Technology for a net-zero energy future
Technological innovation plays a crucial role in the development of cleaner energy solutions and in our transition to become a net-zero emissions energy business by 2050.
Featured video: Shell's Industrial Electrification Technology Programme
Shell's scientists, researchers and engineers around the globe are working to develop, deploy and commercialise technologies that are vital in the transition to a low-carbon energy future. In 2023, we spent $1,287 million on research and development (R&D), compared with $1,067 million in 2022. From the total amount invested in 2023, about 49% of the total expenditure was on projects that contributed to decarbonisation. We also started work on more than 270 R&D projects with universities, compared with more than 250 in 2022. Find out more about our approach to sustainability and our performance data in our
Shell鈥檚 main technology programmes for decarbonisation
Committed to Shell鈥檚 climate targets, we have launched some of our largest research & development (R&D) programs, in the areas we foresee as key for energy transition technology, throughout the next decade. These include R&D around the areas of industrial electrification, hydrogen value chain, circularity & bio-feedstock and direct air capture, for example
Electrifying heat demand in industry
Industrial manufacturing represents roughly a third of overall global energy demand and 80-90% is currently supplied through fossil fuels. Electrifying industrial heat demand is paramount to achieving net-zero emissions in the energy system. At Shell, we have set up one of our largest technology development programs spanning 2022-2030 with the aim to decarbonise manufacturing with electricity. The program consists of five technology elements: electro-thermal, electro-chemical, heat and electricity storage, integrated process design, and digital electricity management. Through these projects, we seek to deploy multiple innovative and differentiated electrification solutions at scale in Shell projects by 2030 and to commercialise them in the longer term.
One such project of this major program is a collaboration between Shell and Dow in an experimental unit to electrically heat furnaces at the Energy Transition Campus Amsterdam with renewable energy. Steam cracking is one of the most carbon-intensive processes in petrochemical production. Over time, the experimental unit will be used to test a theoretical electrification model for retrofitting today鈥檚 gas-fired furnaces. Data generated by the unit will be used to validate the model and allow the electrification programme to advance to the next phase: the design and construction of a multi-megawatt pilot plant, with potential start-up in 2025, subject to investment support. As per projections, this project could reduce Scope 1 emissions associated with cracking furnaces by 90% compared to conventional crackers.
Find out more about our work in electrifying heat demand here.
Hydrogen as a sustainable and competitive energy source
Hydrogen can be a game-changer in the future energy landscape, potentially playing a significant role in helping the world reach a net-zero emissions energy system. Because hydrogen has a high energy density, it is especially suitable for hard-to-electrify sectors like heavy-duty transport, heavy industry, shipping, and aviation.
At Shell, we are positioned to be at the forefront of this transformational journey. Recognising hydrogen鈥檚 potential and the several cross-business opportunities it presents, we have launched a dedicated technology program with the ambitious goal of developing commercial projects of a similar scale as our refineries and chemical parks of today. We are working globally on innovative technologies across the entire hydrogen value chain 鈥� from production to storage, transport, and use 鈥� to develop hydrogen into an accessible, affordable low-carbon fuel for transport, a feedstock for chemicals and as a solution to store energy in integrated energy systems.
R&D focuses on the key underlying technologies through which hydrogen is likely to unlock more, cleaner energy solutions. We identify and develop these technologies in close cooperation with a variety of distinguished third parties. Thus, our program focusses on five technology areas: renewable hydrogen production via large-scale electrolyser; liquefaction and insulation for transport; high-capacity underground storage and long-distance pipelines; de-risking hydrogen production via methane pyrolysis; and deployment of decarbonised hydrogen projects at scale (with CCS).
In India, . The partnership aims to use SOEC technology to deliver high-efficiency, low-cost renewable hydrogen. Our aim is to produce hydrogen at efficiencies around 20% greater than other technologies, with the goal of achieving a market-leading levelised cost of hydrogen by 2025. The system will be installed at the Shell Technology Centre Bangalore, where the renewable hydrogen will be used in industrial processes on site.
Yuri Sebregts, Shell鈥檚 CTO and EVP Technology鈥淭he differentiated SOEC technology has the potential to produce hydrogen at an optimum cost and efficiency profile. The pilot and collaboration with Ceres are a step forward in maturing this promising technology towards industrial scale.鈥�
In 2022, we took a final investment decision to build a 200MW electrolyser,鈥疕olland Hydrogen鈥疘, in the Port of Rotterdam, the Netherlands.鈥疶he decarbonised hydrogen produced from the electrolyser will be used in our Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, with the surplus hydrogen going to our hydrogen retail network.
Along with our partners in the CO2-free Hydrogen Energy Supply-chain Technology Research Association (), we are developing technologies to transport large volumes of liquid hydrogen by sea. The world鈥檚 first liquefied hydrogen carrier 鈥� the Suiso Frontier 鈥� completed its maiden voyage, sailing from Japan to Australia at the end of 2021, where it was loaded with liquified hydrogen before returning to Japan in early 2022.
Europe鈥檚 largest renewable hydrogen plant
Suiso Frontier: World's First Liquefied Hydrogen Carrier
In the USA, a Shell-led consortium of leading US companies and research institutions was selected by the US Department of Energy (DOE) to develop . The aim of the project is to develop the technologies needed to create a commercially viable international supply chain for decarbonised hydrogen.
Find out more about Shell鈥檚 Hydrogen business here
Renewable and sustainable fuels
In 2021 we took a final investment decision to build one of Europe鈥檚 biggest biofuels plants at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam, in the Netherlands. The facility will use advanced process technology and catalysts developed by Shell to produce up to 820,000 tonnes a year of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel from industrial and agricultural residual products. A facility of this size could produce enough renewable diesel to avoid 2.8 million tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year, the equivalent of taking more than 1 million European cars off the roads.
Huibert Vigeveno, Shell鈥檚 Downstream Director"This announcement is a key part of the transformation of one of our major refineries into an energy and chemicals park, which will supply customers with the low-carbon products they want and need."
Open innovation: collaboration to tackle world鈥檚 biggest energy challenges
Many of our R&D activities take place through 鈥渙pen innovation鈥� collaborations with a robust network that includes world鈥檚 top universities and research institutes, start-ups, our supply chain, and customers. In 2022 alone, we started more than 250 projects with these partners and opened our , formerly one of our Shell Technology Centres. The campus provides offices, laboratories and testing facilities for start-ups, research institutions, academia, and companies to work together on solutions for lower-carbon energy. Around 1,000 people from 50 countries are currently working on projects there.
Our Shell GameChanger programme and Shell Ventures fund have teams particularly focused on working with, and investing in, early-phase and later-phase start-ups and in scale-ups companies to develop new technologies and disruptive business models that work to accelerate the energy and mobility transformations.
Aside from doing valuable and productive research together, open innovation at a large scale allows us an early and holistic view on potential technology disruptors, across a very wide field of developments, including but not limited to: battery and other storage technologies (short- and long-term energy storage), wind, solar, geothermal and bio-energy, to cite a few examples.
Direct Air Capture: from an intriguing idea to industrial-scale technology demonstration
In another step towards developing technology to realise a net-zero emissions energy system, Shell took the decision to build a Direct Air Capture (DAC) demonstration unit at the Shell Technology Center Houston, in Texas, USA. With a targeted start-up in 2025, Shell aims to prove the technical viability of its solid sorbent technology, developed by a diverse team of scientists, engineers and technical experts spread across the globe.
