Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden was speaking at the opening of the International Petroleum Technology Conference (IPTC) in Qatar. He discussed how investing in clean energy technologies can boost economic development, while ensuring the protection of the environment at the same time. GlassPoint Solar was highlighted as one of the solutions to today’s energy challenges.

“Climate change is a global challenge, we will all face the consequences of failing to tackle it,” van Beurden said, “Some parts of the Middle East, for example, could become hotter and drier than they already are. Other parts of the region, such as low-lying coastal areas here in Qatar, could suffer from rising sea levels.

He highlighted the fact that energy is at the heart of economic development and climate change and the fact that the world needs more energy. According to the International Energy Agency’s most recent outlook, the global energy demand is expected to double between 2000 and 2050.

van Beurden emphasised the need for cleaner energy and hailed the number of parties that are meeting at the UN Climate Conference in Paris with the opportunity to take steps in the right direction. A challenge facing all the stakeholders is the need to build policies and tools for addressing the climate challenge, while ensuring that the world gets affordable energy. He emphasised that it is important to remember that economic sustainability is as crucial as environmental sustainability.

“Along with implementing the right policies such as government-led carbon pricing systems, boosting technology is critical to this endeavour. Shell follows two technology routes. The first route is to make use of hydrocarbons in a cleaner and more efficient way like by producing cleaner fuels. Another example is capturing CO2 and storing it safely under the ground. This is known as Carbon Capture and Storage or CCS. The second route is to produce and distribute energy in potentially new ways. An example we can talk about is how we are building our knowledge of hydrogen, of renewables like solar and biomass, and of ways to use and store heat and electricity,” explained van Beurden.

Shell has many partnerships in the field of technology. van Beurden made a special mention of GlassPoint Solar. “A key example of the first route is a pilot project in Petroleum Development Oman. A company called GlassPoint harnesses and concentrates sunlight to produce steam for enhanced oil recovery. Gas that would otherwise be used for oil recovery can now be used for petrochemicals, LNG export or generating power locally,” he stated.

He also talked of another second example of the first route, The Qatar Carbonates and Carbon Storage Research Centre. This is a research centre that is jointly funded by Qatar Petroleum and Shell, with additional support from the Qatar Science and Technology Park. It aims to expand research capacity in CCS and cleaner fossil fuels.

van Beurden cites an example of the second route as that of the use of hydrogen in road transport. Shell is building a network of about 400 hydrogen-refuelling sites in Germany, in collaboration with the German government, Daimler and others. This refuelling network has the potential to become a starting point for activities in more European countries.

“To reiterate, the world needs more energy, it needs cleaner energy, and it needs affordable energy. Technology is a crucial factor to achieving all this. That’s why Shell aspires to be the world’s most innovative energy company,” concludes van Beurden.