The Energy Podcast

Shell
The Energy Podcast

The world faces a critical challenge: how to meet growing energy demand while urgently reducing carbon dioxide emissions. It means the global energy system must change. Will innovation come to the rescue? How will renewable energy evolve? Does the oil and gas industry have a future? Will batteries, hydrogen or even blockchain alter the way we live, work and travel? The Energy Podcast by Shell explores these questions. We speak to the engineers at the pioneering edge of science and technology, the experts tracking progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, and the entrepreneurs working to drive the change.

  1. 17 APR

    Can AI get the world to net zero faster?

    Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) are helping the energy industry accelerate the transition to a low-carbon future. The Energy Podcast explores how AI is being used today and discusses how to unleash its potential. Presented by Eno Alfred-Adeogun. Featuring Kate Kallot, founder and CEO of Amini, Bob Flint, CEO of Mirico and Amy Challen, Shell’s global head of AI. Additional reporting by Claire François and Berry Mulder. The Energy Podcast is a Fresh Air Production for Shell, produced by Annie Day and Sarah Moore and edited by Eno Alfred-Adeogun. 00:00:00 Eno Alfred-Adeogun: Today on The Energy Podcast.   00:00:07 Audio: I will be working alongside humans to provide assistance  and  support  and  will  not  be  replacing  any  existing  jobs. You sure about that, Grace? Yes, I am sure.   00:00:20 Eno Alfred-Adeogun: That’s Nurse Grace speaking at the  world's  first  robot  press  conference  last  year.  And yes, she’s a robot. Powered  by  artificial  intelligence  this humanoid can diagnose illness, deliver  treatments,  and  even  offer  patients  emotional  support.  Impressive, right?  Well, yes, but she’s just one  of  many  examples  of  AI-enabled  machines  designed  to  address  some  of  the  world's  biggest  challenges;  social  care,  disease,  hunger,  and  probably  sooner  than  you  think.  Consider how deeply AI is  already  entwined  in  so  much  of  our  daily  lives.  From  work  commutes …   00:01:03 Audio: You’ve arrived at your destination.   00:01:04 Eno Alfred-Adeogun: ...  to virtual learning …   00:01:07 Audio: (foreign language).   00:01:07 Eno Alfred-Adeogun: ...  to, " Alexa, what’s on my to- do list?"   00:01:11 Audio: Subscribe to The Energy Podcast.   00:01:14 Eno Alfred-Adeogun: A global AI revolution isn’t  coming, it’s already here.  So, could this rapidly advancing  technology  also  tackle  the pressing challenge of lowering emissions? Hello, I’m Eno Alfred-Adeogun, and today  on  The  Energy  Podcast  we  ask,  can  AI  get  the  world  to  net- zero  faster? Joining me to discuss this  is  Kate  Kallot,  founder  and  CEO  of  the  African  tech  startup  Amini.  Bob  Flint,  CEO  of  methane  emission  monitoring  company  Mirico.  And  Shell's  global  head  of  artificial  intelligence,  Amy  Challen.  It’s really great to  have  you  all  on  the  episode  today. Now, before we delve  into  the  world  of  AI,  a  really  helpful  place  to  begin  is  defining  what  it  actually  is.  Because by the number  of  definitions  I  found  when  researching  this  episode,  that's  actually  harder  to  do  than  it  sounds.  So let’s briefly see  if  we  can  reach  a  consensus  of  what  it  actually  is.  Kate, coming to you  first.   00:02:20 Kate Kallot: For me, I have  one  simple  definition  of  AI, which  is  going  to  literally  take  one  sentence.  It is the science to  make  computers  think  and  take  actions  like  humans.   00:02:30 Eno Alfred-Adeogun: Love it.  Brilliant.  Brilliant.  Amy, what about you?  Can you add to  that?   00:02:34 Amy Challen: I think I’m going  to  give  a  more  boring  answer.  I often think about  it  compared  to  software.  In software, we write  the  rules.  We say, " If this happens,  then  that  happens,"  and  we  define  what  that  rule  is.  But AI works differently.  We give AI a  load  of  historical  data,  and  we  say, " You  tell  us  what  happens  based  on  the  patterns  you've  observed  in  the  past."  And so it can  be  a  bit  of  surprise  what  it  comes  up  with.  The other thing to  watch  out  for  is  that  if  our  historical  data  is  biased,  if  the  world  has  changed,  then  we're  going  to  see  that  in  the  model.  So we have to  be  quite  careful.   00:03:10 Eno Alfred-Adeogun: Okay.  Bob, no pressure.  We’ve got two great answers.  Do you have anything to  add  onto  the  definition?   00:03:16 Bob Flint: Yeah, I get to go last.  I think all of the  above,  plus  extending  into  areas  where  humans  aren't  necessarily  good,  which  is  looking  at  huge  volumes  of  data.  