About Our Keynote Speaker

With more than 20 years of leadership experience in renewable energy, biomaterials, and biobased chemicals, Mark DeAndrea leads efforts to develop and commercialize cutting-edge technologies, with the goal of reducing CO2 emissions by replacing fossil fuel-based products with cost competitive, biobased alternatives. Sustainability and safety are core tenets of his mission.

DeAndrea is the CEO of Centrisys Renewables (www.csrenews.com). Centrisys and its’ subsidiary, ReneMat, offer technology and commercial solutions to optimize pulp mill operations and increase revenues by capturing and converting waste streams into higher-value renewable products. Centrisys’s unique business model offers “reduced risk” solutions to pulp mills for soap and fiber recovery systems, more cost-effective wastewater treatment processes, and integrated lignin (www.renemat.com) production. For lignin, Centrisys formed a collaboration with technology provider Valmet to be able to offer mills a turn-key commercial lignin solution.

Prior to Centrisys Renewables, DeAndrea was a member of the executive leadership team at Domtar, where he was responsible for developing a new BioMaterials division. Under Mark’s leadership, Domtar became the industry leader in biomaterials and lignin-based derivatives. DeAndrea was responsible for developing and deploying new technology to maximize the collection, conversion, and sale of mill waste streams (pine chemicals, cellulosic sugars, advanced fibers, thermochemical fuels, lignin) by converting them into higher-value downstream biobased chemicals and materials.

Prior to joining Domtar, DeAndrea was SVP of Strategic Development for POET, the largest ethanol producer in the world. Prior to POET, Mark held senior leadership positions with RBC Capital and PricewaterhouseCoopers.