Beyond Recycling: Green Hydrogen, Circular Carbon and Deep Tech for Net-Zero Industry
As industries strive to achieve climate neutrality while strengthening energy security and competitiveness, the transition to a circular, low-carbon economy requires solutions that go far beyond conventional recycling. This panel will explore the role of green hydrogen, circular carbon strategies, integrated energy systems, and deep-tech innovations in accelerating industrial decarbonisation. Bringing together experts from academia, industry, and innovation ecosystems, the discussion will focus on how cutting-edge technologies can transform sustainable fuels, biofuels, and resource utilization, while shortening the pathway from research to market and supporting the development of resilient, net-zero industrial value chains.
Prof. Izabela CzekajPK - Krakow University of TechnologyProf. Izabela CzekajProfesor, Wydział Inżynierii i Technologii Chemicznej, PK - Krakow University of TechnologyProf. Izabela Czekaj is a researcher and academic leader working at the intersection of green hydrogen, sustainable fuels, catalysis, carbon-neutral chemical processes, and industrial decarbonisation. Her research focuses on technologies enabling the transition from fossil-based value chains to circular and climate-neutral industrial systems, including hydrogen-based processes, renewable feedstocks, carbon utilisation pathways, and advanced materials for clean energy applications.
Actively involved in international research collaborations and European innovation initiatives, she brings extensive experience in connecting scientific excellence with industrial needs and policy priorities. Her work addresses key challenges related to the Net-Zero transition, including the deployment of deep-tech solutions for low-carbon manufacturing, resource efficiency, circular carbon management, and sustainable energy systems.Read full bio →
Janusz KahlSouth Poland Cleantech ClusterJanusz KahlCEO, South Poland Cleantech ClusterJanusz Kahl is an international business leader, entrepreneur, business adviser, start-up mentor, and honorary consul based in Kraków, Poland. Born in Kraków and a Danish citizen of Polish origin, he has dedicated much of his professional career to strengthening economic, institutional, and cultural cooperation between Poland and the Nordic countries.
A graduate of Copenhagen Business School, where he specialised in organisation, strategy, and international trade, began working as an independent consultant in Poland in 1992. Through his consultancy activities, he supported Scandinavian companies entering the Polish market, helped establish local businesses and representative offices, and facilitated interregional cooperation between southern Poland and Nordic partners.
In 2001, he established NordicHouse, a business and cultural cooperation centre in Kraków. As its president, he works to develop partnerships between companies, public institutions, regional organisations, and other stakeholders from Poland and the Nordic countries. NordicHouse promotes international trade, investment, business development, tourism, and cultural exchange, with a particular focus on creating practical opportunities for cross-border collaboration.
Janusz Kahl's leadership also extends to sustainable development and innovation. As president of the South Poland Cleantech Cluster, a non-profit initiative, he supports cooperation around clean technologies and their implementation in industry. His work connects businesses, innovators, and other stakeholders interested in developing solutions that contribute to industrial modernisation and the transition towards a more sustainable economy.
Janusz Kahl is also actively involved in supporting entrepreneurship and innovation, serving as a mentor and juror at training programmes, workshops, and hackathons for start-ups and small and medium-sized enterprises. His professional interests encompass international business development, foreign investment, cross-border partnerships, innovation, and clean technology.
His professional work reflects a sustained commitment to connecting markets, institutions, and people across national borders. By bringing together business, diplomacy, entrepreneurship, and sustainability, Janusz Kahl contributes to the development of international partnerships and to strengthening Kraków and southern Poland as centres of economic cooperation between Poland and the Nordic region.Read full bio →
Karolina MolskaQemeticaKarolina MolskaExternal Relations Specialist, QemeticaKarolina Molska is an External Relations Specialist within the Strategy Department and the Future Business Unit at Qemetica. She is responsible for supporting the company’s transformation agenda and identifying innovative technologies and business opportunities that contribute to the transition toward a more sustainable and low-carbon industrial future. Her work focuses on building strategic partnerships, fostering innovation, and advancing solutions that enhance industrial competitiveness, circularity, and decarbonization. Through her involvement in Qemetica’s Future initiatives, she contributes to the development of next-generation technologies supporting the energy transition and the transformation of the chemical industry.Read full bio →
Jacek MurawskiOrlen VCJacek MurawskiPresident of the Board, Orlen VCJacek Murawski is the President of the Board and the Managing Partner of ORLEN VC, a corporate venture capital investing in technologies for the transformation of the energy sector and the industry of the future. For more than a decade he actively participates in the development of a venture capital and innovation ecosystem in CEE. Previously he was a General Partner in Invento VC, the Vice President and CFO of PGNiG, CFO Orange Poland, an Investing Partner of MCI Capital and CEO of Wirtualna Polska. He specializes in technological investments, scaling innovative companies and establishing cooperation between start-ups, science and big industry organisations.Read full bio →
dr hab. inż. Rafał Ślefarski, prof. PPPolitechnika Poznańskadr hab. inż. Rafał Ślefarski, prof. PPProfessor, Politechnika PoznańskaProf. Rafał Ślefarski is an expert in sustainable energy systems, hydrogen and Power-to-X technologies, low-emission combustion, and thermochemical conversion of biomass and waste. His research focuses on the integration of green hydrogen, alternative gaseous fuels, circular carbon pathways, and advanced energy technologies supporting industrial decarbonization. He has led and contributed to numerous research and industry projects in gas technologies, carbon-neutral fuels, CHP systems, biomass gasification, and waste-to-energy solutions. Prof. Ślefarski is a member of the Board of Polish Institute of Combustion and an active member of the European Turbine Network.Read full bio →