So being able to process all  the  bits  and  bytes  that  come  from  sensors  from  the  real  world  and  floods  of  information  like  you  would  find  in  an  oil  and  gas  company  and  process  that  in  super  high  speed.   00:03:40 Eno Alfred-Adeogun: Okay,  so now that’s clear, we  can  turn  our  attention  to  how  the  energy  sector  is  actually  harnessing  the  power  of  AI.  So, Bob, your company, Mirico, it  monitors  emissions,  and  then  companies  can  pair  the  data  that  you  gather  with  AI,  which  can  then  help  to  combat  the  emissions  found.  Can you share some good  examples  of  this  pairing  in  action?   00:04:06 Bob Flint: What we do is primarily we address the issue  of  methane  emissions  from  energy.  And  methane  is  about  30  times  worse  than  carbon  dioxide  for  global  warming,  so it’s something that we  all  should  be  concerned  about. The good news is  if  you  stop  emitting  methane,  the  world  starts  to  cool  pretty  much  immediately  because  methane  just  decomposes  in  the  atmosphere.  So that’s why it’s  so  important.  So we scan an  area,  say,  an  oil  and  gas  facility,  for  those  emissions.  Measurement leads to action,  leads  to  reduction,  and  we  can  then  put  that  data  into  one  of  Shell's  systems  of  record,  say  a  digital  twin.   00:04:48 Eno Alfred-Adeogun: On the digital twin,  because  that's  another  concept  I  feel  like  I've  read  a  lot  about  as  well.  Could you just expand  on  what  that  is?   00:04:54 Bob Flint: A digital twin would  be  a  replica  of  something  in  the  real  world,  a  refinery,  a  rig  and  it  sits  in  silico,  in  a  computer  rather  than  in  the  physical  world.  So that would enable  you  to,  for  example,  start  making  predictions  or  what-if  type  of  questions  on  what  might  happen  in  the  real  world  in  circumstances  which  you  wouldn't  want  to  see.  So you might predict  what  happens  if  I  change  temperatures  and  pressures  in  a  way  that  might  be  dangerous.  Well, I can do  that  in  a  computer.  I wouldn’t want to  do  that  in  the  real  world.   00:05:30 Eno Alfred-Adeogun: Now, considering the ambitious  climate  targets  that  have  been  set  worldwide,  it's  really  no  wonder  that  people  are  looking  to  AI  for  solutions.  Amy, what would you  say  are  the  main  ways  that  AI  is  enabling  a  low-carbon  energy  system?   00:05:47 Amy Challen: I think there are  four  main  ways it’s already doing this  and  is  going  to  continue  in  the  future.  Firstly, it can improve  the  efficiency  of  everything  we're  already  doing.  Whether that’s renewables or  hydrocarbons,  a  couple  of  percentage  points  of  efficiency  can  make  a  difference  to  the  productivity  of  our  energy  system  and  can  reduce  CO2  emissions  and  methane  emissions.  The second one is I don't  think  we're  going  to  enable  a  widespread  renewable  system  without  having  really  excellent  forecasting  and  optimisation,  two  things  that  AI  is  incredibly  good  at.  Because renewables like wind  and  solar,  they're  intermittent.  Sometimes the wind blows,  sometimes  the  sun  shines,  sometimes  it  doesn't,  and  it's  not  entirely  predictable.  So, you use AI  to  predict  when  that  will  happen  and  to  optimise  how  you  use  your  battery,  how  you  buy  and  sell  energy  to  make  sure  that  we  always  have  the  energy  supply  when  we  need  it. The third way is  through  everything  we  can  do  in  lab  sciences,  in  research  and  development  there,  and  in  design  of a  new  energy  components  and  systems.  So for example, with  the  lab  sciences,  you  have  a  whole  process  of  research  you  go  through.  You look at papers  and  patents  to  have  an  idea  of  what  to  research  on.  AI can really speed  up  your  search  there  and  find  the  right  things  to  be  looking  at  to  make  suggestions.  And finally, it’s got  a  big  role  to  play  in  monitoring.  If we don’t know  what  the  current  situation  is  in  terms  of  working  out  where  methane  emissions  is,  then  we  don't  have  a  baseline,  and  we  can't  track.  And that’s hugely important  to  be  able  to  know  what's  effective,  what's  not,  and  where  are  we  going.   00:07:25 Eno Alfred-Adeogun: Kate, you’re based in  Africa,  so  it'd  be  really,  really  good  if  you  could  paint  a  picture  of  the  role  AI  is  playing  on  the  continent,  if  at  all,  in  different  energy  systems.   00:07:37 Kate Kallot: Africa is still the most  data- scarce  continent.  We think about the data  scarcity  affecting  many  different  places,  whether  it's  having  billions  of  people  that  are  still  unconnected,  whe

