Our team at GES focuses on climate and energy challenges and offers knowledge for a sustainable future in society, business and politics.

Directory

Chairman

Bert Beyers

Journalist and author. As a journalist he cultivates a discourse on a daily basis, as an author one with a far-reaching perspective.
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Chairman

Christof von Branconi

Chemical engineer with an eye for strategy and structure. Puts together puzzle pieces for a world of prosperity and climate neutrality.
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Communication

Prof. Dr. Estelle Herlyn

Business mathematician and voice for sustainability. Knows where the problems lie, both in companies and in global cooperation.
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Deputy Chairman

Prof. Dr. Dr. Dr. h.c. Franz Josef Radermacher

Thought leader for globalisation and sustainability. He is passionate about analysing complex problems in order to develop practical solutions.
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Treasurer

Dr.-Ing. Hans-Peter Sollinger

Process engineer and networker. Distils complex interrelationships and scrutinises innovations for their future viability.
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Dr. Hans Jürgen Wernicke

Chemist and industry expert. He scrutinises every figure and uses his sense of causality to work out development paths for numerous branches of industry.
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Employees

Ulrich Begemann

Mechanical engineer with a flair for business and research. He uses his experience in development, design and production for a climate-friendly future.
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Thomas Frewer

Strategist and expert in the energy industry. Uses industry knowledge to develop the most efficient levers for global energy transformation.
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Michael Mack

Michael Mack, Dipl.-Math. oec., is the commercial director of Global Energy Solutions and responsible for…
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Dr. Tobias Orthen

Physicist and economist. He sees himself as an international bridge-builder to translate scientific findings into economic applications.
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Dr. Jens Wagner

Process engineer and industry specialist. He knows what works and what doesn't in techno-economic terms because he is involved in projects all over the world.
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Trustees

Peter Bauer

Former Member of the Management Board Infineon Technologies AG, Chairman of the Supervisory Board OSRAM…
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Gunter Czisch

Lord Mayor of the City of Ulm from 2016 to 2024. Retired since 2024. Judge…
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Prof. Dr. Dr. h. c. Reinhard F. Hüttl

Scientific Director and Managing Director of EEI European Energy Innovation GmbH
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Badr Ikken

General Director of the National Research Institute for Solar Energy and New Energies (IRESEN Morocco),…
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Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Michael Kaschke

President of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft. He is also Chairman of the Supervisory…
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Simone Menne

CFO Lufthansa AG for many years, former management board member of Boehringer Ingelheim in the…
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Prof. Dr. Heribert Offermanns

Long-term chairman of Degussa AG, long-time chairman of the board of trustees of the Fonds…
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Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Reitzle

Chairman of the Supervisory Board Linde plc., former Chairman of the Board of Management BMW,…
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Dr. Stefan Roell

Board Zwick Roell AG, President IHK Ulm
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Prof. Dr. Burkhard Schwenker

Chairman of the Advisory Council of Roland Berger, Vice Chairman of Atlantik-Brücke and member of…
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Prof. Dr. Hans Müller-Steinhagen

Long-standing Director of the DLR Institute of Technical Thermodynamics, Long-term Chairman of the Advisory Board…
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Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Prof. Dr. Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker

Honorary President Club of Rome, former Chairman “International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management” (IRP) of…
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Reference Model Participants

Siddhant Bane

Energy engineer with intercultural expertise. Understands the perspectives of emerging and highly industrialised countries and is committed to greater global cooperation.
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Jörn Becker

Scientist and entrepreneur. Speaks the language of practitioners without shying away from the details of the technical debate.
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Simon Göß

Simon Göß has ten years of experience in energy, power and carbon markets and policy…
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Dr. Wilfried Lyhs

Physicist and business all-rounder. Comprehensive knowledge of mathematical modelling and plant engineering to solve complex problems.
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Bert Beyers

Chairman

Bert Beyers is a journalist and author. As a journalist, he cultivates a discourse on a daily basis, as an author one with far-reaching future perspectives. He worked for many years as an editor at NDR in Hamburg. Books in co-operation with Franz Josef Radermacher and Mathis Wackernagel, among others. In addition, projects and articles in the areas of sustainability and the future.

