On November 25, 2025, the group’s members gathered for their annual event, hosted by Grace in Worms, which first gave the participants a tour of the plant. Many steps, plenty of questions, and a few insights later (for example, this is where particles are produced that give the paint on Christmas tree ornaments such an evenly matte sheen), everyone gathered in the conference room. Thomas Kolb, who had taken over as head of the Upper Rhine regional group in 2014, stepped down from his position after 11 years. His successor as director of the Engler-Bunte Institute, Frederik Scheiff, ran for election to take over the Upper Rhine group; he was elected unanimously and welcomed to his new position with a round of applause.
Before Mr. Kolb was bid farewell as he retired to an equally enthusiastic round of applause, Gesa Netzeband, the executive director of the DGMK, summarized the key topics of the past 11 years:
The first meeting under Thomas Kolb was held under the theme “Contributions to the Energy Transition”—topics included power-to-gas and hydrogen—that was in 2015. This was followed by events on topics such as various fuels, the future of diesel engines, power-to-liquids, and bio-based oils. The formats also changed; in 2018, an interactive World Café was held for the first time.
And then the pandemic hit, making in-person meetings impossible. As a result, the group’s well-established fall event in 2021 took place online as a one-time exception. In 2022, however, an in-person meeting was once again able to take place, with a large number of participants, at BASF. The topics continued to evolve; starting in 2023, the focus shifted to ammonia and hydrogen, raw materials, and CO2.
CO2 was also the focus of this event: Prof. Dr. Christoph Hilgers of KIT summarized the topic under the heading “CO2 – ”Where to put it?“ provided an entertaining overview of the basics of CCS, and Dr.-Ing. Friedemann Mörs of EBI discussed the “Start-up of CO2-”Infrastructure—What Challenges Do We Face?” including requirements for CO2-pipelines and the composition of the gas.
This successful event marked the end of Thomas Kolb’s term, and the DGMK is pleased to welcome Frederik Scheiff as a highly competent and dedicated successor.