    21 min

  2. 18 JAN

    How Can Economies Thrive While The World Cuts Carbon?

    As countries across the world strive to reach their climate targets, they must make sure that the move to a cleaner energy system supports economic growth. The Energy Podcast explores this difficult balancing act. Presented by Julia Streets. Featuring Dr Rob Charnock of the Metis Institute for Climate Strategy, climate scientist and advisor Dr Yvonne Maingey-Muriuki and Shell’s chief economist Dr Mallika Ishwaran. The Energy Podcast is a Fresh Air Production for Shell, produced by Annie Day and Sarah Moore, and edited by Eno Alfred-Adeogun. Episode Transcription: 00:00:00 Julia Streets: Today  on  The  Energy  Podcast.   00:00:07 Speaker 2: Economic  growth  and  developmental  sustainability  are  not  mutually  exclusive.   00:00:13 Speaker 3: With  a  strong  talent  pool  of  young  entrepreneurs  and  qualified  engineers,  we  are  pressing  forward  with  solutions  in  climate-smart agriculture,  water  conservation,  clean  energy  innovations,  and  more.   00:00:29 Speaker 4: Let us come  together  to  build  resilient,  sustainable  and  green  businesses,  communities,  and  countries  of  the future.   00:00:39 Julia Streets: The  dust  has  settled  on  COP28,  and  the  main  takeaway  was  clear;  the  world  is  falling  short  of  its  climate  targets.  But  as  the  leaders  who  gathered  at  the  conference  highlighted,  there  remains  an  appetite  to  do  better  while  simultaneously  ensuring  economies  keep  turning.  The  question  is,  how?  The  climate  summit  showcased  diverse  approaches.  Some  nations  prioritised  boosting  the  supply  of  lower  carbon  energy  to  meet  demand  and  remain  competitive.  Others  advocated  for  increasing  funding  in  renewables  to  attract  investment  and  spur  the  creation  of  more  jobs.  And  while  some  countries  pushed  for  a  complete  phase-out  of  all  fossil  fuels,  others  favoured  a  phase-down,  where  coal,  oil,  and  gas  usage  is  reduced  rather  than  eliminated  as  a  more  economically  viable  plan.  The  reality  is,  different  solutions  will  be  needed  in  different  places,  and  countries  will  move  at  different  paces  to  achieve  net- zero. Hello,  I'm  Julia  Streets,  and  today  on  the  Energy  Podcast  as  we  look  ahead  to  2024,  we  ask:  how  can  economies  thrive  while  the  world  cuts  carbon?  Joining  me  today  are  guests,  Dr  Yvonne  Maingey-Muriuki,  who  is  a  climate  scientist  and  strategic  practitioner  to  organisations  operating  in  Africa.  Dr  Rob  Charnock  who  is  director  of  the  Metis  Institute  for  Climate  Strategy,  and  Shell's  chief  economist,  Dr  Mallika  Ishwaran.  Now,  before  we  look  ahead  to  what  this  year  and  beyond  may  have  in  store,  let's  take  a  moment  to  reflect  on  where  things  currently  stand.  Rob,  I'm  going  to  come  to  you.  How  would  you  rate  the  current  global  progress  in  cutting  carbon?   00:02:27 Dr Rob Charnock: I  think  what  was  incredibly  interesting  to  see  at  the  recent  COP,  was  that  it's  the  first  global  stocktake,  so  we  really  get  a  sense  of  how  close  we  are  to  being  on  track  towards  the  targets  set  out  in  the  Paris  Agreement.  And  what  I  thought  was  very  encouraging  is,  previously  we  thought  we  were  on  track  for  somewhere  between  2. 7  to 3.6  degrees  of  warming,  but  as  we  get  more  and  more  commitments  coming  through  that  are  updated  as  well  after  a  few  years,  we  see  that  we're  getting  closer.  Now,  that's  not  to  say  we're  on  track  for 1. 5  or  even  well  below  two  degrees  at  the  moment.   00:02:58 Julia Streets: Some  areas  of  the economy  are  more  challenging  to  decarbonise  than  others.  I  mean,  I  think  particularly  industry  and  transport  as  well,  but  they  are  central  to  economic  growth.  I'm  curious  to  think  about  what's  the  way  forward,  and  Mallika,  I'd  love  to  come  to you  for  your  thoughts  on  that.   00:03:16 Dr Mallika Ishwaran: So  what  we  are  seeing  is  there's  a  sector  by  sector  difference  in  how  the  different  sectors  are  progressing  in  the  transition.  I  think  you  can  see  the  evidence  is  there  that  power  is  decarbonising,  renewables  are  coming  in  at  scale  and  really  are  changing  and  disrupting  the  system.  But  there  are  other  sectors.  I  would  put  passenger  EVs  as  part  of  the  transport  segment  as  something  that  is  changing  rapidly.  But  there  are  other  bits  of  the  transport  segment  not  transforming  as  easily,  and  these  are  areas  that  require  either  high  heat  or  they  require  dense  energy  molecules,  and  you  can't  do  that  with  electricity  unfortunately.  So  they're  requiring  things  like  hydrogen  or  sustainable  biofuels,  and  these  are  taking  a  little  bit  longer  to  bring  to  market  and  to  commercialise.  So  they're  still  quite  a  bit  more  expensive  than  the  fuels  we  use  today.  And  so  the  key  there  is,  how  do  we  accelerate  the  process  of  commercialisation  of  these  kinds  of  fuels  so  that  the  whole  world  is  changing  and  transforming  to  low  carbon  at  pace  at  the  same  time  by  2050.   00:04:17 Julia Streets: Rob,  I'd  love  to  get  your  thoughts  on  this.  The  incentives  that  are  needed  in  order  to  encourage  consumers  to  choose  lower  carbon  goods  and  services  that  will  drive  down  cost  and  also  increase  adoption.   00:04:29 Dr Rob Charnock: Over  time  we've  heard  this  narrative  that  low  carbon  might  be  more  expensive,  but  as  time  goes  by,  you  quickly  find  that  the  cost  profile  decreases  rapidly,  and  frankly  beyond  the  forecasts  as  well.  So,  I  would  say,  even  the  economic  reason  for  shifting  consumer  demand  is  already  coming  online  in  most  segments,  and  this  will  continue  to  do  so.  I  also  think  shifting  customer  preferences  and  shifting  demands  suggest,  if you are  not  properly  tackling  the  carbon  profile  of  your  products  or  even  the  recyclability  of  those  products  afterwards,  there  is  going  to  be  a  significant  shift  away  from  what  you're  selling.   00:05:05 Julia Streets: There's clearly  a  sense,  we  need  to  move  at  pace  and  we  need  to  move  at  scale.  I'd like  to  return  to  COP28,  because  one  of  the  key  topics  was  about  phasing  out  fossil  fuels versus  the  phasing  down  of  fossil  fuels,  but  the  final  deal  made  no  mention  of  either.  And  instead,  we  note  that  the  pledge  talked  about  the  transitioning  away  from  fossil  fuels.  So  not  phasing  out,  not  phasing  down,  but  transitioning  away.  And  Yvonne,  I  think  particularly  of  a  remark  made  by  Ruth  Nankabirwa  who  is  Uganda's  energy  minister.  She  had  a  very  interesting  take  on  this,  and  let  me  just  read  what  she  told  journalists  during  COP28: “To  tell  Uganda  to  stop  fossil  fuels,  it  is  really  an  insult.  It  is  like  you  are  telling  Uganda  to  stay  in  poverty."  I'd  love  to  get  your  thoughts  on  that.  How  would  you  respond  to  that?   00:06:00 Dr Yvonne Maingey-Muriuki: I  mean,  it's  a  really  sort of difficult  position  to  be  in.  I  think  on  the  one  hand,  African  governments,  and  I'm  speaking  specifically  about  the  Kenyan  government,  have  made  their  intentions  very  clear; we  are  going  to  foster  low  carbon  resilient  development  pathways.  If  you  look  at  Kenya  as  an  example,  where  I'm  based,  where  I'm  from,  80%  of  our  energy  is  already  renewable.  We're  looking  at  more  geothermal,  hydro,  solar.  The  majority  of  our  grid  is  actually  already  quite  green.  The  opportunity  within  the  continent  is  quite  significant  to  focus  on  it and  to  drive  renewable  energy  to  power  our  economy.  On  the  other  hand,  it's  important  to  think  about  how  Africa  is  powered  specifically,  because  this  is  where  the  root  cause  of  the  problem  is.  About  43%  of  the  total  population  in  Africa  lack  access  to  basic  electricity.  This  means  that  about  600  million  people  right  now  do  not  have  access  to  energy.  I  think  the  first  question  for  the  African  continent  is  just  ensuring  that  we  have  access  to  energy  first.  But, we  have  to  contend  with  the  reality  that  African  economies  for  the  first  time,  some  of  which  have  just  discovered  oil,  I'm  talking  about  Kenya,  looking  at  one  of  the  most  impoverished parts  of  the  country,  Turkana,  which  discovered

    19 min

  3. 12/10/2023

    Is There A Role For Oil And Gas In The Journey To Net Zero?

