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Energy security is fundamental to our energy transition, says Anna Mascolo, Executive Vice President for Emerging Energy Solutions at Shell; we must work together to decarbonise our current system while building the low-to-no carbon energy ecosystem of the future.
It's time for us to be decisive and collaborative when it comes to our energy challenges. Heading into 2023, the world faces an incredibly complex energy dichotomy. It needs to rapidly transition to a net-zero emissions energy system, as we strive to meet the Paris Climate Agreement and limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius.
At the same time, the world needs a secure energy supply that is affordable, reliable, and increasingly low carbon. We need to move fast to develop and deploy decarbonisation at scale and we must accelerate the pace at which the new system is developed.
Moving too slowly means losing precious time, and the momentum to build solutions at scale. As debates in and around COP27 this month have highlighted, the world still relies heavily on today’s energy system.
The current system is simply too carbon intensive. However, rebuilding it will not happen overnight. If the world is to achieve a net-zero emissions energy system, systemic change is needed across all sectors of the economy. This cannot happen all at once.
Instead, we must help remove carbon from the current energy system, while continuing to develop a lower-carbon energy ecosystem that is fit for the future – one that can deliver affordable, reliable and low-carbon energy for all.
Net zero is wholly dependent on the sum of the parts
NOVEMBER 18, 2022 9:29AM
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Shell Emerging Energy Solutions (EES) has been created with the single purpose of tackling a big part of the energy conundrum – delivering at pace and at scale. It brings together Shell’s Hydrogen, Carbon Capture & Storage, Nature-Based Solutions and Shell Ventures businesses to help solve some of society’s toughest energy challenges. And my team and I are laser focused on the actions and collaborations required to build these solutions at scale in the coming decade.
Shell Emerging Energy Solutions and the art of the possible
“My team and I are laser focused on the actions and collaborations required to build these solutions at scale in the coming decade”
But there are significant obstacles that must be overcome to turn technologies and solutions such as hydrogen from “emerging” to “enabling”. It will take huge investments, intensive collaboration, effective government policy and a change in energy demand. The EU, for example, aims for 40 gigawatts in electrolyser capacity by 2030, and 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen production. The United States recently announced an $8 billion programme to develop clean hydrogen hubs. These ambitions must now be met with action.
Customer fueling up at a Shell Hydrogen station
Image Credit: Photographic Services, Shell International Limited.
We know that simply not selling certain energy products does not curb the demand for them. The energy transition relies on society’s ability to change the type of energy and the amount of energy we use.
Transforming demand presents a great opportunity for collaborative action - among those who provide energy, those who use energy, and governments who can drive change through policy and regulation.
It requires governments to incentivise, businesses to provide, and consumers to seek and embrace low and zero-carbon choices. So, in Shell, we start with the customer, like our large industrial customers.
Investing in transforming demand
“We are helping businesses and organisations move away from fossil fuels towards low-and zero- carbon alternatives in a gradual, orderly way”
We help them look at their energy needs and work out how we can help meet those needs in less carbon-intensive ways. It might mean creating the first hydrogen truck refuelling network to cut down emissions on heavily travelled industrial routes. Equally, this could involve establishing a market for cross-border CO2 transport and paving the way for carbon capture and storage (CCS) to play a role in the decarbonisation of industry.
In Emerging Energy Solutions, we are helping businesses and organisations move away from fossil fuels towards low-and zero- carbon alternatives in an orderly and meaningful way. By providing energy for today, at the same time as leading the way to new technologies, new products, and new customer offers, we are helping to manage the transition.
Render of the Holland Hydrogen I at the Tweede Maasvlake (Rotterdam, NL.)
This year, Shell announced a final investment decision to build Holland Hydrogen I, which will be Europe’s largest renewable hydrogen plant once operational in 2025. The 200MW electrolyser will be constructed on the Tweede Maasvlakte in the port of Rotterdam and will produce up to 60,000 kilograms of renewable hydrogen per day.
Meanwhile, we continue to actively collaborate with others to help drive actions that contribute to the building of a hydrogen economy. Shell, for example, is a founding member of H2Accelerate, which aims to create the conditions for the widespread deployment of hydrogen trucks in Europe.
We have been in this position before.
Decades ago, Shell was at the forefront of developing liquefied natural gas (LNG). When we started, demand for LNG had yet to mature. Today, the same goes for hydrogen demand, but we cannot wait decades for this to happen.
Now is the time to be at the forefront of the development. Taking bold and decisive actions will be good for the world, good for our customers, and, yes, good for us.
“Taking bold and decisive actions will be good for the world, good for our customers, and, yes, good for us”
Using our capability to innovate and drawing upon our global scale and experience, we are attempting to instigate meaningful change. By way of example, Shell recently committed to building Europe’s largest electrolyser, Holland Hydrogen 1. It’s an exciting project that demonstrates the action required on a global scale to jumpstart the hydrogen economy.
It took some resolve to sanction investment in this project while the rest of the hydrogen economy is still in its early stages. However, Shell started with its own anchor demand through its Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam (Pernis Refinery), creating a stepping stone for future demand growth.
Taking bold action to forge a new direction
In the face of our collective challenge, we must push ourselves to act. All of us pulling in the same direction can make a huge difference in developing emerging technologies and solutions at the pace and scale essential to secure the benefits of energy while reducing and removing carbon from the system that powers it.
Yes, the energy transition is tough, but it is possible, and it is happening. Action is being taken. It is clearly a daunting challenge, but it is one Shell is meeting head on.
“No one stakeholder group can decarbonise alone; everyone has a role to play”
I’m glad to see we are not alone at the forefront. No one stakeholder group can decarbonise alone; everyone has a role to play - from energy producers, industry and governments, to end consumers.
Together we can turn the net zero vision into reality, by investing in solutions, generating long-term demand, setting policy framework, and finding new innovative business models.
In a storm of uncertainty and unpredictability, ambitious policies and bold action by government can be a lighthouse that draws everyone in the same direction, towards low and zero carbon energy solutions.
Collaboration will be key
Shell's Pernis Refinery, Rotterdam
Last year, Shell announced a final investment decision to build an 820,000-tonnes-a-year biofuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, the Netherlands, formerly known as the Pernis refinery. Once built, the facility will be among the biggest in Europe to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and renewable diesel made from waste.
Shell Emerging Energy Solutions
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By Anna Mascolo
Executive Vice President for Emerging Energy Solutions at Shell
Image Credit: Photographic Services, Shell International Limited.
Image Credit: Plotvis
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Disclaimer: The Reuters news staff had no role in the production of this content. It was created by Reuters Plus, the brand marketing studio of Reuters. To work with Reuters Plus, contact us here.
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Collaboration Counts
Watch: A series of thought-provoking discussions with international industry leaders actively involved in the energy transition, with a particular focus on the role of hydrogen within the energy mix.
Watch now