We are building our capacity in today’s biofuels and working to make them more sustainable. We are also developing advanced biofuels from non-food sources, as well as new conversion processes that offer potentially fewer CO2 emissions and improved fuels. We are the world’s biggest distributor of biofuels, distributing 9 billion litres in 2009. Today’s biofuels offer a lower-carbon alternative to petrol and diesel. Ethanol made from Brazilian sugar cane, for example, produces around 70% lower CO2 emissions from production to use than conventional petrol.
In August 2010 we signed a binding agreement with Cosan to form a joint venture for producing ethanol from sugar cane in Brazil. Following regulatory approval this would mark Shell’s first move into production of today’s biofuels. Biofuels could account for as much as 30% of the world’s road transport fuel mix by 2050, according to the International Energy Agency.
SUSTAINABILITY
We introduce sustainability clauses in new and renewed contracts with suppliers, covering workers’ rights and the protection of biodiversity. By the end of 2009, 81% of the biofuels we bought by volume were from suppliers who have signed up to these clauses and we continue our efforts to increase this proportion.
We also work with industry, governments and voluntary organisations towards the development of global sustainability standards for biofuels. The CO2 performance of current biofuels can also vary greatly depending on the raw materials and production techniques involved. We favour a single approach to calculating the CO2 emissions of all transport fuels from production through to use and government incentives for low CO2 biofuels.
ADVANCED BIOFUELS
For the future we are working to develop advanced biofuels from new sources using new conversion processes that offer potentially fewer CO2 emissions and can produce more effective fuels. We are working with Iogen Energy, a Canadian company, to develop the processing technology that enables ethanol to be made from straw using enzymes. Iogen opened a demonstration plant in Ottawa, Canada, in 2004. A Shell service station in Ottawa sold petrol containing 10% cellulosic ethanol from the demonstration plant for one month in 2009.
We have a joint technology program with Codexis to develop more powerful enzymes for faster conversion of biomass to ethanol and other fuels. With Virent Energy Systems we also have a joint technology development programme to convert plant sugars directly into a range of high performance liquid transport fuels. In 2010 Virent opened a demonstration plant to convert plant sugars directly into petrol. Our joint venture Cellana in Hawaii is developing a small pilot facility to grow marine algae and produce vegetable oil for conversion into biodiesel.