    As the world grapples with the urgent challenge of climate change, the energy industry is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions while continuing to deliver the secure and affordable energy people need today. Is switching to renewables the answer, and do oil and gas have a role to play? Presented by Julia Streets. Featuring Dr Bassam Fattouh of the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, Sian Lloyd-Rees of Mainstream Renewable Power and Shell’s Zoe Yujnovich. The Energy Podcast is a Fresh Air Production for Shell, produced by Annie Day and Sarah Moore, and edited by Molly Lynch and Sophie Curtis.   TRANSCRIPT Shell The Energy PodcastSeason 4, Episode 4 00:00:00Julia Streets: Today  on  The  Energy  Podcast. 00:00:07Bassam Fattouh: If  oil  and  gas  is  to  remain  part  of the  energy  mix,  the  key  issue  then  becomes  how  to  reduce  greenhouse  gas  emissions  from  hydrocarbon  related  activities. 00:00:16Sian Lloyd-Rees: If  we  want  to  achieve  net- zero  by  2050,  we  all  need  to  adopt  that  2050  mindset  now,  making  the  decisions  today  that  are  consistent  with  the  future  that  we  want. 00:00:26Zoe Yujnovich: The journey to net-zero must be achieved whilst at the same time providing a stable and reliable supply of energy. 00:00:34Julia Streets: The  science  is  clear  and  the  world  is  in  a  fight  to  avoid  the  most  serious  effects  of  climate  change.  Energy  and  the  use  of  it  is  one  of  the  biggest  contributors  to  global  greenhouse  gas  emissions.  And  this  means  that  the  oil  and  gas  industry,  which  supplies  much  of  that  energy,  is  under  pressure  like  never  before.  Many  countries  are  working  to  achieve  net- zero  carbon  emissions  by  2050,  while  continuing  to  meet  the  demand  for  secure  and  affordable  energy. The  impact  of  the  war  on  Ukraine  on  the  global  energy  market  has  shown  just  how  delicate  the  balance  is  to  maintain.  Some  critics  argue  that  only  a  drastic  scale  back  from  oil  and  gas  will  do,  advocating  for  actions  like  an  immediate  end  to  the  development  of  new  oil  and  gas  fields.  Others  believe  that  the  global  economy  cannot  be  decarbonized  without  the  constructive  participation  of  the  oil  and  gas  industry. On  one  thing,  there  is  broad  agreement  that  business  as  usual  is  no  longer  an  option.  How  can  the  world  manage  the  balancing  act  of  meeting  demand  while  investing  in  the  energy  of  the  future?  Does  it  need  to  go  further  and  faster?  Hello,  I'm  Julia  Streets,  and  today  on  the  Energy  Podcast  we  ask;  is  there  a  role  for  oil  and  gas  in  the  journey  to  net- zero?  With  me  to  discuss  this  are  Dr.  Bassam  Fattouh,  Director  of  the  Oxford  Institute  for  Energy  Studies,  Sian  Lloyd- Rees,  the  UK  Managing  Director  for  Mainstream  Renewable  Power  and  Shell's  Integrated  Gas  and  Upstream  Director,  Zoe  Yujnovich.  So,  Bassam,  let  me  start  with  you.  How  does  the  world  get  its  energy  today? 00:02:10Bassam Fattouh: Based  on  the  latest  statistics  for  2022,  hydrocarbons,  that  means  oil,  gas  and  coal,  accounted  for  the  bulk  of  primary  energy  consumption.  Oil  accounted  for  more  than  30%  of  primary  energy  consumption,  followed  by  coal,  which  still  account  for  more  than  25%,  and  then  the  share  of  natural  gas  is  not  far  away,  standing  at  around  25%.  The  share  of  renewables  in  the  form  of  solar  and  wind  has  been  rising  fast  and  accounted  close  to  10%  of  primary  energy  consumption,  surpassing  nuclear  energy  and  hydroelectricity.  But  Julia,  it's  important  to  focus  not  only  on  the  shares,  but  also  the  growth  rates.  For  instance,  if  you  take  coal,  the  growth  rate  between  2012 and 2022  was  close  to  zero,  whereas  renewables  grew  more  than  12%  per  annum  during  the  same  period.  So the  energy  mix  actually  can  evolve  faster  than  implied  by  historical  standards,  which  is  needed  if  we  are  to  meet  our  climate  targets. 00:03:12Julia Streets: So  in  support  of  the  UN  Paris  Agreement's  ambition  to  limit  the  global  temperature  increase  to  1. 5  degrees  centigrade,  above  pre- industrial  levels,  many  countries  have  set  net- zero  targets  and  I'm  curious  to  know  what  does  that  mean  for  the  energy  industry?  Sian,  can  I  come  to  you? 00:03:28Sian Lloyd-Rees: As  Bassam’s  just  talked  about,  the  energy  mix  today  includes  a  number  of  different  energy  sources  and  to  achieve  net- zero,  we  need  to  grow  our  cleaner  energy  mix  going  forward,  but  that's  going  to  take  time  and  it's  going  to  take  a  balance  of  different  things.  From  my  perspective,  as  a  wind  developer,  we  are  focused  on  trying  to  accelerate  the  uptake  and  the  introduction  of  wind  powered  energy  and  solar  energy  on  a  global  basis.  But  there  are  challenges. When  we  look  at  the  wind  resource  in  the  world,  a  lot  of  it  lies  in  the  northern- hemisphere,  the  greatest  need  is  in  the  southern- hemisphere.  It  lies  far  from  offshore  in  quite  deep  waters,  and  that  requires  different  technologies,  floating  technologies,  to  be  able  to  access  it.  We  then  have  the  challenge  of  transporting  that  wind  energy,  once  we've  managed  to  deliver  it at  an  affordable  price,  to  different  parts  of  the  world.  So  we  have  technology  challenges,  we  have  geographical  challenges.  We  also  have  the  challenges  around  the  supply  chain  and  the  materials  that  we  need  in  order  to  be  able  to  ramp  up  in  terms  of  renewables.  Yes,  we  need  to  grow  our  renewable  energy  percentage  in  terms  of  the  mix,  but  we  also  need  to  focus  on  the  energy  sources  today  and  we  need  to  decarbonize  those.  Oil  and  gas  today  needs  greater  decarbonization,  but  so  do  many  other  heavy  industries  as  well  around  the  globe. 00:04:39Julia Streets: And Zoe,  perhaps  I  could  bring  you  in  here.  I'd  love  to  get  your  thoughts  as  well  about  what  all  this  means  for  the  energy  industry. 00:04:44Zoe Yujnovich: The  journey  to  net- zero  must  be  achieved  whilst  at  the  same  time  providing  a  stable  and  reliable  supply  of  energy.  Whilst  the  global  energy  mix  is  changing,  demand  for  energy  services  will  continue  to  grow  and  it'll  need  to  be  met  by  a  combination  of  different  types  of  energy.  It's  certainly  going  to  be  critical  that  we  don't  dismantle  the  current  energy  system  faster  than  we  can  build  the  clean  energy  system  of  the  future.  We  are  very  focused  on  trying  to  understand  how  to  change  the  demand  patterns  and  indeed  how  we  therefore  supply  alternative  energy  into  those  different  demand  hubs.   Oil  and  gas  will  continue  to  play  a  crucial  role  in  the  energy  system  for  decades  to  come,  but  of  course  we  will  see  that  demand  reducing  gradually  over  time.  The  other  thing  I  think  I  would  say  is  of  course  it's  also  very  critical  that  we  actually  lead  by  example  in  how  we  drive  that  energy  efficiency.  And  we  are  very  focused  on  cutting  emissions  from  the  existing  operations.  So  in  short,  it's  absolutely  essential  that  the  energy  mix  will  change,  we  must  reduce  emissions  from  our  own  operations  and  also  find  those  profitable  sustainable  ways  to  transition  to  net- zero. 00:05:56Julia Streets: Just  building  on  that,  there's  some  warnings  from  environmental  groups.  The  continued  investment  in  oil  and  gas  infrastructure  can  risk  the  making  of  the  transition  to  cleaner  energies  even  more  difficult  or  even  too  expensive.  And  I'm  really  curious  to  hear  from  our  guests  today  whether  they  think  that  is  fair.  Sian,  can  I  come  to  you  first? 00:06:16Sian Lloyd-Rees: Yes,  and  there  is  a  lot  of  discussion  around  the  concern  that  infrastructure  decisions  and  investment  today  shape  the  energy  future  that  we'll  get.  So  from  our  global  wind  developer  perspective,  we  look  carefully  at  government  policies  and  the  subsidies  and  investment  areas  they  prioritize.  And  the  UK  move  faster  than  many  countries  in  focusing  its  fiscal  incentives  into  renewable  development  with  a  contract  for  different  commercial  mechanism,  which  they  initiated,  which  guarantees  a  long- term  contract  certainty  for  wind  developers.  Likewise,  in  the

    27 min

  4. 14/07/2023

    Are Roads Ready For Electric Vehicles?

