Keynote
DAVID SONNENBERG
Co-Founder, Uhuru Energy
David is a Sustainability and Renewable Energy expert with more than 25 years’ global experience working towards the development of large-scale energy systems utilising BioMass as a primary input. His extensive experience conducting agronomic research, coupled with a strong Industrial Design background has positioned him as a global authority on BioMass as a primary energy feed-stock. While his agronomic focus is specific to energy crops that can thrive in arid or marginal and, he has worked with numerous BioMass-to-Energy processes, including the production of BioGas, BioSynGas, BioDiesel, Sustainable Aviation Fuel, BioHydrogen and BioCoal, all substituting for existing fossil energy supplies.
Since the late 1990’s David has been deeply focused on the development of Biomass-to-Energy initiatives and has been instrumental through the utilization of his expertise in establishing numerous ground-breaking projects, some publicly listed. These include inter alia: D1 Oil (first listed BioMass-to-BioDiesel Company), Helius Energy (Recognized as the #1 BioMass-to-Energy Project in the UK), B2E (BioMass-to-Energy for the Mining Industry in the Philippines, and Clenergen (German based BioMass Research company operating in India).
His experience working in over 60 countries across Africa, Middle East, Asia, and Europe has provided him with a deep understanding on the opportunities and limitations of specific Biomass-to-Energy systems across a range of different socio-economic and geographical contexts. His keeninterest and understanding of the full potential for BioMass contributed to his role in producing the BioJet fuel used by Boeing in an early iconic long-haul renewable jet fuel test flight in 2008.
Prior to focusing fully on biomass to-energy solutions, David consulted extensively for the United Nations across many geographies and contributed to the processes that would lead to the establishment of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in 1995.
His work in the fields of Renewable Energy and Sustainability has been recognised globally and include being awarded the Global Legacy Award for Rural Sustainable Development at the World Summit for Sustainable Development in 2002.