Royal Dutch Shell plc (LSE: RDSA, RDSB), commonly known as Shell, is a Dutch–British multinational oil andgas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's second largest company by 2011 revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors". Sony VAIO PCG-3B1M Battery
Shell is also one of the world's most valuable companies.[3]
Shell is vertically integrated and is active in every area of the oil and gas industry, including exploration andproduction, refining, distribution and marketing, petrochemicals, power generation and trading. Sony VAIO PCG-3C1T Battery
It also has majorrenewable energy activities, including in biofuels, hydrogen, solar and wind power. It has operations in over 90 countries, produces around 3.1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and has 44,000 service stations worldwide.[4] Shell Oil Company, its subsidiary in the United States, is one of its largest businesses.[5] Sony VAIO PCG-3D1M Battery
Shell has a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index. As of 6 July 2012, it was the largest company on the FTSE, with a market capitalisation of £140.9 billion.[6] It has secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New York Stock Exchange. Sony VAIO PCG-3G2M Battery
The Royal Dutch Shell Group was created in February 1907 through the merger of two rival companies - Royal Dutch Petroleum Company (Dutch legal name : N.V. Koninklijke Nederlandsche Petroleum Maatschappij) and the "Shell" Transport and Trading Company Ltd of the United Kingdom, founded by Marcus Samuel, 1st Viscount Bearsted. Sony VAIO PCG-5R1M Battery
It was a move largely driven by the need to compete globally with the then dominant American petroleum company, John D. Rockefeller's Standard Oil, and as a strategy to face the challenges brought by the crisis of 1907. The terms of the merger gave 60% ownership of the new Group to the Dutch arm and 40% to the British. Sony VAIO PCG-7141M Battery
Royal Dutch Petroleum Company was a Dutch company founded in 1890 by Jean Baptiste August Kessler,[7] along with Henri Deterding, when a Royal charter was granted by King William III of the Netherlands to a small oil exploration and production company known as "Royal Dutch Company for the Working of Petroleum Wells in the Dutch East Indies".Sony VAIO PCG-7143M Battery
The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company (the quotation marks were part of the legal name) was a British company, founded in 1897 by Marcus Samuel and his brother Samuel Samuel.Their father had owned a company, importing and selling sea-shells, after which the company "Shell" took its name. Sony VAIO PCG-7151M Battery
Initially the Company commissioned eight oil tankers for the purposes of transporting oil. In 1919, Shell took control of the Mexican Eagle Petroleum Company and in 1921 formed Shell-Mex Limited which marketed products under the "Shell" and "Eagle" brands in the United Kingdom. Sony VAIO PCG-7154M Battery
In 1932, partly in response to the difficult economic conditions of the times, Shell-Mex merged its UK marketing operations with those of British Petroleum to create Shell-Mex and BP Ltd,[10] a company that traded until the brands separated in 1975. Sony VAIO PCG-7162M Battery
Around 1952, Shell was the first company to purchase and use an electronic computer in the Netherlands.[11] The computer, a Ferranti Mark 1*, was assembled and used at the Shell laboratory in Amsterdam. In 1970 Shell acquired the mining company Billiton, which it subsequently sold in 1994 and now forms part of BHP Billiton.[ Sony VAIO PCG-7181M Battery
In November 2004, following a period of turmoil caused by the revelation that Shell had been overstating its oil reserves, it was announced that the Shell Group would move to a single capital structure, creating a new parent company to be named Royal Dutch Shell plc, Sony VAIO PCG-41112M Battery
with its primary listing on the London Stock Exchange, a secondary listing on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange, its headquarters and tax residency in The Hague, Netherlands and its registered office in London. The unification was completed on 20 July 2005 and the original owners delisted their companies from the respective exchanges. Sony VAIO PCG-7153M Battery
On 20 July 2005, the Shell Transport & Trading Company plc was delisted from the LSE[13], where as, Royal Dutch Petroleum Company from NYSE on 18 November 2005[14]. The shares of the company were issued at a 60/40 advantage for the shareholders of Royal Dutch in line with the original ownership of the Shell Group. Sony VAIO PCG-71312M Battery
During the 2009 Iraqi oil services contracts tender, a consortium led by Shell (45%) and which included Petronas (30%) was awarded a production contract for the "Majnoon field" in the south of Iraq, which contains an estimated 12.6 billion barrels (2.00×109 m3) of oil. Sony VAIO PCG-7144M Battery
The "West Qurna 1 field" production contract was awarded to a consortium led by ExxonMobil(60%) and included Shell (15%).[18]
In February 2010 Shell and Cosan formed a 50:50 joint-venture, Raízen, comprising all of Cosan's Brazilian ethanol, energy generation, fuel distribution and sugar activities, Sony VAIO PCG-7191L Battery
and all of Shell's Brazilian retail fuel and aviation distribution businesses.[19] In March 2010, Shell announced the sale of some of its assets, including its liquid petroleum gas (LPG) business, to meet the cost of a planned $28bn capital spending programme. Sony VAIO PCG-3C1M Battery
Shell invited buyers to submit indicative bids, due by 22 March, with a plan to raise $2–3bn from the sale.[20] In June 2010, Royal Dutch Shell agreed to acquire all of the business of East Resources for a cash consideration of $4.7 billion. The transaction included East Resources' tight gas fields.[21] Sony VAIO PCG-3F1M Battery
On 4 August 2005, the board of directors announced the appointment of Jorma Ollila, chairman and CEO of Nokia at the time, to succeed Aad Jacobs as the company’s non-executive chairman on 1 June 2006. Ollila is the first Shell chairman to be neither Dutch nor British. Sony VAIO PCG-3H1M Battery
Other non-executive directors includeMaarten van den Bergh, Wim Kok, Nina Henderson, Lord Kerr, Adelbert van Roxe, and Christine Morin-Postel.