    The electric vehicle (EV) market is booming and widespread adoption of EVs is critical if countries are to realise their climate ambitions. But every new EV on the road increases the demand for convenient, affordable charging. The Energy Podcast investigates how the world is meeting this infrastructure challenge. Presented by Julia Streets. Featuring Elizabeth Connelly of the International Energy Agency, Lucie Mattera from ChargeUP Europe, Ingrid Malmgren of Plug In America and Shell’s Istvan Kapitany. The Energy Podcast is a Fresh Air Production for Shell, produced by Annie Day and Sarah Moore, and edited by Molly Lynch and Sophie Curtis.   TRANSCRIPT Shell The Energy PodcastSeason 4, Episode 3 00:00Julia Streets: Today on The Energy Podcast….. MUSIC BED COMES IN Istvan Kapitany: When  this  is  becoming  really  the  global  way  of  mobility,  finally,  we  really  need  to  be  sorting  out  public  charging.Ingrid Malmgren: Through  deliberate  planning  and  innovation  and  organic  growth, we're  going  to  have  chargers  where  we  need  them,  when  we  need  them,  and  we'll  have  a  cleaner,  more  sustainable  equitable  transportation  system. 00:29Julia Streets: There  can  be  little  denial  that  the  electric  vehicle  revolution  is  upon  us.  According  to  the  International  Energy  Agency,  sales  of  Electric  Vehicles,  or  EVs,  exceeded  10  million  worldwide  in  2022,  and  the  global  market  is  predicted  to  grow  even  further  this  year.  This  is  good  news  for  the  nations  relying  on  widespread  adoption  of  EVs  in  helping  them  to  realize  their  climate  ambitions.  If  global  carbon  emissions  are  to  reach  net  zero  by  2050  in  line  with  the  Paris  Agreement,  there  will  need  to  be  300  million  EVs  on  the  road  by  the  end  of  this  decade.Such  rapid  growth  intensifies  the  need  for  EV  infrastructure,  namely  access  to  reliable,  affordable  charging.  Ensuring  that  EVs  match  the  cost  and  convenience  of  running  a  conventional  fuel  vehicle  is  crucial,  not  just  for  existing  owners,  but  also  in  convincing  more  drivers  to  make  the  switch.  Governments  and  businesses  across  the  world  are  grappling  with  the  infrastructure  challenge  created  by  the  EV  boom  with  varying  degrees  of  success.Hello,  I'm  Julia  Streets,  and  today  on  The  Energy  Podcast  we  ask,  are  roads  ready  for  EVs?  MUSIC ENDS With  me  to  discuss  this  are  Elizabeth  Connelly,  transport  analyst  at  the  International  Energy  Agency.  Lucie  Mattera,  Secretary  General  of  the  infrastructure  industry  association,  ChargeUp  Europe.  Ingrid  Malmgren,  policy  director  at  Plug  In  America,  and  Shell's  Executive  Vice  President  for  Mobility,  Istvan  Kapitany. I'm  delighted  that  you're  all  with  me  today.  Elizabeth,  when  you  think  about  EV  infrastructure,  what's  the  global  outlook? 02:16Elizabeth Connelly: One  thing  to  note  about  charging  infrastructure  right  now  is  that  most  charging  of  electric  cars  occurs  at  homes,  but  a  lot  of  the  attention  is  around  public  charging,  of  course,  because  this  helps  enable  people  to own EVs  that  don't  have  access  to  home  charging.  Looking  at  the  picture  today,  worldwide  there  are  about  we  estimate  17  million  home  chargers  for  electric  vehicles  and  that's  compared  to  about  three  million  public  EV  chargers. In  terms  of  who's  leading  the  way  with  charging  infrastructure,  I  don't  want  to  say  any  one  country  is  doing  better  or  worse,  because  I  think  it  really  depends  a  lot  on  the  setup  of  homes  and  whether  people  are  living  in  detached  homes  or  in  multi- unit  dwellings.  So  for  example,  in  the  US  I  think  around  80%  of  EV  owners  live  in  single  family  homes  and  so  it's  really  easy  to  charge  at  home  and  there's  less  pressure  for  there  to  be  public  charging  infrastructure,  at  least  in  these  early  stages. While  on  the  other  hand,  in  China  only  about  50%  of  charging  occurs  at  home. So  I  think  there  are  factors  that  make  it  very  different  across  different  regions  around  what is  the  right  level  of  public  charging  infrastructure.  For  example,  China  accounted  for  50%  of  electric  light  duty  vehicles  last  year  but  65%  of  the  public  charging  infrastructure.  So  I  think  in  that  way  China's  leading,  but  I  think  there's  also  factors  that  make  it  you  need  to  be  leading  in  terms  of  public  charging. 03:45Julia Streets: I've  heard  some  people  talk  about  having  quite  deep- seated  concerns  about  what  they  might  call  range  anxiety,  in  terms  of will  you  be  able  to  get  the  mileage,  the  kilometrage  that  you  are  looking  for. 03:57Elizabeth Connelly: Sure.  So  at  least  in  terms  of  cars,  and  I  think  trucks  as  well,  range  anxiety  is  a  real  concern.  We  see  automakers  in  the  car  industry,  and  I  think  also  in  the  truck  industry,  really  looking  at  how  they  can  increase  EV  range,  especially  in  ways  that  maybe  don't  require  larger  and  larger,  heavier  and  heavier  batteries.  So  thinking  about  these  in-route  charging,  whether  it  be  highway  fast  chargers  like  we've  already  seen  across  highways  around  the  world  or  thinking  about  for  trucks  in  particular  rest  stops,  how  long  the  rest  time  is  and  building  in  infrastructure  that  can  facilitate  charging  in  whatever  amount  of  time.  I  think  the  US  and  the  EU  have  different  regulations  on  how  long  driver  breaks  should  be  for  these  long  haul  trucking  segments.  So  really  thinking  about  how  the  operations  need  to  work  in  order  to  design  the  adequate  infrastructure  in  a  way  that  could  help  reduce  as  much  as  possible  the  power  demand  on  the  grid. 04:55Julia Streets: Lucie,  from  your  point  of  view,  at ChargeUp Europe,  what are your  thoughts? 04:59Lucie Mattera: So  on  range  anxiety,  what  we  are  finding  that  this  is  a  factor  that  is  less  prevalent  today  in  terms  of  sort  of  slowing  down  the  switch  to  EV  charging.  There  was  a  recent  consumer  survey  that  was  commissioned  by  the  European  Commission  and  what  they  found  was  the  primary  obstacle  for  the  switch  to  EV  was  actually  the  price  of  the  car  rather  than the  range  anxiety  or  the  lack  of infrastructure. So in terms of  what  came  up  first  as  an  obstacle  for  a  driver  that's  considering  the  switch  to e-mobility,  that  was  firmly  on  the  top  of  the  list. 05:32Julia Streets: Ingrid,  what  do  you  think? 05:34Ingrid Malmgren: I think  that  with  regard  to  passenger  vehicles,  since  so  many  people  charge  at  home  in  the  United  States,  for  most  people's  day- to- day  driving,  range  anxiety  is  not  a  huge  issue.  Most  people  drive  around  30  miles  a  day  and  new  EVs  have  ranges  well  over  250  miles  a  day.  So  many  people  only  need  to  charge  up  every  several  days  or  once  a  week. 06:00Julia Streets: Istvan,  can  I  bring  you  in  here?  How  important  in  the  big  debate  about  whether  a  motorist  will  make  the  switch  to  EV  is  the  question  of  infrastructure? 06:10Istvan Kapitany: It's  very,  very  important  and  we are  already  charging  in  30  countries  in  the  world.  So  we  are  pretty  much  one  of  the  biggest  operator  in  terms  of  the  reach.  The  United  States  is  very  different  than  China.  So  in  China  we  have  already  well  over  20,000  public  chargers.  Most  of  the  people,  of  course,  are not  having  the  ability  to  charge  at  home,  so we really  need  to  be  catering  for  that  immediately. In  the  United  States,  in  different  parts  of  the  United  States,  you  have  the  picture  very  different.  And in  Europe,  we  just  did  a  survey  now,  whilst  a  year  ago  it  was  basically  33%  of  the  people  who  didn't  have  charger  at  home,  this  is  now  44%  of  the  people  who  are  driving  EV  cars  do  not  have  charger  at  home. Why  is  it  happening?  Of  course,  after  the  early  adapters  it  is  becoming  more  and  more  mainstream  activity,  which  is  great.  We  see  that  people  are  buying  this  for  commuting  and  therefore  public  charging  is  becoming  a  very  important  part  of  this  equation.  At  the  early  stage,  many  people  thought,  oh,  it's  going  to  be  all  home  charging.  It  is  just  not  possible.  We  are  in  84  markets  and  90%  of  the  people  wh

