Sustainability at Shell
Sustainable development goals
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Energy transition and climate change
New fuels
Shell invests in a range of low-carbon technologies and fuels, including hydrogen and charging for battery electric vehicles including at some of our retail sites. As new technologies evolve to coexist with traditional transport fuels over the coming decades, Shell will expand its fuels to offer customers greater choice.
Expanding charging stations
In 2017, Shell acquired NewMotion, a Netherlands-based company with one of Europe’s biggest networks of electric vehicle charging points. It operates around 30,000 private electric charge points in the Netherlands, France, Germany and the UK. It also provides around 100,000 registered NewMotion charge card users access to more than 50,000 public charging points in 25 European countries.
Shell also signed an agreement with high-powered charging network operator IONITY to offer charging points in 10 European countries starting with 80 of its biggest highway stations, allowing drivers to travel long distances. IONITY is a joint venture between BMW Group, Daimler AG, Ford Motor Company and the Volkswagen Group, which was formed to create a network of 350-kilowatt chargers next to major highways in Europe.
Hydrogen
In Germany, the government is supporting the development of a national network of hydrogen electric fuel stations across the country by 2023. We are working on this project with our joint-venture partners in H2 Mobility Germany. The partnership comprises French gas supplier Air Liquide, German car manufacturer Daimler, Austrian oil and gas company OMV, German engineering firm Linde and French oil and gas company Total. The hydrogen will be delivered by truck as a gas to retail sites. Under the terms of the partnership, at least 50% of the hydrogen sold must be produced without emitting greenhouse gases. At the end of 2017, Shell already had nine hydrogen filling stations at its retail sites in Germany.
In 2017, we started work with Honda and Toyota, supported by the California state government, to build seven hydrogen refuelling stations across Northern California. Shell already has two hydrogen stations in Los Angeles, California.
In the UK, we are collaborating with ITM Power, a company specialising in hydrogen fuel-cell products, to make hydrogen fuel available at three Shell retail sites in the south-east of the country. The first of the UK stations opened in February 2017. We are assessing the potential for similar projects in Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Switzerland and the rest of the USA.
In January 2017, we helped launch the Hydrogen Council, a global coalition of chief executives working to raise the profile of hydrogen’s role in the transition to a low-carbon energy system.
Shell is building a reliable network of premium fast chargers for electric vehicles along the main roads of the Netherlands.
Digital technologies
Digital technologies support our activities. For example, we have developed an app in the UK called FarePilot that helps taxi drivers quickly identify high-demand areas to find their next fare and potentially save them fuel. In the USA, our Fitcar app will transform a regular car into a connected car that can provide maintenance alerts and information on the engine. Through our innovation arm, Shell Technology Ventures, we have invested in “tiramizoo”, a German start-up whose online technology connects retailers with customers.