Royal Dutch Shell charts green routes to bring ‘cleaner’ fossil fuels to India

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Royal Dutch Shell charts green routes to bring ‘cleaner’ fossil fuels to India

Royal Dutch Shell is mapping new routes to bring “cleaner” fossil fuels to India as global investors call for firm commitments from oil companies towards climate change mitigation.

Royal Dutch Shell is mapping new routes to bring “cleaner” fossil fuels to India as global investors call for firm commitments from oil companies towards climate change mitigation.

The world’s fifth-largest oil and gas company said India, which is the third largest country in terms of its people capital, is core part of its energy transition in line with the United Nations sustainable development goals and the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

“India is the biggest story for energy for the next 20 years. In terms of demand, India significantly outruns other nations. So, when you talk about energy transition, it most probably will manifest in India,” Harry Brekelmans, project and technology director at Royal Dutch Shell, told ET in an interview. “In terms of sheer scale and dynamism, it is an interesting country we can think of. It is not only the scale or speed at which the demand is changing but the nature of demand, especially when you think about sustainable solution.”

Shell is exploring the use case application of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in heavy transportation and also investing in renewable companies in India. Fossil fuels, however, will remain a significant part of energy mix in the future.

“We will need high quality heat for industrial sectors for the next few decades and so we are building the gas market proposition,” Brekelmans said.

The company is also working on renewable energy solutions both biofuels and solar. Shell in India has picked up 49% in Singapore-based Cleantech, a renewable energy company with operations primarily based out of India, and invested in Husk Power Systems, a Bihar-based start-up. On the LNG side, it is studying its Hazira terminal to put LNG in heavy-duty transportation.

“We are investing in building capability for this, we have been a pioneer in this space, but we don’t have it in India. We have done this in the US and in Rotterdam. So, we see this as a growth sector,” said Shell India managing director Nitin Prasad.

Investors have been nudging most energy companies like Shell to act on achieving the Paris Agreement goals of reducing carbon footprint. In joint statement with Climate Action 100+, an initiative led by investors with more than $32-trillion asset under management, Shell had said in December that it was setting up short-term targets as part of its “long term ambition” to reduce net carbon footprint of its energy products.

It said the pay of its executives will be linked to achieving these targets. It is in this context that the company has been pushing for LNG which, it says, is 50% more environment-friendly than coal. “Frankly, there are no other solutions that are easily available,” Brekelmans said, “as electrification of heavy transport on roads is difficult and hydrogen is still quite expensive and has no infrastructure.”

Shell said that by next year it will be ready to launch its LNG for heavy transportation, but for that it needs support from fleet operators and the government.

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/energy/oil-gas/royal-dutch-shell-charts-green-routes-to-bring-cleaner-fossil-fuels-to-india/articleshow/68915924.cms

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