Programme > Keyspeakers & Moderators
I am Associate professor at Luleå University of Technology, Sweden, and Chair of the IWA specialist group Small Water and Wastewater Systems. My research focuses on resource-efficient sanitation systems including nature-based solutions and the management of blackwater and greywater.
James is a serial entrepreneur, founding his first biofuels company, Green Fuels in 2003. The company has developed and supplied waste to biofuels technology globally and holds a Royal Warrant for the long-term supply of sustainable biofuels to HM the King.
Recognising the feedstock challenges faced by the biofuels industry, along with the impending need to decarbonize aviation, James co-founded Green Fuels Research, a company that has since developed several exciting sustainable fuel innovations.
In 2022, following a significant breakthrough in their research, James co-founded a spin-out business Firefly Green Fuels. This company aims to qualify and commercialize a new pathway to SAF - sewage biosolids to jet (SBtJ). This game-changing process can convert wet waste materials, such as sewage sludge, into globally abundant, cost-competitive fuel.
Building on this success, Firefly are now moving towards commercial-scale production of their innovative SAF in the UK, with sights set on global production in the near future.
Jeroen Rijnhart (Netherlands, 1966) is director Centre of Expertise Water technology and member of the board of Watercampus Leeuwarden. After his study environmental engineering at Delft University of Technology, he started his career in water technology. He held various board positions in a stock listed international consultancy & engineering company, working for both private and public clients. He worked worldwide on water & sanitation projects. In 2014, he crossed the border to public knowledge institutes. In his current position, he and his colleagues are working on interdisciplinary innovations and capacity building in water technology. Access to water & sanitation and cross overs between sectors, organizations and cultures.
