Publications, Speaking & Podcast
Thought leadership in biomass supply chains, bioenergy investment, and African feedstock development
Towards bankability for wood pelletisation
Publication: Bioenergy Insight Magazine, September/October 2022
Description:
Two-page article based on keynote address at the bioenergy Insight International Biomass Congress & Expo, Antwerp, July 2022 — and expanding upon a World Bioenergy Association webinar presentation.
The article sets out the core challenge of biomass project bankability: a lack of a continuous flow of available, sustainable, applicable, and affordable feedstock. Argues that the most effective path to bankability is risk-led thinking from the perspective of the funder — addressing feedstock risk, supply chain risk, sustainability risk, safety risk, and pricing risk before capital is committed.
Key message: "If you have managed your feedstock, if you have controlled your feedstock, you are already halfway to structuring your pellet facility towards bankability."
African feedstock opportunities and agri-residues
Event: Argus Biomass Conference, London, April 2026
Description:
Invited speaker on African biomass feedstock origination and the role of agri-residues in the emerging supply picture. Addressed the structural reasons why African biomass origination has repeatedly promised to develop but failed to materialise — and where the realistic opportunities lie in agri-residues, encroacher species, and plantation residues.
Also featured in the Argus pre-conference e-book as part of the promotional material distributed to conference participants.
'Fail to Flourish' / 'Flourish by Risk Management'
Publication: LinkedIn article series, October 2021
Description:
A two-part article series examining why biomass projects fail and the risk management framework that separates projects that flourish from those that fail. The articles draw on direct experience across 20+ African countries and multiple continents.
Part 1 — Fail to Flourish: Why most African bioenergy projects have been "almost bankable" for years and the structural reasons they fail to materialise.
Part 2 — Flourish by Risk Management: The four-part risk framework (risk mitigation, risk allocation, risk hedging, and controlled acceptance of residual risk) that turns a promising biomass project into one that actually gets built.
The Global Bioenergy Landscape: Focus on Asia & Africa
Publication: Business of Bioenergy Video Podcast, MacAllen Media, November 2026
Description: A concise discussion on the realities of biomass development in emerging markets, drawing on decades of project experience. The interview highlights why bankability often falters and what is required to build feedstock systems, supply chains, and sustainability frameworks that perform reliably.
Key message: ““Bioenergy succeeds when feedstock reality, operational capability, and financial expectations are aligned — and when risk is addressed upfront rather than discovered during execution.”
The Biomass Supply Chains Sweet Spot
Event: World Bioenergy Association Webinar — Optimising Industrial Supply Chains: Building Bioenergy Trade, November 2024
Description:
Keynote presentation setting out Hinterland's proprietary five-stage feedstock assessment funnel and its application to international biomass supply chain development. Covered the supply chain sweet spot — the narrow intersection where availability, sustainability, applicability, affordability, and bankability align simultaneously — and applied it to both European utility sourcing and African clean cooking contexts.
Two supply chain perspectives presented: European utility seeking long-term security of supply; and African all-inclusive clean cooking and biomass fuel deployment.
Hinterland Management Corporate Brochure
Many biomass and renewable energy projects in emerging markets begin with strong intentions but struggle to reach bankability. Years of work across Africa, Asia and other regions show a consistent pattern: projects falter not because the concept is weak, but because critical risks in feedstock, supply chains, sustainability, commercial structure or operations were not addressed early enough.
Hinterland Management was founded to respond to this reality. The practice brings together biomass expertise, sustainable business development, investment oversight and interim management, grounded in long-standing experience in emerging markets. The focus is on the practical elements that determine whether a project can progress from ambition to implementation.