    22 min

  5. 17/05/2023

    How Can Carbon Markets Limit Climate Change?

    Carbon markets are advancing on a global level, following the first country-to-country trades at COP27. The Energy Podcast investigates how carbon pricing works and examines what role it can play in the race to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Presented by Julia Streets. Featuring Dr Hasan Muslemani from the Oxford Institute of Energy Studies, Andrea Bonzanni from the International Emissions Trading Association and Shell’s senior carbon pricing policy advisor, Dr Malek Al-Chalabi. With additional contribution by Stephen Kansuk, Head of Environment and Climate Change at the United Nations in Ghana. The Energy Podcast is a Fresh Air Production for Shell, produced by Annie Day and Sarah Moore, and edited by Molly Lynch and Sophie Curtis.   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT: 00:00Julia Streets: Today  on  The  Energy  Podcast... MUSIC BED COMES IN Andrea Bonzanni: Emissions must be reduced globally irrespective of where they take place. The atmosphere is one at the end of the day. Article VI allows reducing emissions where it’s more efficient. Dr Hasan Muslemani: We have solutions that are being praised as the holy grail of net- zero… The issue is that we need all the solutions that we can get because in the fight against climate change, we are really in a race against time. Julia Streets: The  cost  of  climate  change.  It's  a  phrase  commonly  used  by  governments,  companies,  and  campaigners  across  the  world  when  discussing  the  need  to  limit  global  warming  to  well  below  two  degrees  Celsius.  Quantifying  the  exact  cost  of  far- reaching  effects  of  climate  change  is  not  an  easy  task.  But  putting  a  price  on  emissions  is  viewed  by  many  as  an  effective  means  to  help  drive  down  levels  of  CO2  in  the  atmosphere.  The  idea  is  simple.  Putting  a  price  on  carbon  emissions  creates  a  financial  incentive  to  reduce  them.Carbon  markets  have  existed  for  decades.  There  are  many  carbon  pricing  systems  around  the  world,  but  at  present,  it  is  estimated  that  only  a  quarter  of  emissions  are  priced.  That  could  soon  change.  At  last  year's  COP27  climate  conference  in  Egypt,  the  first  country- to- country  carbon  trades  took  place.  Could  this  pave  the  way  for  further  uptake  of  carbon  trading  and  what  impact  could  that  have  in  the  fight  against  global  warming? Hello,  I'm  Julia  Streets,  and  today  on  The  Energy  Podcast:  How  can  carbon  markets  limit  climate  change? MUSIC ENDS   With  me  to  discuss  this  are  Andrea  Bonzanni,  who's  the  international  policy  director  at  the  International  Emissions  Trading  Association,  who  you  may  well  remember  from  a  previous  episode  of  The  Energy  Podcast.  He  is  joined  by  Dr.  Hasan  Muslemani, who is  the  head  of  Carbon  Management  Research  at  the  Oxford  Institute  for  Energy  Studies.  And  our  third  guest  is  Dr.  Malek  Al- Chalabi,  who  is  a  senior  carbon  pricing  policy  advisor  at  Shell. Hasan,  perhaps  I  could  start  with  you.  For  the  benefit  of  the  audience,  would  you  just  mind  explaining  what  we  mean  when  we  talk  about  carbon  markets? 02:18Dr. Hasan Muslemani: The  fundamental  concept  behind  a  carbon  market  is  really  to put  a  price  on  carbon,  or  in  other  words,  to  quantify  the  cost  of  damages  that  emissions  will  cost  our  society  over  time.  To  do  this,  we  have, at  the  heart  of  carbon  markets,  what  is  called  carbon  accounting  or  greenhouse  gas  accounting.  This  represents  a  set  of  standards  and  methods  that  help  us  quantify  but  also  verify  the  impact  that  each  business  creates  on  the  environment,  and  this  impact  is  reported  in  terms  of  tons  of  CO2  emitted. Now,  something  that  I  really  want  to  emphasize  here  is  that  today,  we  speak  of  carbon  markets,  but  we  need  to  differentiate  between  two  different  types  of  markets.  The  first  is  what  we  call  a  compliance  market,  which  is  a  market  that  is  heavily  regulated  and  corresponds  to  a  specific  region  or  jurisdiction,  and  where  companies  within  that  jurisdiction  have  to  take  part  in  the  market.  The  other  one  is  a  voluntary  one.  This  is  a  lot  less  regulated  and  where  participation  is  voluntary,  as  the  name  implies.  The  voluntary  carbon  market  is  based  on  the  concept  of  offsetting.  That  is  where  a  company  wishes  to  mitigate  or  neutralize  its  own  emissions.  So,  it  goes  out  and  invests  in  projects  which  are  reducing  equivalent  amounts  of  emissions  elsewhere  in  the  world. 03:30Julia Streets: Can  you  talk  to  us a little bit about how  they  work  in  practice  in  everyday  terms? 03:36Dr. Hasan Muslemani: Starting  on  the  compliance  markets, and  the  objective  is  really  to  put  a  price  on  carbon,  there's  two  different  ways  to  do  this.  The  first  one  is  carbon  taxation,  which  should  be  a  simple  concept.  We  have  countries  like  Norway  and  Denmark,  which  would  impose  a  specific  tax  on  every  ton  of  CO2  that  a  company  would  produce  within  those  countries.  The  key  here,  really,  is  for  that  carbon  tax  to  be  high  enough  to  incentivize  businesses  to  change  behavior  or  to  move  to  greener  production.  This  is  essentially  a  stick  form  of  regulation  where  businesses  have  to  lower  their  emissions  or  face  an  additional  cost. The  other  mechanism,  which  is  a  cap  and  trade  mechanism,  which  is  the  more  familiar  one,  and in  this  system  we  have  an  authority,  say,  the  European  Commission,  which  sets  a  cap  on  how  much  emissions  can  be  generated  as  a  whole  within  the  continent,  within  Europe,  and  then  allocates  a  number  of  allowances  or  carbon  credits  to  European  countries  and  companies  for  them  to  trade  amongst  each  other.  Here,  each  carbon  credit  or  allowance  is  representative  of  one  ton  of  CO2. This  allocation  process,  what  I  want  to  note,  is  done  using  the  historical  emissions  of  each  one  of  these  companies.  This  is  a  process  that  we  call  grandfathering.  The  overall  cap  is  reduced  each  year  in  order  to  meet  a  certain  European  climate  target  in  the  future.  The  way  this  works  is  where  companies  that  have  lowered  their  emissions  below  their  targets,  now  they  have  surplus  of  allowances,  which  they  can  go  into  the  market  and  sell  to  companies  that  did  not  do  so  well  and  will  require  to  buy  credits.  So,  this  mechanism  really  is  sort  of  a  carrot  but  also  a  stick  sort  of  regulation. 05:12Julia Streets: Thank  you  for  explaining  how  they  work.  I  suppose  my  next  question,  is  how  effective  are  they  proving  to  be? 05:19Dr. Hasan Muslemani: The  longest  running  and  actually  the  biggest  ETS  in  the  world,  that  is  the  EU ETS  or  emission  trading  scheme.  This  has  started  in  2008  and  has  gone  through  different  phases  over  the  years.  But  I  do  want  to  mention  that  it  has  suffered  from  a  number  of  setbacks  over  those  years.  To  give  an  overview,  the  carbon  price  at  the  beginning  was  around  30  euros  per  ton,  but  that  price  has  crashed  to  less  than  5  euros  around  the  financial  crisis  of  '09.  This  was  most  likely  because  of  two  main  reasons.  The  first  one  is  that  companies  had  to  report  their  emissions  in  such  a  regulated  manner  that  they  have  not  done  before,  and  so  they  might  have  overestimated  how  much  emissions  they  emit  and  hence  how  much  allowances  they  eventually  received  from  the  system.  But  also,  because  of  the  financial  crisis  itself,  it  meant  that  business  offices  aren't  lit,  emissions  aren't  as  high  as  usual,  so  they  did  not  need  to  surrender  as  much  allowances  at  the  end  of  the  compliance  phase,  which  eventually  meant  there's  an  oversupply  of  credits  in  the  market,  and  so  the  price  has  crashed. The  good  news  is  the  EU ETS  has  gone  through  sort  of  a  recovery  mode  over  the  past  10  years,  and  today  the  price  has  not  only  recovered  but  reached  the  level  which  is  believed  to  incentivize  most  sectors  to  lower  emissions,  and  that  level  is  around  100  euros  per  ton. 06:41Julia Streets: It's  been  so  helpful  to  get  a  sense  of  progress,  thinking  about  the  dynamics  of the  market  since  launch,  and  also  to  think  about  the  market  share. Andrea,  let  me  bring  you  in  here  because  this  is  about  the  world's  attempt