As of 1 July 2009, Peter Voser is CEO of Shell.[22] Peter, who is Swiss, is the first non-Dutch, non-British CEO of the company. Sony VAIO PCG-3J1M Battery
The name Shell is linked to The "Shell" Transport and Trading Company.[23] In 1833, the founder's father, also Marcus Samuel, founded an import business to sell seashells to London collectors. When collecting seashell specimens in the Caspian Sea area in 1892, Sony VAIO PCG-8141M Battery
the younger Samuel realised there was potential in exporting lamp oil from the region and commissioned the world's first purpose-built oil tanker, the Murex (Latin for a type of snail shell), to enter this market; by 1907 the company had a fleet. Although for several decades the company had a refinery at Shell Haven on the Thames, there is no evidence of this having provided the name. Sony VAIO PCG-8161M Battery
The Shell logo is one of the most familiar commercial symbols in the world. This logo is known as the "pecten" after the sea shell Pecten maximus (the giant scallop), on which its design is based. The yellow and red colours used are thought to relate to the colours of the flag of Spain, as Shell built early service stations in California, which was an early Spanish colony.Sony VAIO PCG-3C2M Battery
The slash was removed from the name "Royal Dutch/Shell" in 2004, concurrent with moves to merge the two legally separate companies (Royal Dutch and Shell) to the single legal entity which exists today.
Shell is currently organised into four major business groupings: Sony VAIO PCG-5N2M Battery
Upstream International – manages the Upstream business outside the Americas. It searches for lot s of oil and for and recovers crude oil and natural gas, liquefies and transports gas, and operates the upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver oil and gas to the market. Sony VAIO PCG-5P1M Battery
- Its activities are organised primarily within geographic units, although there are some activities that are managed across the business or provided through support units.
Upstream Americas – manages the Upstream business in North and South America. Sony VAIO PCG-5S1M Battery
It searches for and recovers crude oil and natural gas, transports gas and operates the upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver oil and gas to market. Upstream Americas also extracts bitumen from oil sands that is converted into synthetic crude oil. Sony VAIO PCG-9Z1M Battery
- It comprises operations organised into business-wide managed activities and supporting activities.
Downstream – manages Shell's manufacturing, distribution and marketing activities for oil products and chemicals. Manufacturing and supply includes refinery, supply and shipping of crude oil. Sony VAIO PCG-7171M Battery
Projects & technology – manages the delivery of Shell's major projects and drives the research and innovation to create technology solutions. It provides technical services and technology capability covering both Upstream and Downstream activities. Sony VAIO PCG-7186M Battery
- It is also responsible for providing functional leadership across Shell in the areas of health, safety and environment, and contracting and procurement.
Shell's primary business is the management of a vertically integrated oil company. Sony VAIO PCG-81112M Battery
The development of technical and commercial expertise in all stages of this vertical integration, from the initial search for oil (exploration) through its harvesting (production), transportation, refining and finally trading and marketing established the core competencies on which the company was founded. Sony VAIO PCG-31311M Battery
Similar competencies were required for natural gas, which has become one of the most important businesses in which Shell is involved, and which contributes a significant proportion of the company's profits. While the vertically integrated business model provided significant economies of scale and barriers to entry, Sony VAIO PCG-8152M Battery
each business now seeks to be a self-supporting unit without subsidies from other parts of the company.Traditionally, Shell was a heavily decentralised business worldwide (especially in the downstream) with companies in over 100 countries, each of which operated with a high degree of independence. Sony VAIO PCG-31111M Battery
The upstream tended to be far more centralised with much of the technical and financial direction coming from the central offices in The Hague. Nevertheless, there were very large "exploration and production" companies in a small number of major oil and gas production centres such as the United Kingdom Sony VAIO PCG-61111M Battery
(Shell Expro, a Joint Venture with Exxon), Nigeria, Brunei, and Oman.
Downstream operations, which now also includes the chemicals business, generates a third of Shell's profits worldwide and is known its global network of more than 40,000 petrol stations and its 47 oil refineries. Sony VAIO PCG-51112M Battery
The downstream business, which in some countries also included oil refining, generally included a retail petrol station network, lubricants manufacture and marketing, industrial fuel and lubricants sales and a host of other product/market sectors such as LPG and bitumen. Sony VAIO PCG-51211M Battery
The practice in Shell was that these businesses were essentially local and that they were best managed by local "operating companies" – often with middle and senior management reinforced byexpatriates. In the 1990s, this paradigm began to change, and the independence of operating companies around the world was gradually reduced. Sony VAIO PCG-51212M Battery
Today, virtually all of Shell’s operations in various businesses are much more directly managed from London and The Hague. The autonomy of “operating companies” has been largely removed, as more "global businesses" have been created.
