Royal Dutch Shell PLC
From Lauraibm
Contents |
Climate Change
Managing our Emissions
Finding reductions to offset the rising emissions from our changing portfolio is getting harder. The amount of energy needed for us to produce each unit of oil or natural gas is already more than 50% higher than in 2000. It will continue to rise as our fields age and as more of our production comes from heavier oil and oil sands.
Producing more low sulphur transport fuels will help lower our customers’ CO2 emissions. However, it will also increase our direct emissions, since more refining energy is needed to make them.
So, how are we managing our emissions? We are:
- Working to end continuous flaring: Capturing and using the natural gas produced during oil production
- Improving energy efficiency in our refineries, chemical plants and production facilities
- Factoring future costs of emitting GHGs into our business decisions so our new facilities have lower CO2 designs
- CO2 capture and storage: Continuing to work on demonstration projects to drive down costs and demonstrate safety
- Measuring our GHG emissions worldwide in a consistent and transparent way
Where do our emissions come from? Our greenhouse gas emissions, most of which are CO2, typically come from:
- Combustion of fuel in our refineries and chemical plants to generate the energy required to manufacture our products.
- Flaring of associated natural gas at oil production wells. In many remote locations there is no local market for this gas and no facilities for capturing it and transporting it to an alternative market.
- Combustion of fuel at oil and gas production sites to power the necessary drilling, pumping and processing equipment.
- Combustion of fuel in ships that transport crude oil and oil products.
- Leakage of light hydrocarbon gas from storage vessels, pipes and processing equipment.
(1)
Helping energy users reduce their emissions
Managing emissions from our operations is important and our direct responsibility. But more than 80% of the CO2 from fossil fuels is emitted when energy products are used.
We recognise that our response to climate change means more than reducing our own emissions. Our customers emit six to seven times more CO2 using our products than we do making them - more than 750 million tonnes of CO2 in a typical year.
We are helping our customers use energy more efficiently through programmes like Energise™ for industrial energy users and the Fuel Stretch Campaign and Shell Fuel Economy challenge for drivers. It also means providing lower CO2 emitting energy products, so the rapid rise in energy use does not bring an equally big increase in GHG emissions. Developing advanced transport fuels, like Fuel Economy formula, that reduce fuel consumption, will help. So will expanding our natural gas business and our efforts to lower the costs and increase the use of biofuels, wind and solar power. Since a lot more coal, oil and gas will still be needed, including oil from energy intensive sources like oil sands, developing efficient ways to capture and safely store the CO2 from fossil fuels will also be critical for energy users to reduce their GHG emissions.
Lower CO2 electricity Providing clean-burning natural gas is one of our biggest contributions to slowing the growth of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the power sector. Gas-fired power plants produce about half the CO2 emissions of a conventional coal-fired plant. In addition, our patented coal gasification technology, used together with combined cycle power plants, can reduce CO2 emissions by up to 15% compared to the latest conventional coal-fired power plants.
Lower CO2 transport Transport will continue to rely mainly on oil for many years to come. Reductions in GHG emissions in the transport sector will need to come mainly from blending biofuels into petrol and diesel, from technologies to improve the fuel efficiency of conventional fuels and vehicles, and from managing demand. Government policies that reward lower CO2 technology will be critical for success. (2)
Biodiversity
Approach to Biodiversity
Our Biodiversity Standard and Commitment In 2001, we were the first energy company to adopt a Group Biodiversity Standard. The Standard outlines our commitment to work with others to maintain ecosystems, respect protected areas and seek partnerships to conserve biodiversity.
Shell and Protected areas In 2003, we made additional commitments with regard to protected areas, including a commitment not to explore for, or develop, oil and gas resources in natural World Heritage Sites.
Our 2005-2010 strategy In 2005, we also developed a Biodiversity Strategy through to 2010 which includes a commitment to follow strict operating practices in protected areas classified under the World Conservation Union (IUCN) Category System as Category I-IV protected areas and in other areas of high biodiversity value.
We are currently also working on sustainability requirements for sourcing biofuels. (3)