    24 min

  6. 21/03/2023

    Can A Divided World Tackle Climate Change?

    One year after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, The Energy Podcast investigates the impact of recent events on the global energy transition, drawing on Shell’s two latest Scenarios: Sky 2050 and Archipelagos. Presented by Julia Streets, featuring László Varró, head of Shell’s Scenarios team, and Dr Nat Keohane, President of the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions (C2ES). Read more about the Energy Security Scenarios here. The Energy Podcast is a Fresh Air Production for Shell, produced by Annie Day and edited by Sophie Curtis.   EPISODE TRANSCRIPT:  00:00:00 Julia Streets: Today  on the  Energy  Podcast... MUSIC BED COMES IN Dr. Nat Keohane: The  energy  security  concerns  from  the  Russian  invasion  of  Ukraine  actually  accelerate  the  pace  of  the  energy  transition. Laszlo Varro:  There was no single global response. Europe  is  the  eye  of  the  storm.  It  is  Europe  where  the energy  crisis  had  by  far  the  biggest  impact.  This  is  a  situation  where  the  average  European  consumer  needed  no  explanation  that there  is  a  crisis.    00:28:41 Julia Streets: When  Russia  invaded  Ukraine,  the  world  was  already  facing  a  challenging  set  of  circumstances  with  post-COVID- 19  austerity  looming,  energy  prices  rising  and  security  tensions  growing.  The  invasion  amplified  many  of  these  challenges  and  brought  the  need  for  secure  supplies  of  affordable,  sustainable  energy  to  the  very  top  of  the  global  agenda.  Today,  we  will  be  exploring  the  tensions  that  have  been  unleashed  just  over  one  year  after  the  invasion,  with  security  issues,  global  energy  supply  and  geopolitical  alliances  all  in  flux.  We'll  also  be  discussing  how  these  tensions  could  be  resolved  in  a  world  that  needs  to  decarbonize,  drawing  on  Shell's  latest  scenarios  research.  Hello,  I'm  Julia  Streets  and  today  on  the  Energy  Podcast,  can  a  divided  world  tackle  climate  change? MUSIC ENDS   Allow  me  to  introduce  my  guest  today.  Our  first  guest  is  Laszlo  Varro,  who  joined  Shell in  2021  as  the  VP  of  Global  Business  Environment,  looking  at  scenarios  and  pathways.  He  joined,  after  10  years at  the  International  Energy  Agency,  where  he  was  most  recently  their  chief  economist.  In  his  role  at  Shell,  he  leads  up  the  scenarios  team,  which  explores  how  the  global  energy  system  could  evolve  right  the  way  through  to  the  end  of  the  century.  So  Laszlo,  it's  great  to  have  you  on  the  show. Laszlo Varro: Thank  you  very  much.  It's  a  pleasure  to  be  here. Julia Streets: And  joining  us  today  is  Dr.  Nat  Keohane,  who  is  the  president  of  C2ES,  the  Center  of  Climate  and  Energy  Solutions.  Before  taking  on  that  role  in  July  2021,  Nat  served  for  eight  years  as  a  senior  vice  president  for  climate  with  the  Environmental  Defense  Fund  where  he  led  all  of  EDF's  climates  work  in  the  United  States  and  globally.  So  Nat,  thank  you  so  much  for  being  with  us. Dr. Nat Keohane: Thanks  very  much  for  having  me. Julia Streets: So  Laszlo,  in  the  introduction,  I  mentioned  that  you  lead  the  scenarios  team  at  Shell.  Can  you  talk  us  through  what  we  mean  when  you  talk  about  these  scenarios? 02:34:18 Laszlo Varro: Scenario  analysis  came  out  of  Cold  War  strategic  assessments.  Shell  was  historically  the  first  company  to  use  it  for  strategic  analysis,  so  we  are  continuing  a  time- honored  tradition.  Scenarios  have  decision  makers  navigating  uncertainties  by  reflecting  on  plausible  futures.  The  Shell  scenarios  are  not  Shell's  predictions,  they  are  not  Shell's  commitments  and  they're  not  Shell's  strategy.  They  are  part  of  the  information  base  that  the  leadership  had  navigating  through  the  uncertain  world.  Now  in  2022,  it's  fair  to  say  that  history  was  teaching  us  some  very  tragic  lessons  about  uncertainties.  Even  before  the  war,  there  were tensions  and  fissures  in  the  energy  system.  The  post- COVID  recovery  in  2021  was  exceptionally  energy-intensive.  Global  carbon  dioxide  emissions  stabilized  at  a  level  which  is  entirely  unsustainable.  Geopolitical  intentions  were  already  emerging,  and  debates  were  already  emerging  on  the  future  of  globalization. Now,  on  top  of  these  existing  tensions,  the  Russian  aggression  against  Ukraine  is  not  only  a  human  tragedy – most  importantly,  it  is  a  human  tragedy – but  it  was  also  a  geopolitical  energy  shock,  which  hasn't  happened  since  the  1970s  shocks  of  the  Yom  Kippur  War  and  the  Iranian  Revolution.  It created a  new  energy  reality.  Some  of  the  impacts  are  helping  the  energy  transition,  other  impacts  are  hindering  the  energy  transition.  There  are  regionally  divergent  responses  and,  basically,  we  were assessing  the  regionally  divergent  political,  social,  economic  responses  and  asked  the  question how they  can  shape  the  energy  system  in  a  direction  where  humanity  would  like  to  go. 04:27:16 Julia Streets: So  let's  explore  these  scenarios  a  little  further  if  we  may.  So  there  are  two  that  I  think  are  particularly  salient  today.  Could  you  just  talk  us  through  those  two scenarios?  