we are making companies and entire regions energy and fertilizer autarkic. at the same time, we are slowing climate change through CO2 removal and can even reverse it.
our attitude
We are a group of people who accompany each other to make a change. We do things differently and love the challenge. Because for us, this is not a job, for us it is a vocation. We want to generate an impact and have fun doing it. We don't separate work & life, but professional & private. We rely on each other and build our company on all our shoulders. At the same time we respect the private life of others and their limits. Because for us the whole person counts, not just his resume and title. Our motivation drives us. We have all made mistakes along the way, learned and gained a lot of experience. This makes us professionals, in our aspirations and our skills. Combined, these heterogeneous superpowers give us the strength for change.
our team
Michel Konder has over 20 years of management experience in the energy and digital sector. Important milestones were the founding of the European gas platform Prisma, Vice President for the digital business and global scaling at sonnen and the founding of Kohlekumpels. Michel's strengths are vision and solving complex problems quickly. At autarkize , he is responsible for technology, innovation and strategy.
Sophie Peter has over 10 years of management experience in mechanical engineering, renewable energies and high-tech, including at TDK as an internationally active Product Manager and at sonnen as Process Manager. Most recently, she founded Kohlekumpels, a start-up in the biochar sector, with Michel Konder . Sophie's strengths are her ability to empathize, process-oriented thinking and design. At autarkize she is responsible for Operations.
Gerd Trautwein has over 10 years of experience in mechanical and plant engineering, both in biomass gasification and in various production automation systems. His strength is an extremely broad, practical and theoretical understanding of mechanical engineering, materials science and practical implementation. He is the process engineering head and designer of the plants.
Pia Guggemos is an organizational talent with more than 7 years of experience in personnel management and administrative development. Thanks to her practical and efficient approach, she has the best qualities to shape the transformation from a start-up to a company with a regulated day-to-day business. As a project and process manager, she creates the necessary infrastructure at autarkize to keep the team free and our company in flow.
Christian Grundner has over 25 years of experience in the field of energy recovery from biomass, from project development to the management of a large biomass cogeneration plant. He has in-depth specialist and industry knowledge, is a strong generalist and an advocate of bio-based recycling and energy management. As a project developer and project manager at autarkize , Christian is responsible for the successful implementation of plant technologies and their applications in practice.
Bernd Mickisch has a proud 40 years of experience in the field of firing and burner technology. During this time, he has gained expertise in the areas of development, operation and Service. He has been focusing on pyrolysis for 8 years and has developed extensive experience in the automation of energy generation plants. His greatest strengths are problem analysis and plant development. If a plant is not working, Bernd makes it work. At autarkize , he is responsible for development in the field of process engineering and automation.
Jan has over 8 years of experience in sales & Business Development , 4 years of which in a managerial role. He has worked for companies of various industries and sizes and specializes in developing successful sales concepts while ensuring maximum customer satisfaction. This is exactly what Jan will focus on at autarkize .
Lara Engel has over 10 years of experience in the start-up sector and is well versed in fast-growing structures. Lara is experienced in the strategic development and optimization of various business areas. She is passionate about meaningful and sustainable innovations that help us create a fairer world. At autarkize , she combines this passion with her strong communication skills in the role of Business Development Manager.
Helmut Oswald has over 25 years of experience in the field of biomass combustion. As a trained electrician, he knows how to get a system "up and running". His in-depth expertise in the field of biomass fuels comes in handy here. At autarkize he can also contribute his knowledge and skills as a certified boiler attendant and PLC programmer. True to the motto: "What doesn't fit is made to fit", Helmut takes care of the areas of development and automation.
Charlotte Herboth is an absolute biochar enthusiast. She has a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering with a specialization in energy technology and already has over 2 years of experience in her own start-up in the field of biochar production and
application as well as carbon dioxide removal (CDR). In her start-up, she is intensively involved in the production and application of biochar in countries of the Global South. In addition to Charlotte's passion, her strengths are her creativity and her enthusiasm for application-oriented work. She has already gained initial experience with the certification of biochar and is therefore also responsible for the certification of our biochar at autarkize and is driving the CDR segment forward.
Thanks to his training as a technical product designer in special machine construction and his degree in economics, Niklas has the ideal combination to be able to evaluate and design technically sophisticated systems in a technically and economically sound manner. He also brings valuable experience in sales and customer management of complex production machines as well as extensive knowledge of process analysis and optimization from the fintech sector.
our history
Our founder Michel has always been committed to the expansion of renewable energies (e.g. at Stadtwerke München or the battery and electromobility pioneer sonnen ). Although he was already at the forefront of renewable energies at sonnen, it became increasingly clear to him after the birth of his first son that climate-neutral electricity alone is not enough to stop or even reverse climate change. In addition to the absolutely necessary avoidance of greenhouse gases, we also need large-scale solutions to removeCO2 from the atmosphere. This is how he came up with biochar and founded Kohlekumpels in 2021 together with Sophie, whose implementation strength he had already learned to appreciate through their joint collaboration at sonnen, and 4 other comrades-in-arms. The aim of Kohlekumpels was to make the use of biochar economically and ecologically worthwhile for agriculture. To this end, food grown on soil mixed with biochar was given a price premium and a climate-positive label, thus financing the use of biochar. However, this price increase requires a change in society, which was difficult to implement in times of corona and the Ukraine crisis and the resulting inflation - at the same time, it became increasingly clear that it is essential for a greater spread of biochar that the costs for the use of biochar fall. To achieve this, the world needs significantly more pyrolysis plants and, above all, pyrolysis plants that can work with the cheapest possible and otherwise poorly utilized biomass. And it was precisely at this point that an inventor turned to the coal miners with his knowledge and experience from over 25 years of building and developing pyrolysis plants (he calls them "multi-fuel gasifiers"). "At the age of 85, he felt it was time to pass this knowledge on to a younger generation." After intensive examination of the technology and the pilot plant to date, it was clear to us: this technology has the potential to become another game changer in the field of CDR (carbon dioxide removal)! And so the decision was made very quickly: this technology must be made ready for series production and scaled up, because this is how we can really make a difference - that was the birth of autarkize!