On the Move – Algae Biomass Organization, BASF, ClimateTrade, Quantron, and more

The Algae Biomass Organization has some new faces on the board – Dr. Martin Gross of Gross-Wen Technologies is the new Board Chair, Mike LaMont of Heliae Development becomes Vice Chair and there are several other new or re-elected board members from companies you’ll recognize like Neste, MicroBio Engineering, Cyanotech, and others. BASF has a new head of the Personal Care Europe regional business unit and Managing Director of BASF Personal Care and Nutrition GmbH. Hydrogen powered mobility company Quantron has a new face too.

If you have an “On the Move” for us to cover, please contact Helena Kennedy at [email protected].

ABO Welcomes 2022 Board of Directors

The Algae Biomass Organization announced the election of their officers for their Board of Directors for the 2022-2023 term, as well as the Board of Directors members elected for the 2022-2024 term. Dr. Martin Gross, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Gross-Wen Technologies was elected to serve as the new Board Chair, while Mike LaMont, Vice President of Operations at Heliae Development was elected as Vice Chair.

ABO’s board guides the organization in its mission to promote the development of renewable and sustainable products from algae and seaweed, as well as the development of viable commercial markets for both. ABO supports people, companies, and organizations, as well as research, development, and commercial activities across the value chain.  ABO also educates the general public, policymakers and industry about the benefits of algae and seaweed in commercial and scientific applications.

The group announced today includes both new board members and re-elected members that will join current members that are already serving a 2021-2023 term.

The newly elected board officers are:

• Chair: Martin Gross – CEO/Co-Founder, Gross-Wen Technologies
• Vice Chair: Mike LaMont, Vice President of Operations, Heliae Development LLC
• Treasurer/Secretary: Thomas Byrne – Tax Manager, CarlsonSV

Newly appointed board member:

• Leslie Bellas – Federal Regulatory Affairs Manager, Neste

The re-elected board members are:

• Dr. Amha Belay – Founder / CEO, Algae4All
• Dr. John Benemann – CEO, MicroBio Engineering Inc.
• Thomas Byrne, Tax Manager, CarlsonSV
• Jen Johansen – Vice President of Quality, Regulatory & Government Affairs, Cyanotech
• David Ramjohn – Chief Executive Officer, AlgEternal Technologies

ABO’s full board of directors can be viewed at: https://algaebiomass.org/about/leadership/board-of-directors/

Tatiana Kalman appointed to head of Personal Care Europe business unit at BASF

BASF appointed Tatiana Kalman as head of the Personal Care Europe regional business unit and as the new Managing Director of BASF Personal Care and Nutrition GmbH located in Monheim, Germany, effective July 1, 2022. She succeeds Dr. Marko Grozdanovic who has taken up the responsibility for the unit Global Strategic Marketing Agricultural Solutions at the Agrochemicals business of BASF.

Prior to her current role, Kalman has been Senior Vice President of BASF’s Performance Chemicals business for North and South America.

QUANTRON scales up its sales team with Utz Rachner as Global Sales Director

As part of its global expansion strategy, Quantron AG, a system provider of sustainable battery-electric and hydrogen-powered e-mobility for commercial vehicles such as trucks, buses and vans, is expanding its international sales team. As Global Sales Director, Utz Rachner will in future be responsible for setting up and expanding the international sales team and sales partners at QUANTRON.

Michael Perschke, CEO of Quantron AG said, “With our QUANTRON brand vehicles as well as with the retrofitting business that has already been successfully established in Europe, we are targeting additional international markets. Our current focus is on developing the hydrogen ecosystem with vehicles and the corresponding infrastructure. Here we are looking more closely at North America and would like to drive forward our hydrogen offensive there together with our partner, Ballard Power Systems.”

ClimateTrade Announces New U.S. Headquarters in Miami, Hiring of U.S. Business and Policy Advisor

ClimateTrade, the world’s first blockchain-based climate solutions provider, is expanding its footprint in the U.S. with a new headquarters in Miami. The company also hired a U.S. business and policy advisor with plans to further expand its U.S.-based team in the near future. These moves will enable ClimateTrade to scale up its operation in the U.S. and strengthen its relationships with American businesses, project developers and policymakers.

As part of ClimateTrade’s U.S. expansion, the company hired Michael Green as U.S. business and policy advisor. The former executive director at Climate XChange, with experience at the UN, American Sustainable Business Network and the Climate Action Business Association, Green brings extensive international climate science policy expertise as well as business acumen to ClimateTrade. He will assist the company’s push to engage with American businesses and project developers as well as lead efforts to develop a favorable climate policy environment in the U.S.

ClimateTrade is a blockchain-based climate pioneer, aiming to empower large-scale decarbonization through constant innovation. The ClimateTrade marketplace allows companies to offset their climate impact by purchasing carbon, plastic and biodiversity offsets, as well as renewable energy certificates directly from project developers.

Andrew Flanagan joins RWE Renewables Americas Board as Chief Operating Officer

The RWE AG Executive Board appointed Andrew Flanagan Chief Operating Officer (COO) of RWE Renewables Americas, assuming the office on 1 July 2022.

Andrew comes to RWE from his position as Senior Vice President, Chief Development Officer at Leeward Renewable Energy. In his role as COO, Andrew will be responsible for continuing growing the business and overseeing operations to keep the 35+ operating projects in North America on track.

The role of COO has been held by Silvia Ortín as a dual responsibility alongside her CEO duties; the role of CFO has been assumed by Ingmar Ritzenhofen.

Azelio has appointed heads for all target markets

Azelio appointed Hans Svanbom as Regional Director United States. Hans, who joined Azelio in 2021, has a long background in IT and telecoms. With this appointment, Azelio has nominated Regional Directors for all of its target markets.

Azelio recently decided to initially focus its sales and marketing to four target markets, selected on the basis that the company there can offer customers particularly strong business cases. These markets are the United States, Australia, the MENA region (Middle East and Africa) and southern Africa.

The other regional directors that have been appointed are Florian Naumann for Australia, Eren Engur for MENA, and Reinhardt Labuschagne for southern Africa.

An important task for the regional directors is to secure a local infrastructure that can prepare, install and maintain projects. For the US, Azelio has initiated a process to adapt the product to the American market.