Then  I'd  love  to  bring  in  Nat  for  your  reaction  and  your  thoughts.  Laszlo. 04:39:29 Laszlo Varro: We  felt  that,  in  the world of 2022-2023,  social  and  political  priorities  on  security  are  a  given.  They  are  just  a  fact  of  life.  But  the  two  scenarios,  the  two  pathways,  are  distinguished  by  what  is  the  actual  interpretation  of  security.  What  do  we  mean  by  security  and  how  do  we  try  to  achieve  that?  In  one  of  the  pathways,  we call that  Archipelagos,  security  is  achieved  by  sticking  to  the  existing  well  understood  conventional  energy  system,  energy  infrastructure  and  capital  stock,  and  security  increases  the  importance  of  domestic  hydrocarbon  resources  or  hydrocarbon  imports  from  friendly  countries.  There  are  signals  and  signposts  in  that  direction.  Last  year,  we  have  seen  a  surge  of  domestic  coal  production  all  around  the  world.  China,  for  example,  expanded  its  domestic  coal  production  in  energy  terms  by  seven  exajoules.  Just  for  the  sake  of  comparison,  all  the  oil  and  gas  that  Shell  produces  worldwide  is  around  six  exajoules  in  energy  terms. So  the  increase  in  domestic  coal  mining  in  China  last  year  was  more  than  the  entire  hydrocarbon  production  of  Shell.  Now  we  also  designed  another  scenario - we  called  it  Sky -  in  which  the  interpretation  of  security  is  very  different.  In  this  scenario,  society  regards  the  fossil  fuel  dominated  energy  system  itself  as  a  security  risk.  Very  clearly,  the  fact  that  it  was  Russia,  a  major  oil  and  gas  producer  which  launched  a  geopolitical  aggression,  it  reinforced  the  already  existing  political  and  media  narrative  that  oil  and  gas  are  the  problem  and renewable  energy  is  the  solution.  This  is  a  scenario  in  which  society  flees  forward  and  achieves  security  by  an  accelerated transformation  of  the  energy  system. 06:41:37 Julia Streets: Thank  you  for  setting  out  those  two  scenarios  because  what  strikes  me  is  that  one  of  them  very  much  starts  with  the  premise  of  where  we  are  today  and  where  we're  headed,  and  that  is  the  Archipelagos.  The  second,  Sky,  as  you  call  it,  starts  with  a  future  point  and  then  works  backwards  from  that. Nat,  I  know  you've  looked  at  these. I'd  love  to  get  your  reactions. 07:05:06 Dr. Nat Keohane: Any  scenarios  like  this  are  primarily  useful  for  making  comparisons.  Any  individual  scenario  is  bound  to  be  wrong  in  the  details,  so  these  aren't  crystal  balls,  but  by  comparing  the  scenarios  and  looking  at  where  they  have  consistent  themes  and  where  they  diverge,  we  can  learn  a  lot.  So that's  how  I  want  to  be  approaching  these.  So  under  both  scenarios  that  Shell  has  released,  renewables  increase  while  fossil  decreases.  The  difference  is  how  fast.  And  because  of  those  dynamics,  as  well  as  similar  consistent  transitions  in  transport  and  industry,  in  both  scenarios,  we  see  global  CO2,  carbon  dioxide  emissions  peaking  and  starting  to  decline  within  a  decade.  One  interesting  finding  in  fact  from  the  Archipelagos  scena

    25 min

  7. 12/12/2022

    1.5 C and… what’s next?

    With COP27 closed out, The Energy Podcast hears different perspectives from people who attended the conference in Egypt, and their views on what needs to happen next. Presented by Julia Streets. Featuring Rebekah Shirley, World Resources Institute Africa; Susan Shannon, Shell; Eduarda Zoghbi, Global Student Energy; Andrea Bonzanni, International Emissions Trading Association. The Energy Podcast is a Fresh Air Production for Shell, produced by Annie Day.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    33 min

  8. 04/11/2022

    1. 5 C and… turning ambition into action

    The 2022 UN Climate Change Conference, or COP27, will be taking place in Egypt between 6th and 18th November with a strong focus on Africa. As the conference gets underway, The Energy Podcast takes a look at what to expect. Presented by Julia Streets. Featuring Prudence Glorious, Chief Purpose Officer at Tanzanian impact firm PZG PR, and Shell’s Chief Climate Change Adviser, David Hone. The Energy Podcast is a Fresh Air Production for Shell, produced by Annie Day. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

    28 min
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About

The world faces a critical challenge: how to meet growing energy demand while urgently reducing carbon dioxide emissions. It means the global energy system must change. Will innovation come to the rescue? How will renewable energy evolve? Does the oil and gas industry have a future? Will batteries, hydrogen or even blockchain alter the way we live, work and travel? The Energy Podcast by Shell explores these questions. We speak to the engineers at the pioneering edge of science and technology, the experts tracking progress towards the goals of the Paris Agreement, and the entrepreneurs working to drive the change.

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  • Creator
    Shell
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2024
  • Episodes
    37
  • Rating
    Clean
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    © 2024 Shell
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    The Energy Podcast

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