News

Dubai, UAE and Los Angeles, CA - WasteFuel, a US-based next-generation bioenergy company, announced today the appointment of David Trench as its new Chief Executive Officer, following an extensive global search effective September 16, 2024. Trevor Neilson, Co-founder and CEO of WasteFuel, will step down as CEO, but will remain engaged with the Board, executive team and David to ensure a smooth transition.

David has more than 20 years of global leadership experience across energy and technology-based businesses. David joins WasteFuel from Ocean Harvest, an agri-tech startup focused on sustainable and tech-enabled food production in the Middle East, where he previously served as CEO and Co-Founder and is currently a Board Member.

Previously, David was Senior Vice President of Strategic Projects at noon, the leading Middle Eastern technology company, and was Chief Operating Officer at Meraas, a multibillion-dollar development and investment holding company. 

He also held numerous senior roles at Shell across their Upstream, Integrated Gas and New Energy businesses. In these roles he was accountable for commercial, business development, venture set-up activities, project execution, asset/operational management and external stakeholder negotiations. 

“David is the perfect person to lead WasteFuel into its exciting next phase of commercialization," said Trevor Neilson, WasteFuel Co-founder and CEO who is now President of Prometheus Hyperscale, a sustainable hyperscale data center developer in the AI space. “In the years since we founded WasteFuel, we have demonstrated that it is possible to decarbonize the global shipping market and WasteFuel’s technology pathway has proven to be a practical and cost-effective way for this to occur. I look forward to continuing to support WasteFuel as an Advisor and to working alongside the Board and team to ensure a smooth transition.”

“I am thrilled to join the incredible team at WasteFuel as the new CEO. WasteFuel’s purpose is deeply meaningful in the context of the ongoing energy transition as it seeks to solve two global crises: the need to decarbonize transportation at scale and the need to reduce waste. It is an honor to lead such an experienced team and work alongside such an impressive Board and committed partners to accelerate the development of our projects as the demand for sustainable fuels increases globally,” said David Trench.

bp Ventures invested in WasteFuel in 2023 leading its Series B fundraising round. Philipp Schoelzel, Vice President, next generation biofuels, said: “We welcome David as CEO and wish Trevor all the best. We look forward to continuing our relationship with WasteFuel to help develop the business further.”