Mr. Jossy Thomas serves as an Industrial Development Officer and leads the Bioenergy Programme at the Just Energy Transition Unit of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). With over 25 years of international technical cooperation experience with UN-ESCAP and UNIDO, he has been actively involved in promoting universal energy access in developing countries. Currently, his focus lies on scaling up modern clean cooking solutions in developing countries and coordinating the Secretariat of the Council On Ethanol Clean Cooking (CECC), a network platform comprising 21 member countries dedicated to clean cooking initiatives.

We dive deep into international development efforts in this episode, hearing about Jossy’s start with UNIDO developing some of the first mini-grids in Nigeria at the forefront of the clean energy transition. Today, UNIDO is supporting, among many of their efforts, bioethanol cooking projects, and we will hear about the program in Tanzania, as well as the new endeavor in Madagascar. We will also discuss why clean cooking transitions are so difficult and outline the three top opportunities to make a meaningful shift toward access to these technologies. Lastly, we will learn a little more about the Council on Ethanol Clean Cooking - a new initiative started at COP28, as well as recent global movement in clean cooking commitments, motivated by a Clean Cooking in Africa Summit, hosted by the IEA this month. It’s a packed episode with insights from an industry veteran that you won’t want to miss!

Boris Atanassov is the founding director of GreenLight Africa, a regional consultancy firm with a base in Mozambique and specializing in energy and environment. He has over 14 years of experience in research, project management and business development. Boris holds a Master of Science from Stockholm University specializing in Energy Transition, focusing Renewable Energy, Bio-energy, Climate Financing and Market Development as well as Social and Environmental Impact Assessment. He has strong experience in developing feasibility studies, market research, policy analysis, institutional capacity building, developing business plans and managing projects within the mentioned fields.

Today we are coming to our final continent in our travels around the world, looking at bioethanol production, policies, and potential, and we are landing in Africa. We are going to have a more personal look at Mozambique, where GreenLight is based, as a representative view of Africa, but we will also hear about the continent as a whole and what bioethanol production and use currently look like. We will hear about countries that have begun implementing bioethanol and what the potential for expansion could look like across transportation and cooking sectors, as well as the three key elements in really helping the industry develop. Join us as we head to Africa to look at clean fuels!

Tony Leiding is the President of Trenton Agri Products LLC in Trenton, Nebraska. Prior to entering the renewable fuels industry, he was a Captain in the United States Army. During his time in the Army, he was a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter pilot and did tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He holds a degree in Finance from Iowa State University, a Master of Business Administration from the University of Mary, and a Master of Science in Energy Management from the University of Colorado. He is currently the President of Renewable Fuels Nebraska and is a Board Member and serves on the Executive Committee of the Renewable Fuels Association.

Today Tony is going to walk us through what the bioethanol sector looks like in North America. We will get a crash course on bioethanol production at the plant level, and learn about all of the amazing co-products that are also realized through bioethanol production. We will also learn about the volumes produced for the North American market, how much of that stays in the country, how much is exported, and where all of the fuel and co-products ultimately end up. Tony shares his vision for the future of bioethanol in North America and the potential it holds to benefit the rest of the world. During his service in Afghanistan and Iraq, Tony noticed the pollution caused by cooking practices and poor quality fuels and sees a window of opportunity for bioethanol to impact in these areas as well around the world, creating a better quality of life in emerging markets. Join us as we explore the biggest bioethanol market in the world, and the opportunity that comes with those markets.