By Upasana Bhattacharjee
Shell Oil Company opened its new hub in Bengaluru on March 31, 2017. It is a 52-acre custom built technology centre that can house up to 1500 experts and link them for collaborations worldwide. By engaging in multi-disciplinary research and collaborations over numerous subjects from energy solutions to engineering design, the new hub spells out Shells vision for the future, and their commitment to sustainable development and multidisciplinary research clearly.
How does this play into India’s prospects?
The new establishment is one of the three main technology hubs in Shells network of global Research and Development centres, with the others being located in the Netherlands and USA. It was opened by the Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas, Dharmendra Pradhan, along with Alphonsus Stoelinga, Ambassador of Netherlands to India, R V Deshpande, Karnataka Minister for Industries, and Krishna Byre Gowda, Karnataka Minister for Agriculture. The facility will bring together all the R&D staff hitherto working in separate locations, thus expanding its scope for collaborative functioning and multidisciplinary research. It will prove to be a location for employment opportunities as well, with the rough target being an organisation with 7000 employees by the end of the year.
The centre is set to invest in cleaner energy solutions. It includes numerous disciplines under its purview liquefied natural gas, subsurface modelling, data analysis, engineering design, bitumen, distillation and enhanced computational research. One of the most interesting areas pursued by this hub is that of IH2, a waste-to-fuel technology being piloted in Bengaluru. It is set to take only a few minutes to convert agricultural, forestry and municipal waste into fuel. This is something that nature takes millions of years to do. This technology has the potential to alter the countrys status and make it a net exporter of energy. IH2 is an example of the vision that Shell has chalked out for a carbon-free future. It is one among the many automotive solutions pursued by them in fuels and lubricants. Shell envisages a clean energy portfolio for the Bengaluru hub that will suit Indias energy requirements perfectly, aiming towards a sustainable future that will be aided by other pioneering technologies.
The idea behind the hubs creation
Shells commitment to responsible innovation extends beyond balanced investments. Collaborative projects form an important aspect of this hub, beginning from their motto of bringing all Bengaluru-based researchers together to foster multidisciplinary research. Collaborations will create scope for the exchange and influx of technology and new ideas to create efficient and affordable clean energy solutions faster. Collaborations such as chemistry and catalysis research with IITs and research in advanced computing with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are already underway. This base will be expanded to include experts from external industrial partners along with other universities and institutions. Further, Shell has organised events like the Make the Future campaign to supplement its inauguration. The aim was to encourage interest and research towards sustainable development alternatives by organising competitions and showcasing Shells ultra-efficient concept car.
The long-term aspect of this development
This comes at a time when the entire world is desperately investigating clean energy alternatives. Investments in research and development when India is setting itself up to be a manufacturing hub would prove to be significant in portraying India as a viable location and ensuring that a holistic approach to the problems of development is maintained by adding the element of sustainability. India will be a challenging alternative to fulfil the energy needs of, given the high and rapidly increasing population of the country. But if its clean energy requirements are resolved, India could pave the way to carbon-free and clean energy generation with industries functioning under a sustainable model. Investments like this tend to generate a ripple effect, albeit gradually, and therefore, Shell Technology Centre might just be the beginning.
Featured image credits: Upstream Online.