Workshop
Energy & Environmental Technologies
Current developments show that climate change and renewable energies are high on the political agenda of the Obama Administration: In August 2015, the Clean Power Plan, the strictest regulations in the history of the USA, were passed to combat climate change and ensure a lasting transformation of the to bring about the American electricity industry.
The action plan presented by Obama envisages reducing carbon dioxide emissions from power plants in the United States by around a third with the help of environmental laws. This is the first time the government has stipulated nationwide binding targets for reducing CO2 emissions in the energy sector. As the New York Times calculates, this could mean the end of hundreds of coal-fired power plants and plans for new plants could be halted. Gas power plants that are less harmful to the climate and renewable energies such as wind power and solar would benefit. The share of renewable energies in electricity generation is set to increase from 22% to 28%.
The action plan comes with the United States' approval of the Paris climate agreement, which limits global temperature rise to below 2 degrees.
The workshop on energy and environmental technology will show participants current trends in environmental and energy technology in the USA, the regulatory environment and give an insight into the existing funding programs. German companies are shown the potential and market opportunities in the USA using innovative projects and specific examples.
Our speakers
dr Severin Becker
Founder and shareholder, Borderstep Institute for Innovation and Sustainability non-profit GmbH
dr Severin Beucker has carried out numerous research projects as well as innovation and policy analyzes for German and international clients. He is particularly interested in researching innovation processes and networks in the energy sector. He has extensive methodical knowledge of the development of business models for new technologies and services. In addition to his work at Borderstep, he teaches at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg and was a visiting researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Severin Beucker maintains close ties to the USA, where he spent extensive years as an apprentice and traveler and where part of his family lives.
dr Stephen Hardt
Managing Partner, MeteoViva GmbH
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dr Stefan Hardt is the managing partner of MeteoViva GmbH. He is responsible for the implementation and operation of MeteoViva Climate as well as for software development. He is currently commuting between Germany and the USA to support the business development of MeteoViva Inc. Before MeteoViva, Stefan worked as Director Professional Services Central Europe at Sybase (today SAP), where he was responsible for the consulting and training area in DACH and BENELUX.
Stefan has a Dr. in computer science from the University of Linz and a diploma in computer science from the RWTH Aachen University. He is married and has two children.
Florian Kolb
Managing Director, RWE New Ventures LLC
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Florian Kolb has spent ten years of his career in the energy sector with a strong focus on mergers & acquisitions. At RWE, a leading pan-European energy group, he completed M&A transactions worth more than USD 10 billion. After taking over a Dutch company, Mr. Kolb was appointed managing director of the Dutch service company. In 2013 he was appointed to the Executive Board of RWE. Since 2015, Mr. Kolb has been the Managing Director responsible for RWE's activities in Silicon Valley. His focus is on the development and expansion of future, unconventional business activities in the USA. Florian Kolb holds a master's degree in economics from the University of Passau.
Walter Lamparter
CEO, MICRODYN-NADIR Group
Walter Lamparter has been CEO of MICRODYN-NADIR since 2005. One of his main tasks here is to bring the company forward strategically and to develop existing and new markets for the high-quality membranes and modules. Since the acquisition by MANN+HUMMEL GmbH in 2014, he has also been active in his new role as Vice President of the Business Unit Water at MANN+HUMMEL and is therefore responsible for the water filtration and membrane activities of MANN+HUMMEL. Before joining MICRODYN-NADIR, he worked as Managing Director of Veolia Water Systems Deutschland GmbH and was responsible for the management of several companies in the water and wastewater treatment sector.
moderation
Rene van den Hoevel
Branch Manager, AHK USA-San Francisco
Since August 2010, Mr. van den Hövel has been head of the AHK USA-San Francisco and is responsible for the consulting and business development activities of the Chamber of Commerce Abroad on the west coast of the USA. Before working in San Francisco, he was head of the consulting department at the AHK headquarters in New York City. From 2007 to 2009 he was also the representative of Bremen Economic Development in the United States.
Mr. van den Hövel joined the Chamber of Commerce Abroad in 2005 after working in the fields of social media and mobile marketing in Germany. He studied international marketing at the Münster University of Applied Sciences and at Juniata College in Pennsylvania, USA. Before his studies, Mr. van den Hövel completed an apprenticeship as an industrial clerk at Elefanten AG, a leading manufacturer of children's shoes.