Rob Vierhout

VP Public Affairs and Communication at Alcogroup

Speaker

A graduate in Political Science and European Law, Rob was 14 years long the voice of the European ethanol producers providing political and strategic insight to the membership of the various associations he led. He first was the principal advisor to AFTA (Association for Fair Trade in Alcohol) then the Secretary-General of eBIO (European Bioethanol Fuel Association) to be appointed the first Secretary-General of ePURE (European Renewable Ethanol Association) in 2010. He stepped aside from this position in September 2014. Rob began his professional career as an academic researcher followed by 8 years working experience in the European Parliament. He then moved on to the business environment and became public affairs consultant at Deloitte & Touche. Before Rob started working for the ethanol sector, he was the managing director of the consulting firm European Affairs Management (EAM), which he founded, now called team. Since end of 2014, Rob has been providing consultancy services to several companies, inside and outside Europe, operating in the renewable energy sector. Rob is a European Commission expert in the framework of Horizon 2020, and a regular speaker at the Lallemand Ethanol Technology Institute Alcohol School. Furthermore, he is Board member of ISCC (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification), vice-chair of the Dutch Platform on Sustainable Biofuels, Executive Member of the European Advanced Biofuel Coalition LSB and was the lead on communication and outreach work of the Alternative and Renewable Transport Fuels Forum (ART Fuels Forum). His favourite hobby is keeping bees.