Compatible Biofuels Standards with the US and Brazil that issued the White Paper on this subject in 2008. Kyriakos Maniatis has represented the European Commission in the Executive Committee of the International Energy Agency (IEA) – Bioenergy Implementing Agreement for the last 15 years and served as a highly appreciated ExCo Chairman in 2002, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
“I am very honoured for the Linneborn Prize nomination and I wish to take the opportunity to express my sincere thanks to the Bioenergy Community for the nomination and to extend my warm greetings to the participants of the 18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition. Being the nominee of the Linneborn Award is a great challenge for me personally because of the essential moral requirement to continue contributing to our common Bioenergy goals as all previous nominees of the prestigious Linneborn Award have done, and have excelled in”, says Kyriakos Maniatis.
The 18th European Biomass Conference is delighted to honour such an outstanding personality in biomass development for his leadership in promoting biomass as a sustainable energy source within the European Union and worldwide for more than 20 years.
Background “The Johannes Linneborn Prize”
The Johannes Linneborn Prize was established in 1994 for outstanding contributions to the development of energy from Biomass. Johannes Linneborn, lived from 1899 to 1991 and was a pioneer in modern Biomass utilisation. In his professional life of almost 70 years, his interests covered a wide range of activities from agriculture, energy and transport to health and nutrition. His credo was the necessity to integrate all human activities into the natural cycle of life. The Linneborn Prize is awarded at the European Biomass Conference and Exhibition series (www.biomass-conference.com).
Event Background
For 30 years now, the European Biomass Conference and Exhibition has combined a very renowned international Scientific Conference with an Industry Exhibition. Since 2007 the Conference and Exhibition takes place every year. The European Biomass Conference and Exhibition is held at different venues throughout Europe and ranks on top of world’s leading events in the biomass sector.
This year’s European Biomass Conference and Exhibition will be held in Lyon, France. The Conference is expected to attract about 1,500 participants from more than 70 countries. It is supported by the European Commission, by ADEME – the French Environment and Energy Management Agency, UNESCO – United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization – Natural Sciences Sector, WCRE – the World Council for Renewable Energy, and EUBIA – the European Biomass Industry Association.
Press Inquiries:
18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition Press Office
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Tel.: +39-055-5002280, Fax: +39-055-573425
or
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