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Shell sniffing out sustainable technologies

TU and Shell have been ‘preferred partners’ in research since 2011. Looking ahead, Shell is probing for sustainable technologies in the research portfolio.


The newly built Shell Technology Centre Amsterdam was the setting for the celebration of the two-year research partnership on March 12th. PhD students presented their posters, while their professors and Shell employees mingled. The posters gave an impression of current research topics like fluid mechanics, geo-imaging, oil-lifting foam, North pole drilling, iceberg predictions, solar water splitting and hydrogen storage.


Chris Laurens, Shell’s vice-president of Future Energy Technologies, announced the oil company’s interest in sustainable energy technologies. He referred to a study by the International Energy Agency IEA which predicts a doubling of the global energy use by 2050. The IEA expects 55 to 70 percent to be produced from fossil fuels and the rest from sustainable sources or nuclear energy.


“Shell is looking for sustainable opportunities in that future”, said Laurens who specified the three areas under study: renewable energy production, hydrogen as energy carrier and storage for energy systems.


It’s a remarkable statement coming from a company that five years ago pulled the plug on solar and wind energy projects. In the five previous years Shell had invested 1,3 billion euro in it – a mere 1,5 percent of its total investments.


CTO Gerald Schotman denies a turnaround. “It’s about adding value, making a difference”, he says. Shell decided it could not make cheaper solar panels or wind turbines, but second generation biofuels seem more attractive. “That fits us better in scale, chemistry and transport”, says Schotman. He also expects Shell to take up research in hydrogen storage and conversion and CO2 capture. 

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