Shell began drilling for oil in Africa during the 1950s. Sony VAIO PCG-41111M Battery
Shell began oil production in Nigeria in 1958.[25] Shell operates in the upstream oil sector in Algeria, Cameroon, Egypt, Gabon where is the giant Rabi-Kounga oil field, Ghana, Libya, Morocco, Nigeria, South Africa and Tunisia; and in the downstream sector in 16 other countries.[26] Sony VAIO PCG-41111V Battery
In Nigeria, Shell told US diplomats that it had placed staff in all the main ministries of the government.[27]
In April 2010, Shell announced its intention to divest from downstream business of all African countries except South Africa to Vitol and "Helios".Sony VAIO PCG-61412V Battery
In several countries such as Tunisia, protests and strikes broke out. Shell denied rumours of the sellout.[29] Shell continues however upstream activities/extracting crude oil in the oil-rich Niger Delta as well as downstream/commercial activities in South Africa. Sony VAIO PCG-71112M Battery
Royal Dutch Shell operates in the Philippines under its subsidiary, Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation. Its headquarters is in Makati City and it has facilities in the Pandacan oil depot and other key locations.[30] Sony VAIO PCG-81111V Battery
On January 2010, the Bureau of Customs claimed 7.34 billion pesos worth of unpaid excise taxes against Pilipinas Shell for importing Catalytic cracked gasoline (CCG) and light catalytic cracked gasoline (LCCG) stating that those imports are bound for tariff charges.[31] Sony VAIO PCG-81111V Battery
Pilipinas Shell denied the claim stating that those imports are raw materials for making their products. The company later emphasised that they are considering to close their local oil refinery if the case continues. Pilipinas Shell informed the public that they will exhaust all necessary steps to meet the demand for fuel. Sony VAIO PCG-81212M Battery
Shell first started trading in Ireland in 1902.[32] Shell E&P Ireland (SEPIL) (previously Enterprise Energy Ireland) is an Irish exploration and production subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell. Its headquarters are on Leeson Street in Dublin. It was acquired in May 2002.[33] Sony VAIO PCG-81212V Battery
Its main project is the Corrib gas project, a large gas field off the northwest coast, for which Shell has encountered controversy and protests in relation to the onshore pipeline and licence terms.
In 2005 Shell disposed of its entire retail and commercial fuels business in Ireland to Topaz Energy Group. Sony VAIO PCG-51111M Battery
This included depots, company-owned petrol stations and supply agreements stations throughout the island of Ireland.[34] The retail outlets were re-branded as Topaz in 2008/9.[35]
On 27 August 2007, Royal Dutch Shell and Reitan Group, the owner of the 7-Eleven brand in Scandinavia, announced an agreement to re-brand some 269 service stations across Norway, Sony VAIO VPCS13X9E/B battery
Sweden, Finland and Denmark, subject to obtaining regulatory approvals under the different competition laws in each country.[36] On April 2010 Shell announced that the corporation is in process of trying to find a potential buyer for all of its operations in Finland and is doing similar market research concerning Swedish operations. Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B battery
On October 2010 Shell's gas stations and the heavy vehicle fuel supply networks in Finland and Sweden, along with a refinery located in Gothenburg, Sweden were sold to St1, a Finnish energy company, more precisely to its major shareholding parent company Keele Oy. Sony VAIO VPCS12V9E/B battery
Shell branded gas stations will be rebranded within maximum of five years from the acquisition and the number of gas stations is likely to be reduced. Until then the stations will operate under Shell brand licence.
Through most of Shell's history, its business in the United States, Sony VAIO VPCF13M8E/B battery
Shell Oil Company was substantially independent with its stock ("Shell Oil") being traded on the NYSE and with little direct involvement from the group’s central offices in the running of the American business. Such practice also changed in the 1990s when Shell first bought out the shares in Shell Oil that it did not own and then took a more hands-on approach. Sony VAIO VPCF13Z0E/B battery
In Canada, also previously very independent, Shell has completed its purchase of the shares in Shell Canada that it did not own, to apply the new global business model.
In Australia, retailer Coles Group (now part of Wesfarmers) purchased the rights to the retail business from the existingShell Australia multi-site franchisees in 2003 for an amount less than A$100 million. Sony VAIO VPCM13M1E/L battery
The purchase was made in response to a popular discount fuel offer by rival Woolworths Limited launched some years earlier.
Coles Express' only affiliation with Shell is that Shell is the exclusive supplier of fuel and lubricant products, leases the service station property to Coles, Sony VAIO VPCM13M1E/W battery
and maintains the presence of the "pecten" and other Shell branding on the price board and other signage. Coles Express sets fuel and shop prices and runs the business, provides convenience and grocery merchandise through its supply chain and distribution network, and directly employs the service station staff. Sony VAIO VPCF22M1E battery
Shell has also moved to the outback with a huge complex in Coober Pedy, South Australia. The Opal Capital of The World.Royal Dutch Shell is currently developing the first floating liquefied natural gas facility, which will be situated 200 km off the coast of Western Australia and is due for completion in around 2017. Sony VAIO VPCF11M1E/H battery
When it is finished, it will measure around 488m long and 74m wide, and when fully ballasted will weigh 600,000 tonnes.[41]
Shell has had a long-time presence in New Zealand, and partly owns the Maui and Kapuni natural gas fields. Sony VAIO VPCF13M0E/B battery
In 2011 it completed the sale of its petrol retail division to Infratil and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, which rebranded the stations as Z Energy. Shell still operates in New Zealand via oil exploration and infrastructure.