Christof von Branconi

Chairman

Mr. von Branconi studied chemical engineering in Karlsruhe, Germany, after a commercial apprenticeship and a stay abroad in Brazil. He received a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree in Fontainebleau, France. Subsequently, Mr. von Branconi worked for the management consultancy Arthur D. Little before joining the Lurgi Group. From 1995 to 2001, he was a member of the Executive Board of Lurgi Metallurgie, from 2003 to 2005 a member of the Executive Board of Lurgi AG and from 2012 to 2014 again Vice President Europe / CIS / Africa at the plant engineering company which was acquired by Air Liquide in the meantime.

From 2007 to 2011, Mr. von Branconi was Executive Board Member for the Power Generation division of the then publicly listed Tognum AG (now Rolls Royce Power Systems). During this time, he was also Chairman of the Power Systems Association within the VDMA. Since 2014, Mr. von Branconi’s project management specialist Indeco Consulting GmbH has focused on advising companies that are implementing a large capital goods project.

Estelle Herlyn

Communication

Prof. Dr. Estelle Herlyn has been working as a freelancer for the Research Institute for Applied Knowledge Processing/n (FAW/n) since 2012 and is responsible in particular for research projects that are carried out in cooperation with politics and industry. She is also professor and scientific director of the Competence Center for Sustainable Development at the FOM University of Applied Sciences in Düsseldorf. There she is concerned, among other things, with the responsibility of companies for sustainable development. In addition, issues of catch-up development and climate protection in a global perspective are a focus of her work.

She is a member of the German Society of the Club of Rome and Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Senate Institute for Public Welfare Policy. After studying business mathematics at the Technical University of Dortmund, she worked for several years in the SAP environment in various international companies (PwC, Ford, L’Oréal, HSBC) before she completed her doctorate at the RWTH Aachen University on questions of balanced income distribution as a decisive aspect of the social dimension of sustainability.

Franz Josef Radermacher

Deputy Chairman

Professor (emer.) at the University of Ulm, Chairman of the Research Institute for Applied Knowledge Processing/n (FAW/n) Ulm, President of the Senate of Economics e. V., Bonn, Vice President of the Ecosocial Forum Europe, Vienna, and member of the Club of Rome. Since August 2018 he is also a member of the Austrian Council for Sustainable Development and a jury member of the BWS NachfolgerForum. He studied mathematics and economics (RWTH Aachen, University of Karlsruhe), postdoctoral lecture qualification in mathematics at RWTH Aachen in 1982.

His research interests include global problems, learning organizations, intelligent systems, digitalization and networking, risk management, responsibility of people and systems, environmentally friendly mobility, sustainable development, overpopulation, world food, climate and energy, and regulation of the world financial system.

Hans-Peter Sollinger

Treasurer

Dr. Sollinger studied mechanical and process engineering at the University of Stuttgart from 1974 to 1979 and received his doctorate from the Technical University of Aachen in 1983. In 1979, he was an engineer at Continental Forest Industry, USA. In 1982, he began his career at Voith AG and was Managing Director of Voith Sulzer Papiertechnik GmbH from 1994 to 2000. From 2000 to 2014, he was a member of the Board of Management of Voith AG and CEO of the Voith Paper Division.

From 2013 to 2019, Dr. Sollinger was a member of the advisory board of Carl Edelmann GmbH & Co. KG and from 2014 to 2020 he was on the supervisory board of Leipa Georg Leinfelder GmbH. From 2017 to 2022 he was a member of the board of directors of Bartholet Maschinenbau AG and a member of the advisory board of Montratec GmbH. In 2019 and 2020 he sat on the supervisory board of ISRA Vision AG. He has been a senior advisor at Rantum Capital Management GmbH since 2015.

