Oil & Grass

How Agriculture meets Energy to combat climate change

Ahead of COP 26 last year, our CEO Ben van Beurden announced that Shell is taking further steps towards becoming a net-zero emissions company by 2050 , confirming a new absolute emissions reduction target of 50% on Shell’s scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030. Obviously this is a tremendous challenge for an energy company which currently depends largely on oil & gas, but one that we - at Shell Ventures - feel very motivated by. ?

The energy and agricultural system contribute to approximately 75 and 25% of all human-induced greenhouse gas emissions. Both the energy and agricultural system are complex and vast systems, touching our lives at every level in profound ways. Unfortunately, complex problems typically require complex solutions, and we can’t expect any ‘silver bullets’ to solve the climate problem for us (even if you believe fusion will save the planet, it is unlikely to have a meaningful contribution to net-carbon-zero before mid-century…).

Now, I am a climate optimist: Through smart policies and collective action, we humans were successful in materially plugging the ozone gap earlier this century. I believe we can do this again, if we shed old paradigms and focus on collaboration.

I am particularly excited about the way in which the Energy and the Agricultural sectors are starting to collaborate to use mother nature to store carbon at scale in the coming decades. On order to stay within the ‘carbon budget’ we have left until the end of this century and limit global warming to 1.5-2.0 degrees; the creation of carbon sinks will be essential to reach net-zero. As we won’t realistically be able to fully decarbonize certain sectors of our economy before 2050, such as steel, cement, aluminum and chemicals, we will need to leverage the phenomenal capacity of plants, trees and soils to capture to reach net zero. We need to turn nature - including agriculture - into a net absorber of carbon to compensate for the inevitable emissions elsewhere in the system.

And the first - most meaningful - thing we need to do is stop all deforestation before 2030, as more than 100 world leaders have committed to do at COP26, the UN climate summit in Glasgow.

Shell Ventures has a dedicated $1.4 billion fund to invest in start-ups and scale-ups that are developing technologies, business models, and digital solutions that can help accelerate energy transition solutions. And we’re using part of that money to invest in nature-based solutions, regenerative forms of agriculture, and other ways to capture and store carbon. Recently we have invested in the following start-ups in this domain:

Take for example Vence , a US company that created a virtual fencing solution that can combat overgrazing, which contributes significantly to climate change and can lead to desertification. Vence’s technology rotates grazing cattle, allowing the pasture to rest and regrow deeper roots, healthier soils, and achieve better water retention, which leads to increased carbon absorption and credit generation.

Quanterra Systems , a UK start-up, is fighting climate change with hardware and software solutions that measure carbon sequestration by trees, plants, and soil in real-time. Their solution stands out in the market due to the low cost and high reliability of the tool, meaning broader adoption of nature-based solutions. As Peter Drucker famously said, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”

Norwegian company Chooose is making tangible climate action a reality for companies by offering the ability to calculate, monitor and offset carbon emissions as part of their e-Commerce experience. Carbon credits are a great way to fund nature-based solution projects that offset the carbon footprint of consumer activities.

Swiss startup Daphne Technology meanwhile is tackling the challenge of maritime transport emissions (940 million tonnes of Co2 annually!) with their universal green converter which transforms pollutants (like SOx, NOx, methane slip and small particulates) and removes these combustion emissions from exhaust gas. This technology reduces both air and sea pollution for vessels, enabling the maritime sector to meet, or even exceed, the new IMO emission standards.

Society needs innovative ideas like these to tackle some of its toughest challenges. Entrepreneurs in the climate domain need a supportive ecosystem to reach their full potential, and that’s where we at Shell Ventures have a vital role to play.

These are just a few examples. What innovative companies have you seen in the space of carbon capture and storage? Let me know in the comments!

To learn more about Shell Ventures, our portfolio, and our team, visit our website: https://www.shell.com/energy-and-innovation/new-energies/shell-ventures.html