AOSP Expansion 1, Gbaran-Ubie phase 1, Gjoa, Sony VAIO VPCYB2M1E battery
North American tight gas, Pearl GTL, Perdido, Pluto LNG T1 (Woodside), Qarn Alam, Qatargas 4 LNG, Schoonebeek, Shell Eastern Petrochemicals
Amal Steam, 1.8 Bab Thg & Hb2, BC-10 phase 2, Corrib, Gumusut-Kakap, Harweel, Kashagan phase 1, Majnoon FCP/West Qurna IPT, North Rankin 2, Port Arthur Refinery Expansion, SAS.Sony VAIO VPCYB3V1E battery
Bonga North West, Gorfon LNG T1-3, Mars B, W. Boreas & S. Deimos,
Over the years Shell has occasionally sought to diversify away from its core oil, gas and chemicals businesses. These diversifications have included nuclear power (a short-lived and costly joint venture with Gulf Oil in the USA); Sony VAIO VPCY11M1E battery
coal (Shell Coal was for a time a significant player in mining and marketing); metals (Shell acquired the Dutch metals-mining company Billiton in 1970) and electricity generation (a joint venture with Bechtel called Intergen). None of these ventures were seen as successful and all have now been divested. Sony VAIO VPCS12L9E/B battery
In the early 2000s Shell moved into alternative energy and there is now an embryonic "Renewables" business that has made investments in solar power, wind power,hydrogen, and forestry. The forestry business went the way of nuclear, coal, metals and electricity generation, and was disposed of in 2003. Sony VAIO VPCF11S1E/B battery
In 2006 Shell paid SolarWorld to take over its entire solar business[42] and in 2008, the company withdrew from the London Array which is expected to become the world's largest offshore wind farm.[43]
Shell also is involved in large-scale hydrogen projects. Sony VAIO VPCYB3V1E/R Battery
HydrogenForecast.com describes Shell's approach thus far as consisting of "baby steps", but with an underlying message of "extreme optimism".[44]
Shell holds 50% of Raízen, a joint venture with Brazilian sugarcane producer Cosan which is the third-largest Brazil-based energy company by revenues and a major producer of ethanol.[45] Sony VAIO VPCF23P1E Battery
Shell's compliance to corporate social responsibility also includes its UK and international Shell LiveWIRE programmes. This initiative has over 26 years experience of encouraging young people to start and develop their own businesses in the UK and 26 other countries in the world.[46] Sony VAIO VPCF23N1E Battery
Shell has been criticised for its businesses in Africa, notably in relation to protests of the Ogoni in 1995.[47]In the 1990s, protesters criticised the company's environmental record, particularly the possible pollution caused by the proposed disposal of the Brent Spar platform into the North Sea. Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/L Battery
Despite support from the UK government, Shell reversed the decision under public pressure but maintained that sinking the platform would have been environmentally better.[48] Shell subsequently published an unequivocal commitment to sustainable development, supported by executive speeches reinforcing this commitment.[49] Sony VAIO VPCY21S1E/G battery
In 2004 Shell overstated its oil reserves, resulting in loss of confidence in the group, a £17 million fine by the Financial Services Authority and the departure of the chairman Philip Watts. A lawsuit resulted in the payment of $450 million to non-American shareholders in 2007. Sony VAIO VPCF24M1E battery
Shell's advertising regarding its renewable energy business has been described as a greenwash by some environmental lobbies,[53]though its renewable energy activities have been praised by other commentators.[54]
In August 2008, the British Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) HP Pavilion DV9200 Battery
ruled that Shell had misled the public in an advertisement when it claimed that a $10 billion oil sands project in Alberta, Canada was a "sustainable energy source".[55]
The presence of companies like Shell in Niger-Delta has led to extreme environmental issues in the Niger Delta. Many pipelines in the Niger-Delta owned by Shell are old and corroded. HP Pavilion DV9200CTO Battery
This has resulted in many oil spills in this area that have degraded the environment, killing off vegetation and fish. Shell has acknowledged its responsibility for keeping the pipelines new but has also denied responsibility for environmental causes.This has led to mass protests from the HP Pavilion DV9200XX Battery
Niger-Delta inhabitants and Amnesty International against Shell and Friends of the Earth Netherlands. It has also led to action plans to boycott Shell by environmental groups, and human rights groups.[57]
In Magdelena, Argentina: Shell was responsible for the largest oil spill that has ever occurred in freshwater in the world. HP Pavilion DV9201CA Battery
On 15 January 1999, a Shell tank ship in Magdalena, Argentina collided with another tanker, emptying its contents into the lake, polluting the environment, drinkable water, plants and animals.[58]
A number of incidents over the years led to criticism of Shell's health and safety record, HP Pavilion DV9201TX Battery
including repeated warnings by the UK Health and Safety Executive about the poor state of the company's North Sea platforms.[59]
In the beginning of 1996, several human rights groups brought cases to hold Shell accountable for alleged human rights violations in Nigeria, including summary execution, HP Pavilion DV9202EA Battery
crimes against humanity, torture, inhumane treatment and arbitrary arrest and detention. In particular, Shell stood accused of collaborating in the execution of Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of the Ogoni tribe of southern Nigeria, who were hanged in 1995 by Nigeria's then military rulers. HP Pavilion DV9202TX Battery
The lawsuits were brought against Royal Dutch Shell and Brian Anderson, the head of its Nigerian operation.[61] In 2009, Shell agreed to pay $15.5m in a legal settlement.[60] Shell has not accepted any liability over the allegations against it.[62] HP Pavilion DV9203TX Battery
