Press Release

8 March 2017

Lena Ek and Henrik Ehrnrooth will co-chair the European Biomass Conference and Exhibition 12-15 June 2017, in Stockholm Sweden

The 25th EUBCE, takes place from the 12 to 15 June 2017 at Stockholmsmässan in Stockholm. This year for the first time the conference will be co-chaired by Lena Ek (Sweden), President Södra, and Henrik Ehrnrooth (Finland), Chairman of the Board of Pöyry, thereby bringing together the strong and common interests of their two countries in the political support and business opportunities for bioeconomy. Co-chairs, Lena Ek and Henrik Ehrnrooth, bring a wealth of experiences to the conference and will ensure an optimum combination of Swedish and Finnish influences in the production and utilization of biomass. The Nordic countries have much to gain and to offer when it comes to boosting the potential of biomass.

Lena Ek (1958) is the President of Södra Skogsägarna, an economic association with 50000 members that together own 36000 forest farms. Lena Ek will be the first woman to be co-chair of the EUBCE conference.
Furthermore, she is also Chairperson of the Board of the Forest-based Sector Technology Platform. Lena Ek has for many years been a leading figure within the political scene in Sweden and Europe and is well respected by all political parties for her in-depth knowledge on the bioeconomy, environmental and economic issues. Before her role as President at Södra Skogsägarna she served as the Swedish Minister of the Environment and Energy while a member of the Swedish Parliament, representing the Centre Party. She has also been a member of the European Parliament, representing the Centre Party. Lena Ek also serves as a Board Member at the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH). 


Henrik Ehrnrooth (1954) is currently Chairman of the Boards of Pöyry PLC and a Chairman of the Climate Leadership Council since 2016. Pöyry is an international consulting and engineering firm that serves clients globally across the energy and industrial sectors and provides local engineering services in its core markets. Its focus sectors are power generation, transmission and distribution, forest industry, chemicals and biorefining, mining and metals, transportation and water. He is also, since 2014, Chairman of the Board of Otava Group Ltd. Before his current roles he served as Chairman of the Board of Caverion Corporation as well as Board Member of APSD AS. He has also been Chairman of the Board of YIT Corporation and had various assignments with the Pöyry Group. Furthermore, Henrik is a Member of the Board of the Marcus Wallenberg Foundation, Sweden since 2008.


Swedish Partners

Swedish partners of the EUBCE are KSLA (The Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry) and SLU (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences) in collaboration with the think-tank Global Challenge (Global Utmaning).

EUBCE Background

EUBCE is the most important international conference for the biomass sector, combined with a technology exhibition. For more than 30 years, it has been serving as the annual meeting point for biomass experts from research, development and the industry. With presentations addressing the latest technologies, the policy framework, and the medium and long-term strategies and potentials, EUBCE is the interface between science, industry and policy makers.
The quality of the EUBCE programme is excellent, ensured by the Scientific and Industry Committee comprising 140 international biomass experts. At 2016 EUBCE more than 3,700 authors and co-authors from 80 countries around the world were involved in preparing abstracts for contributions. 780 keynote, plenary, oral and visual presentations were held during EUBCE.

The EUBCE Conference programme is coordinated by the European Commission Joint Research Centre.


The upcoming EUBCE  will take place from 12 - 15 June  2017 in Stockholm, Sweden.

Contact: Chiara Benetti pressoffice@etaflorence.it



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