Hans Jürgen Wernicke

Dr. Hans Jürgen Wernicke, after studying and obtaining a doctorate in physical chemistry in Kiel, worked for eight years for the Linde Group in petrochemical plant construction and then moved to Süd-Chemie AG in Munich, now part of Clariant AG. After several years in South Africa in connection with coal- and offshore natural gas-based synfuels projects and in the USA, Dr. Wernicke was a member of the Board of Management of Süd-Chemie from 1997 to 2011, from 2007 Deputy Chairman. In addition to several supervisory board mandates, Dr. Wernicke is involved in many expert committees, including as a member of the Executive Board and currently as Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the German Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology (DECHEMA).

He is also a member of the Economic Policy Committee and the Innovation Committee of the Bavarian Chemical Associations, the Advisory Board of the Bavarian Chemical Cluster and the Board of Trustees of the Leibniz Institute for Catalysis in Rostock. He is co-author of two relevant books entitled “Future Fuels – Energy Shift in Transportation as a Global Climate Goal” and “Methanol: The Basic Chemical and Energy Feedstock of the Future”.

Ulrich Begemann

Ulrich Begemann holds a degree in mechanical engineering (KIT) with additional studies in business administration (Distance Learning University Hagen and Business School INSEAD). He has 30 years of professional experience in industrial management positions. The focus of his activities was on development, design, sales, manufacturing and strategy. For more than ten years he has been intensively involved with the technical possibilities and economic aspects of defossilisation in Germany, Europe and the world. During this time, he has built up an extensive network of research institutions, companies and associations. Ulrich Begemann has been supporting Global Energy Solutions since August 2022.

Thomas Frewer

After graduating with a degree in process engineering from the University of Karlsruhe and a Master of Business Administration from INSEAD in Fontainebleau/France, Thomas Frewer worked for four years at McKinsey & Co Inc. in Germany for European companies. In 1993, he moved to VEBA AG (now e.on SE) and was in charge of investment controlling for the ‘Oil’ division as part of the CEO’s department. In 1997, he moved to operational management responsibility at a VEBA Oel subsidiary, in 2001 he took over the commercial management of bp’s JV refinery holdings in Germany, extended to BP Europa SE in 2004. From 2007 to mid-2009 he was Managing Director of RuhrOel GmbH, a joint venture between BP and Petroleos de Venezuela. He then headed the Strategy & Portfolio division at BP Europa SE. Until 2020, he managed a number of M&A projects there, focussing on BP’s European refinery portfolio. From 2019 until his departure at the end of 2022, he was responsible for bp’s participation in the development of the integrated value chain for green hydrogen ‘GET H2 Nukleus’ (large-scale production, transport, storage and application; IPCEI status).

Michael Mack

Michael Mack, Dipl.-Math. oec., is the commercial director of Global Energy Solutions and responsible for the areas of finance, controlling and general administration. After studying business mathematics at the University of Ulm with semesters abroad at San Diego State University, he began his professional career in the finance department of SmithKline Beecham Pharma. He then worked for the Etimex Group (plastics processing) for almost 20 years, including over 15 years as Head of Finance and Controlling for the entire corporate group.

Tobias Orthen

Dr. Tobias Orthen is a physicist and economist. He sees himself as a bridge builder between extremes: What does global thinking mean for local action? How can science improve practical life? How can cultures work together? After studying in Kiel, Göttingen and Tokyo, he did his doctorate in Ulm on the question of what rich top emitters gain from working for climate protection and social cohesion. He is a researcher at FAW/n in Ulm, a fellow of the Global Justice Program at Yale University and helped establish Global Energy Solutions.

Jens Wagner

Dr. Jens Wagner is a chemical engineer and has held similar positions in large-scale plant engineering at thyssenkrupp and Lurgi over the last 30 years. He is currently a partner in a company that develops and licenses projects and technologies in the field of (green, blue and grey) hydrogen, methanol and ammonia. Together with his network, one focus of his work has been to increase the energy efficiency/sustainability of technologies. As a technical advisor for his areas of expertise, Jens Wagner has been supporting Global Energy Solutions since July 2021.