In 2009, Shell was the subject of an Amnesty International report into the deterioration of human rights as a consequence of Shell's activities in the Niger Delta. In particular, Amnesty criticised the continuation of gas flaring and Shell's slow response to oil spills.[63] HP Pavilion DV9203XX Battery
In 2010, a leaked cable revealed that Shell claims to have inserted staff into all the main ministries of the Nigerian government and know "everything that was being done in those ministries", according to Shell's top executive in Nigeria. The same executive also boasted that the Nigerian government had forgotten about the extent of Shell's infiltration. HP Pavilion DV9204TX Battery
Documents released in 2009 (but not used in the court case) reveal that Shell regularly made payments to the Nigerian military in order to prevent protests.[65]
In 2012 Amnesty International and Friends of the Earth Netherlands intensified the campaign against Shell. HP Pavilion DV9204XX Battery
They are particularly concerned about the human rights violations and the environmental pollution. Public awareness of the situation has risen severely and which pressures Shell to take its responsibility and clean the spilled oil in the Nigerian Delta.[66]
Problems have also occurred with the Sakhalin-II project in Russia and the controversial Corrib Gas Field development in Ireland. HP Pavilion DV9205CA Battery
In 2007 Friends of the Earthalleged that the damage caused by Shell's oil activities to local communities and the wider environment could be assessed at $20 billion.[67] Accusations have also been made about the conduct of Shell in Nigeria.[68]
From 2009–2010, Shell, acting under East Resources, donated more than $300,000[69] to current governor of Pennsylvania, HP Pavilion DV9205EU Battery
Tom Corbett, which some believe was a payoff in exchange for no severance tax and the repeal of environmental policies created to protect the environment from natural gas drilling.[70]
Shell has set up a global internet-based facility for whistleblowers to report alleged violations of the law or the Shell general business principles, HP Pavilion DV9205TX Battery
a voluntary code of ethics pledging transparency, integrity and honesty in all of Shell's business dealings.[71] The introduction at the global helpline website says "Reporting and addressing suspected violations of the law or the Shell General Business Principles HP Pavilion DV9205US Battery
(SGBP) is of critical importance in protecting our reputation and the value of the Shell brand." Whistleblowers are asked to provide identity details but anonymous reports are also accepted. The Global Helpline operated by Global Compliance, Inc. is available to "customers, suppliers, partners, advisers and employees of Shell".[72] HP Pavilion DV9206CA Battery
Since the 1988 Kulluk oil spill located off the coast of Alaska in the Beaufort Sea; the company admits the dangers of pack ice and notices, that "No one has yet fully determined how to clean up an oil spill in pack ice or broken ice".In July 2012 Greenpeace activists shut down 53 Shell petrol stations inEdinburgh and London in a protest against the company's plans to drill for oil in the Arctic. HP Pavilion DV9206EU Battery
Greenpeace's Save the Arctic campaign aims to prevent oil drilling and industrial fishing in the Arctic and have the region recognised as a world park.
Shell Oil Company is the United States-based subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell, a multinational oil company ("oil major") of Anglo Dutch origins, HP Pavilion DV9206TX Battery
which is amongst the largest oil companies in the world. Approximately 22,000 Shell employees are based in the U.S. The U.S. head office is in Houston, Texas. Shell Oil Company, including its consolidated companies and its share in equity companies, is one of America’s largest oil and natural gas producers, natural gas marketers, gasoline marketers and petrochemical manufacturers. HP Pavilion DV9206XX Battery
Shell is the market leader through approximately 25,000 Shell-branded gas stations in the US which also serve as Shell's most visible public presence. Shell Oil Company is a 50/50 partner with the Saudi Arabian government-owned oil companySaudi Aramco in Motiva Enterprises, HP Pavilion DV9207TX Battery
a refining and marketing joint venture which owns and operates three oil refineries on the Gulf Coast of the United States. It also holds 80% of an exploration firm called Pecten that explores and drills in various offshore locations including the oil basin near Douala, Cameroon in cooperation with the French government-owned Elf Aquitaine (now Total).[1] HP Pavilion DV9207US Battery
Shell products include oils, fuels, and card services as well as exploration, production, and refining of petroleum products.[2] The Shell Oil Refinery in Martinez, California, the first Shell refinery in the United States,[3] supplies Shell and Texaco stations in the West and Midwest.[4] HP Pavilion DV9208NR Battery
Shell gasolines previously included the RU2000 and SU2000 lines (later there was a SU2000E) but they have been superseded by the V-Power line.[5]
In 1997, Shell and Texaco entered into two refining/marketing joint ventures. One combined their midwestern and western operations and was known as Equilon. HP Pavilion DV9208TX Battery
The other, known as Motiva, combined the eastern and gulf coast operations of Shell Oil and Star Enterprise, itself a joint venture between Saudi Aramco and Texaco.[6] After Texaco merged with Chevron in 2001, Shell purchased Texaco's shares in the joint ventures.[7] HP Pavilion DV9209TX Battery
In 2002, Shell began converting these Texaco stations to the Shell brand, a process that was to be completed by June 2004 and was called "the largest retail re-branding initiative in American business history."
