How I help hard-to-abate sectors decarbonise through calculated risk-takings
Namrata Bhatia works with manufacturers in hard-to-abate sectors focusing primarily on carbon capture and storage, helping customers capture and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and more.
At Shell Catalysts & Technologies, Namrata Bhatia helps move the mission of decarbonisation forward. She works with manufacturers in hard-to-abate sectors such as steel, cement, and petrochemicals. Namrata focuses primarily on carbon capture and storage, helping customers capture and reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and promoting understanding around the transportation and storage of CO2.
In this article, Namrata discusses her transition from developing guidance and control systems for anti-ballistic missiles to Wells engineering and, finally, decarbonisation. She also discusses the experience of working in multiple countries and her views on decarbonisation, as well as how she鈥檚 coped with being a woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry.
1. Can you discuss what brought you to Shell Catalysts & Technologies?
My career path has had many surprises and challenges.
Growing up, I had an interest in the aerospace field. After graduating from university in India, I started developing guidance and control systems for anti-ballistic missiles. Not long after, I made a drastic career shift after being scouted by a recruiter for an oilfield services company.
After much thought, I decided to transition to that company. My reasoning: it was a challenging and exciting career path. It allowed me to discover something new, and it changed my life. I went from being in an office to being stationed on oil rigs for long periods. For a woman, that's unconventional, given there weren't many females well engineers at the time. Eventually, I left that employer and started working with the larger Shell company in upstream well engineering before transitioning to the decarbonisation group at Shell Catalysts & Technologies.
While harnessing my past experience, I am now trying to make a difference and impact our net-zero targets for a better and cleaner planet. I am proud to be an active contributor to that journey.
2. You mentioned working in seven different countries. Can you discuss some differences between those regarding decarbonisation?
Some of the critical differences pertain to government policies. For example, different funding levels exist for decarbonisation and innovation, which has an impact on industrial initiatives.
The second thing I see is the health, safety, and environment (HSE) standards and how lax or stringent those are in each country, affecting the citizens鈥� daily lives and health. This also then translates back to government policies to attain net zero targets for a cleaner environment.
3. What鈥檚 the impact of regulation differences on decarbonisation? What about the impact of similarities?
Regarding the differences, we are seeing more government support around incentives in developed countries along with more stringent policies. So, in those nations, decarbonisation is ahead in that there is more focus on processes and technologies along with funding to succeed as compared to other places with no government policy. In developing countries with less stringent policies, industries are also slower to adapt towards a more sustainable form of operation.
Regarding similarities, incentives like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and the European Union Emissions Trading System (ETS) certainly help. It's the same with global awareness around decarbonisation. The impact industry has on the environment is well known. Helping people realise that we, collectively, must do something is essential, but it also persuades the government to act. When the government acts, there are new incentives. It's a trickle-down effect.
4. As a senior well engineer, you spent quite a bit of time in Iraq. Can you discuss that time and what it was like being one of the few women in the field?
At the time, there weren't many women in the industry. The Oil and Gas industry is male-dominated, especially the upstream segment. Being the only woman in an oil rig camp of 150 to 500 men was common.
I first entered Iraq in 2011. It was a big move for my employer sending in the first female engineer. It was a learning curve both for the men around to accept reporting to a female and for me in learning to assert myself.
Working in the field is different from being in a city. The camp is isolated, and there isn't much to do. For a woman, there is even less to do.
Outside of being one of a few women there, the environment on the rigs could be risky where a small mistake could have significant consequences. While wearing full protective gear, we had to be careful and on guard at all times, which made for a challenging environment. I've also experienced security breaches and total lockdowns while on the field. You learn to judge every situation accordingly, have backup plans, and cultivate a healthy relationship with risk management.
That's the best advice I can give a woman starting her career: be willing to take a calculated risk. Sometimes, we are hesitant to take those risks because social norms get in the way. If you want to do something and believe you can, then take the risk. You'll learn something either way.
5. What is the single greatest challenge to and the single greatest win when it comes to decarbonisation?
The single most significant challenge is the variations in regulations from country to country. Additionally, there is no defined process or a single solution to decarbonise that fits all industries. Changing the core working methodology of industries requires significant capital investments which will eventually trickle down to the user. As industries are in the nascent stages of decarbonising these wouldn鈥檛 necessarily be challenges but rather newer ways of working which we must collectively manage and progress. If not, we risk making the path forward more difficult to tread.
On the flip side, the Paris Agreement and recognising the impact of climate change have massively pushed industry toward decarbonisation. With the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States, we see decarbonisation moving very rapidly. Similarly, the ETS in Europe has also strongly encouraged various industries through policy to take action immediately, which help to significantly combat emissions.
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