Peter Bauer

Former Member of the Management Board Infineon Technologies AG, Chairman of the Supervisory Board OSRAM Licht AG and OSRAM GmbH

Gunter Czisch

Lord Mayor of the City of Ulm from 2016 to 2024. Retired since 2024. Judge at the Constitutional Court of Baden-Württemberg since 2024

Reinhard F. Hüttl

Scientific Director and Managing Director of EEI European Energy Innovation GmbH

Badr Ikken

General Director of the National Research Institute for Solar Energy and New Energies (IRESEN Morocco), Vice-President of the Green Economy Commission – CGEM (General Confederation of Moroccan Enterprises)

Michael Kaschke

President of the Stifterverband für die Deutsche Wissenschaft. He is also Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), a partner in Robert Bosch Industrietreuhand KG, a member of the Supervisory Board of Robert Bosch GmbH and a member of the Board of Directors of Ottobock Management SE. From 2011 – 2020, Michael Kaschke was Chairman of the Executive Board of Carl Zeiss AG.

Simone Menne

CFO Lufthansa AG for many years, former management board member of Boehringer Ingelheim in the finance division, supervisory board member and non-executive director in various companies (including BMW AG, Deutsche Post DHL, Johnson Controls International)

Heribert Offermanns

Long-term chairman of Degussa AG, long-time chairman of the board of trustees of the Fonds der Chemischen Industrie, former member of the senate of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, former member of the executive committee of the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker

Wolfgang Reitzle

Chairman of the Supervisory Board Linde plc., former Chairman of the Board of Management BMW, Chairman of the Supervisory Board Continental AG

Stefan Roell

Board Zwick Roell AG, President IHK Ulm

Burkhard Schwenker

Chairman of the Advisory Council of Roland Berger, Vice Chairman of Atlantik-Brücke and member of the Board of Trustees of the Zeit Foundation

Hans Müller-Steinhagen

Long-standing Director of the DLR Institute of Technical Thermodynamics, Long-term Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Desertec Industrial Initiative, Long-term Rector of the Technische Universität Dresden, Executive Board of the TU Dresden Aktiengesellschaft, President of the Dresden International University, Honorary British Consul for Saxony

Ernst Ulrich von Weizsäcker

Chairman of the Board of Trustees

Honorary President Club of Rome, former Chairman “International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management” (IRP) of the UN Environment Programme UNEP, Founding President and Scientific Director Wuppertal Institute, former Member of the German Bundestag

Siddhant Bane

Siddhant Bane, MSc. is an engineer. He studied Mechanical Engineering at the University of Mumbai and Sustainable Energy Systems at the Upper Austria University of Applied Sciences. He has worked as an HVAC engineer and CAD designer in Austria. Mathematical or thermal hydraulic modelling and simulations of renewable energy systems are his areas of expertise. He is constantly trying to contribute to a more sustainable and better world and works as a Research Scientist at Global Energy Solutions.

Jörn Becker

Jörn Becker studied Earth Sciences and Physics at the Free University of Berlin and the Universitat de Barcelona. In his professional career as an innovation manager, marketing and sales manager and managing director, he led interdisciplinary teams from business, science, research and development. He analysed national and international markets for investment opportunities and tested physical/technical innovations for economic viability and feasibility. Jörn Becker has been project manager for the industry partners of the GES Global Energy Perspectives project since December 2021.

Simon Göß

Simon Göß has ten years of experience in energy, power and carbon markets and policy analysis. He is a certified trader of the European Energy Exchange (EEX) and leads expert trainings and workshops, works in consulting projects and writes studies on energy and climate issues with a focus on Germany, the EU and China. Simon is the founder and managing director of carboneer, where he supports companies on issues related to carbon markets, carbon removal and climate strategies. He studied Environmental and Resource Management (B. Sc.) at the Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus and Sustainable Energy Engineering (M. Sc. Honours) at the Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands.

Wilfried Lyhs

Dr. Wilfried Lyhs holds a doctorate in physics and has long worked and researched with engineers in metallurgy, plant construction and process engineering. As CIO of Lurgi for many years, he has also created and renewed global IT infrastructures and gained experience in managing worldwide projects. Wilfried Lyhs has been a member of the association since 2020 and project manager and senior researcher at the Global Energy Perspectives project since 2021.

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