Until the mid 1980s Shell’s business in the United States was substantially independent, HP Pavilion DV9209XX Battery
with its stock (“Shell Oil”) traded on the NYSE and with little direct involvement from the Group’s central office in The Hague, Netherlands. In 1984, Dutch Royal Shell made a bid to purchase those shares of Shell Oil Company it did not own (around 30%) and despite some opposition from some minority shareholders which led to a court case, HP Pavilion DV9210CA Battery
Despite the acquisition, however, Shell Oil remained a very independent business. This was partly for complex legal reasons as RoyalDutch/Shell feared that there could be onerous liability problems if a closer control of Shell Oil's affairs was taken by the "parent companies".HP Pavilion DV9210EU Battery
One of the stranger consequences of this independence was that the Shell logo used in the US was slightly different from that used in the rest of the world. In the 1990s Shell Oil's independence began gradually to be eroded as the "parent companies" took a more hands-on approach in the running of the business. HP Pavilion DV9210TX Battery
The logo used in the United States is the same as that used elsewhere since June 1, 1998.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a Notice of Violation to Shell Oil Company for its infringements of the Clean Air Act at a bulk petroleum terminal the company owned in Bridgeport, Connecticut, prior to October 1, 1998. HP Pavilion DV9210US Battery
According to the report, Shell loaded a total of 28.4 million gallons of gasoline onto barges without required vapor recovery equipment on seven days in 1997 resulting in 56 tons of uncontrolled volatile organic compound emissions. During the investigation, HP Pavilion DV9211EA Battery
the EPA found that Shell built an additional loading bay in 1995 without permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection. Bridgeport’s facility had been recorded to produce an average of about 170 tons of volatile organic compounds per year. HP Pavilion DV9211TX Battery
This modification has the potential to produce 30 tons more per year more of the polluting emissions.Shell Puget Sound Refinery, Anacortes, Washington, was fined $291,000 from 2006 to 2010 for violations of the Clean Air Act making it the second most-fined violator in the Pacific Northwest. HP Pavilion DV9212EA Battery
As of 2011, it was listed as "high priority violator" since 2008.
In 2008, a lawsuit was filed against Shell Oil Company for alleged Clean Air Act violation. Shell Deer Park facility, 20 miles east of Houston, was the nation’s eighth-largest oil refinery and one of the world’s largest petrochemical producers. HP Pavilion DV9212TX Battery
The facility was also the second largest source of air pollution in Harris County, which ranked among the lowest in the nation in several measures of air quality.According to Sierra Club and Environment Texas, analysis of Shell’s reports to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, HP Pavilion DV9213EA Battery
air pollutants released at Deer Park since 2003 exceeded the EPA's emissions limits.
Shell, working with Philips, implemented efforts to reduce the impact of its operations on the millions of migratory birds that encounter the North Sea drilling operations.[16][17] HP Pavilion DV9213TX Battery
Mehdi Shahbazi was a Shell station operator in central California who posted signs in 2005 stating "Big oil's unearned profit" in protest of zone pricing. Shell sued Shahbazi saying that the protest violated the terms of his lease.Shahbazi responded by accusing the company of "breach of contract and of violating the Petroleum Marketing Practices Act". HP Pavilion DV9214EA Battery
Shell then terminated his contract. A federal judge ruled in favor of Shell and Shahbazi was ordered to vacate the station.[19]
Shahbazi died on November 14, 2007, due to liver failure which was a result of a hunger strike.[19] HP Pavilion DV9214TX Battery
From 1978 to 1995, Shell Oil produced polybutylene pipes, which corrode when exposed to chlorine. A class action lawsuit was filed in 1995 against Shell Oil when the polybutylene pipes caused flooding in many households in the US and Canada.The settlement required Shell Oil to pay for the re-installation of piping for millions of houses for claims filed through May 2009.HP Pavilion DV9215EA Battery
In June 2009 Shell's parent company, Royal Dutch Shell, paid US$15.5 million to settle a lawsuit brought in U.S. District Court in New York. The suit alleged that Shell had conspired with the government of military dictator Sani Abacha to kill author Ken Saro-Wiwa HP Pavilion DV9215TX Battery
and other Ogoni citizens involved in a nonviolentcampaign against oil waste dumping in their homeland in the Niger Delta.[22] More than 50 years of unsafe drilling and frequent oil spills and gas flarings in the region have had a disastrous effect on the environment and on human health.[23] HP Pavilion DV9216EA Battery
Nigerian troops used violence to suppress protests, while Shell resisted pressure to use its influence to improve the situation.[24]
Saro-Wiwa had been president of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People when he and eight others were arrested, brought before a military tribunal, and sentenced to be hanged. HP Pavilion DV9216TX Battery
After the executions in November 1995, Saro-Wiwa's body was "burned with acid and thrown in an unmarked grave."[24]
The incident focused widespread outrage on Royal Dutch Shell and the Nigerian government. HP Pavilion DV9217EA Battery
In New York the Center for Constitutional Rights brought suit against the company on the grounds that surviving plaintiffs could not safely return to Nigeria to press their claims there.[24] The US$15.5 million settlement paid for legal fees, compensation to Ogoni families, and "a trust to invest in social programs" in Nigeria. HP Pavilion DV9217TX Battery
Shell did not admit wrongdoing, but claimed the settlement was made on "humanitarian" grounds. Ben Amunwa, director of the Remember Ken Saro-Wiwa organization, replied that Shell settled the case "because the evidence compiled by the plaintiffs, was damning enough to force an out of court settlement."[25] HP Pavilion DV9218EA Battery
In 2012[dated info] the US Supreme Court was scheduled to hear arguments in a similar case filed by Esther Kiobel, widow of an anti-Shell activist, to determine whether her case against Royal Dutch Shell may proceed through the US court system. HP Pavilion DV9218TX Battery
Shell Canada Limited (French: Shell Canada Limitée) is the subsidiary of Dutch-based Royal Dutch Shell and one ofCanada's largest integrated oil companies. Exploration and production of oil, natural gas and sulphur is a major part of its business, HP Pavilion DV9219EA Battery
as well as the marketing of gasoline and related products through the company's approximately 1,800 stations across Canada.
