Carlos Alberto Fernández López

Head of Bioenergy & Waste Department (Spain, EU), IDAE - Institute for Diversification and Energy Saving at Ministry for Ecological Transition

Speaker

Carlos Alberto Fernández López is a Forestry Engineer (Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, UPM), Master on Environmental Defense (UPM) and a Specialist in Energy & Environment (UPM-IEE). He has worked at IDAE, the Spanish energy agency, since 1997, and even though he has held positions related to strategy, coordination and planning, most of his career has been focused on bioenergy issues, first as Head of Biofuels Department, and since February 2025 as Head of Bioenergy and Waste Department, his current role.

Throughout his career, he has played an active role in regulatory subjects, like the implementation of a biofuels obligation in Spain and the negotiation and transposition of directives related to bioenergy, having grown expertise on several subjects related to it, especially regarding sustainability. From a more technical perspective, he is one of the members of the Coordination Group of the Spanish Biocircularity Technology and Innovation Platform (Bioplat), has spearheaded the agency's participation in IEA Bioenergy and is the national contact point and a Core Team leader at the Concerted Action for the Renewable Energy Directive.

Finally, over the course of these years Carlos Alberto has also carried out an intense international activity supporting the Renewable Energy Directorate of IDAE, which has taken him to take part in IPCC WGIII and IRENA meetings or the process for developing renewables in Malaysia, just to mention a few. Furthermore, he has taken part as a speaker in several national and international congresses and seminars.