Axel Friedrich is a Technical Chemist trained at the Technical University of Berlin. After a job in the chemical industry, he started a career with the Umweltbundesamt (Federal Environmental Agency of Germany) in the section “Reduction of Air Pollution from Traffic”. From 1990 to 1992 he was the head of the section „Refineries, Fuels and Reduction of Organic Compounds”; from 1993 until August 1994 he was head of the section “Marine Environmental Protection”. Since September 1994 he is head of the division „Environment and Transport, Noise“. This division deals with all transport related environmental issues, including air pollution, noise and planning. His special interests include: Sustainable transport, alternative fuels, I/M, non regulated emissions, fuel influence on the emissions. Chairman of the OECD Working Group on Transport. 2006 he was awarded the Haagen-Smit Award.