After a global reorganization by the European parent, Shell's North American operations are controlled by Shell Energy North America, which is headquartered in Houston, Texas. HP Pavilion DV9219TX Battery
Shell Energy North America's Canadian operational unit, Shell Canada, maintains a regional corporate office in Calgary, Alberta. Shell Canada also maintains a major office in Toronto, ON.
Shell Canada's shares were originally independently traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. HP Pavilion DV9220CA Battery
The company was 78% owned by Royal Dutch Shell which in 2006 launched an $8.7-billion takeover of the 22% of Shell Canada that it didn't own. In March 2007 the shareholders of Shell Canada Ltd. accepted a $45.00 per share cash offer from Royal Dutch Shell Plc.HP Pavilion DV9220EU Battery
This acquisition was primarily driven by the desire of the parent company to take total control of its Canadian divisions unconventional resources, specifically the oil sands. The move was unanimously approved by the independent members of the Board of Directors.[2] HP Pavilion DV9220TX Battery
In 2003 Royal Dutch Shell had appointed a British executive, and former Chairman of Shell in the UK, Clive Mather, as president and CEO of Shell Canada.
As a consequence of the stock acquisition by Royal Dutch Shell, all Shell Canada executives holding stock options benefitted. HP Pavilion DV9220US Battery
Shell Canada announced on Mr Mather’s retirement from the company shortly after the acquisition was completed that his total pay package for his final year (2007-07) was $4.9-million Including bonuses, stock options and pension contributions and that on leaving the company, HP Pavilion DV9221EA Battery
Mr. Mather was additionally eligible for a lump sum payment equal to his annual gross salary. His total benefit in that year was, therefore $9.8 million of which some $5 million was from exercised stock options,[3] making him one of the highest remunerated employees in Royal Dutch Shell. HP Pavilion DV9221TX Battery
In 2006, Shell Canada acquired the oil sand developer BlackRock Ventures Inc. for C$2.4 billion. As a part of this deal, Shell acquired the Orion oil-sands project near Cold Lake, Alberta. In May 2012, Shell announced that it has put the project up for sale.ref name=fox280512> Shell Puts Orion Oil-Sands Project In Alberta Up For Sale. HP Pavilion DV9222TX Battery
Current senior officers are Brian Straub (President, Country Chair), John Abbott (Sr VP Oil Sands), Greg Guidry (Sr VP Exploration & Production), Dwight van Kampen (Sr VP Finance and Controller). HP Pavilion DV9222XX Battery
In October 2008, Shell Canada Limited was named one of "Canada's Top 100 Employers" by Mediacorp Canada Inc., and was featured in Maclean's newsmagazine. Later that month, Shell Canada was also named one of Alberta's Top Employers, which was announced by the Calgary Herald[4] and the Edmonton Journal. HP Pavilion DV9223TX Battery
In Australia, Royal Dutch Shell conducts a large range of activities. These include exploration for, and the production and commercialization of, oil and natural gas, the operation of two refineries, 19 terminals and 33 depots for the manufacture and distribution of oil products; HP Pavilion DV9223XX Battery
and the marketing of lubricants, aviation products, marine oil products, bitumen and chemicals.
Wesfarmers has operated most of Shell's retail service station network in Australia under the Coles Express brand since 2003, when (as Coles Group), it purchased the retail business of Shell Australia's multi-site franchisees for A$94 million.[1] HP Pavilion DV9224TX Battery
Shell is the exclusive supplier of fuel products to the Coles Express network,[2] leases the service station property to Coles, and maintains the presence of Shell branding. Coles Express sets fuel and shop prices and operates the business, provides convenience and grocery merchandise through its supply chain and distribution network, and directly employs service station staff. HP Pavilion DV9224XX Battery
Shell is currently developing the a Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) facility, which will be situated 200 km off the coast of Western Australia and is due for completion in around 2017. When it is finished, the structure, which is being built in South Korea will be the largest floating structure ever.[3] HP Pavilion DV9225US Battery
It will measure around 488 m long and 74 m wide, and when fully ballasted will weigh 600,000 tonnes.[4]
In July 2011, the Federal Government gave approval for the company to drill an exploration well 50 km to the west of the Ningaloo Marine Park. HP Pavilion DV9225XX Battery
The drilling operation will occur at depths of around 1,300 metres, the deepest ever in Australian waters.
Algae fuel is an alternative to fossil fuel that uses algae as its source of natural deposits.[1] Several companies and government agencies are funding efforts to reduce capital and operating costs and make algae fuel production commercially viable.[2] HP Pavilion DV9230US Battery
Harvested algae, like fossil fuel, release CO2 when burnt but unlike fossil fuel the CO2 is taken out of the atmosphere by the growing algae.
