Prof. Dr. Martin Neumann, 1st Chairman, studied and received his doctorate at the TU Dresden on thermal insulation. In 1999 he accepted the call to the Magdeburg-Stendal University of Applied Sciences as a professor for technical building equipment. In addition, since 1995 Martin Neumann has been a publicly appointed sworn expert for building services engineering, heat, cold and noise insulation. As a member of the Bundestag for the FDP, he was, among other things, the research and energy policy spokesman for his parliamentary group. Martin Neumann was also a member of the first Brandenburg state parliament after reunification.
Thilo Boss, 2nd Chairman and Managing Director, studied modern history, politics and journalism at the University of Münster. After completing his master's degree, he worked as a correspondent and department head for various newspapers and magazines, including the Welt am Sonntag and the Leipziger Volkszeitung. At tv berlin, Thilo Boss conceived and presented the television show "Boss im Talk" with a focus on energy. He is co-founder of the East German Energy Forum.
Dr. Horst Tore Land, Treasurer, studied at the Philipps University in Marburg. The doctor of chemistry then worked in the management of various corporations and as an entrepreneur. Horst Tore Land was Managing Director of the Ventures division at Hoechst AG and the ecomagination business unit in Europe, the Middle East and Africa at GE. He built the start-up PEMEAS into a leading technology company for fuel cells.
Frank Viereckl, KEMB municipal officer, did an apprenticeship as an industrial mechanic and then studied law at the University of Leipzig. For many years he was managing director and editor-in-chief of Leipzig television, worked in the management of the Leipzig Park Hospital and is now head of communications at LVV Leipziger Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH.
Scientific Advisory Board
The scientific advisory board is the intellectual engine of the forum. He works in an interdisciplinary manner, analyzes political decisions, places them in the national and international context and makes his own proposals to provide impetus for the conversion of the German and European energy system towards a climate-neutral society.
Prof. Dr. Klaus Dieter Barbknecht is rector of the TU Bergakademie Freiberg. The doctor of law worked for many years on the board of the Leipzig-based energy supplier VNG, including as a board member for trade and human resources at the largest east German supplier. Klaus Dieter Barbknecht is Vice Chair, Strategic Leadership Communities, of the World Energy Council based in London.
Prof. Dr. Reint Gropp is President of the Leibniz Institute for Economic Research Halle (IWH). The doctor of economics studied in Freiburg and at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the USA. He worked at the European Central Bank (ECB) and at the Center for European Studies (CefES) in Milan, among others. Reint Gropp's research focuses on financial economics and corporate finance.
Prof. Dr. Ullrich Heilemann, University of Leipzig. The economist and crisis researcher was Vice President of the Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung (RWI) in Essen for many years and worked as director of the Institute for Empirical Economic Research at the University of Leipzig. He is a member of the scientific advisory board of the economic policy journal "Wirtschaftsdienst".
Prof. Dr. Hubert Kleinert teaches politics and constitutional law at the Hessian University for Public Management and Security in Giessen. Recent book publications: "The United Germany". Hubert Kleinert emerged as a Green Party politician as early as the 1980s. From 1983-1990 he was a member of the German Bundestag, from 1987-1989 he was Parliamentary Secretary of the Greens parliamentary group. The exposed "Realo" was later state chairman in Hesse.
Economic Advisory Board
The economy isn't everything, but nothing works without the economy. The transformation to a climate-neutral society must be designed in such a way that Germany as an industrial location maintains its international competitiveness and even improves it. This can only succeed in harmony with the companies. The Economic Advisory Board of the KEMB is concerned with which framework conditions are to be set and, above all, how they must be implemented. It consists of experienced entrepreneurs and managers.
Joachim Dirschka, Honorary President of the Saxon Crafts Day, completed an apprenticeship as an electrician and then founded his own company. As President, he headed the Leipzig Chamber of Crafts and the Saxon Crafts Day. For years, the master electrician worked as ZDH vice president and also headed the main committee for tax and financial policy in the central association of German industry. In March 2020, Dirschka was elected Chairman of the Board of Directors of Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk (MDR).
Sonja Jost founded DexLeChem in Berlin in 2013. The chemical company sets standards with environmentally friendly and energy-saving production. Among other things, the graduate engineer invented a process that can be used to replace petroleum-based substances with water in the manufacture of medicines. Sonja Jost was honored as one of "25 female inventors who are changing our world". She is a member of the editorial board of the U.S. Journal "Green Chemistry Letters and Reviews" and member of the jury of the most important European program for the promotion of high-tech SMEs and start-ups of the EU Commission.
Ute Rentmeister is the managing director of the FERIENHAUS-AKADEMIE, which she founded in 2019 together with an architect in Berlin. In this function, she advises and trains owners in all aspects of holiday home rental. The topics of energy and sustainability play a more important role. The graduate economic geographer has worked as a journalist for many years, including as the capital city correspondent for the BILD newspaper. In 2004 she moved from there to the Association of German Chambers of Commerce and Industry (DIHK), where she was last in charge of the communications department. In 2016, Ute Rentmeister took over the position of Head of Public Affairs at Deutsche Welle.
Karsten Rogall is Managing Director of LVV Leipziger Versorgungs- und Verkehrsgesellschaft mbH, one of the largest city groups in Germany. The business administration graduate previously worked, among other things, as managing director at the Merseburger Stadtwerke and Solarenergie Sachsen-Anhalt GmbH. Karsten Rogall is to transform Saxony's largest city into a climate-neutral municipality.
Claus Sauter, studied economics and social sciences in Augsburg. In 1990, the business graduate took over his parents' agricultural wholesale business in Obenhausen, Bavaria. In 2006, the Verbio CEO founded Verbio Vereinigte BioEnergie AG and took the company public. Claus Sauter developed the company into a European market leader for biodiesel, bioethanol and biomethane in just a few years. Verbio now produces on three continents in the USA, India and Europe.