High oil prices, competing demands between foods and other biofuel sources, and the world food crisis, HP Pavilion DV9230XX Battery
have ignited interest in algaculture (farming algae) for making vegetable oil, biodiesel, bioethanol, biogasoline, biomethanol, biobutanol and other biofuels, using land that is not suitable for agriculture. Among algal fuels' attractive characteristics: they can be grown with minimal impact on fresh water resources, HP Pavilion DV9231CA Battery
can be produced using ocean and wastewater, and are biodegradable and relatively harmless to the environment if spilled.[5][6][7] Algae cost more per unit mass (as of 2010, food grade algae costs ~$5000/tonne), due to high capital and operating costs,[8] yet are claimed to yield between 10 and 100 times more fuel per unit area than other second-generation biofuel crops.[9] HP Pavilion DV9231XX Battery
One biofuels company has claimed that algae can produce more oil in an area the size of a two car garage than a football field of soybeans, because almost the entire algal organism can use sunlight to produce lipids, or oil.[10] The United States Department of Energy estimates that if algae fuel replaced all the petroleum fuel in the United States, HP Pavilion DV9232EU Battery
it would require 15,000 square miles (39,000 km2) which is only 0.42% of the U.S. map,[11] or about half of the land area of Maine. This is less than 1⁄7 the area of corn harvested in the United States in 2000.[12] However, these claims remain unrealized, commercially. HP Pavilion DV9232XX Battery
According to the head of the Algal Biomass Organization algae fuel can reach price parity with oil in 2018 if granted production tax credits.The lipid, or oily part of the algae biomass can then be extracted and converted into biodiesel through a process similar to that used for another other vegetable oil, or converted in a refinery into "drop-in" replacements for petroleum-based fuels. HP Pavilion DV9233CA Battery
The algae’s carbohydrate content can be fermented intobioethanol and biobutanol.[16]
The U.S. Department of Energy's Aquatic Species Program, 1978–1996, focused on biodiesel from microalgae. The final report suggested that biodiesel could be the only viable method by which to produce enough fuel to replace current world diesel usage. HP Pavilion DV9233CL Battery
If algae-derived biodiesel were to replace the annual global production of 1.1bn tons of conventional diesel then a land mass of 57.3 million hectares would be required, which would be highly favorable compared to other biofuels.[18]
As they do not have to produce structural compounds such as cellulose for leaves, stems, HP Pavilion DV9233EU Battery
or roots, and because they can be grown floating in a rich nutritional medium, microalgae can have faster growth rates than terrestrial crops. Also, they can convert a much higher fraction of their biomass to oil than conventional crops, e.g. 60% versus 2-3% for soybeans.[19] HP Pavilion DV9233XX Battery
The per unit area yield of oil from algae is estimated to be from between 1,000 to 6,500 US gallons per acre per year (4,700 to 18,000 m3/km2·a).[20] This is 7 to 30 times greater than the next best crop, Chinese tallow (700 US gal/acre·a or 650 m3/km2·a).
Studies[19] show that some species of algae can produce up to 60% of their dry weight in the form of oil. HP Pavilion DV9235NR Battery
Because the cells grow in aqueous suspension, where they have more efficient access to water, CO2 and dissolved nutrients, microalgae are capable of producing large amounts of biomass and usable oil in either high rate algal ponds or photobioreactors. This oil can then be turned into biodiesel which could be sold for use in automobiles. HP Pavilion DV9235XX Battery
Regional production of microalgae and processing into biofuels will provide economic benefits to rural communities.[21]
Butanol can be made from algae or diatoms using only a solar powered biorefinery. This fuel has an energy density 10% less than gasoline, and greater than that of either ethanol or methanol. HP Pavilion DV9237EU Battery
In most gasoline engines, butanol can be used in place of gasoline with no modifications. In several tests, butanol consumption is similar to that of gasoline, and when blended with gasoline, provides better performance and corrosion resistance than that of ethanol or E85.
The green waste left over from the algae oil extraction can be used to produce butanol. HP Pavilion DV9237XX Battery
Biogasoline is produced from biomass such as algae. Like traditionally produced gasoline, it contains between 6 (hexane) and 12 (dodecane) carbon atoms per molecule and can be used in internal-combustion engines.
Methane a form of natural gas can be produced from algae in various methods, namely Gasification, Pyrolysis and Anaerobic Digestion. HP Pavilion DV9241EA Battery
In Gasification and Pyrolysis methods methane is extracted under high temperature and pressure. Anaerobic Digestion[24] is a straight forward method involved in decomposition of algae into simple components then transforming it into fatty acids using microbes like acidific bacteria followed by removing any solid particles and finally adding methanogenic bacteria to release a gas mixture containing methane. HP Pavilion DV9241XX Battery
The Algenol system which is being commercialized by BioFields in Puerto Libertad, Sonora, Mexico utilizes seawater and industrial exhaust to produce ethanol.
The algal-oils feedstock that is used to produce biodiesels can also be used for fuel directly as "Straight Vegetable Oil", (SVO). HP Pavilion DV9243EA Battery
The benefit of using the oil in this manner is that it doesn't require the additional energy needed for transesterification, (processing the oil with an alcohol and a catalyst to produce biodiesel). The drawback is that it does require modifications to a normal diesel engine. HP Pavilion DV9243XX Battery
Transesterified biodiesel can be run in an unmodified modern diesel engine, provided the fuel system is using all non-rubber lines, o-rings and seals, which accounts for most diesel vehicles made after 1993. Viton is the best rubber-sustitute for older diesel vehicle fuel lines and components when running biodiesel. HP Pavilion DV9244EA Battery
As of 2006, the new standard for petroleum diesel in the United States is ultra-low sulfur diesel.
Rising jet fuel prices are putting severe pressure on airline companies,[26] creating an incentive for algal jet fuel research. HP Pavilion DV9244EU Battery
The International Air Transport Association, for example, supports research, development and deployment of algal fuels. IATA’s goal is for its members to be using 10% alternative fuels by 2017.[27]
Trials have been carried with aviation biofuel by Air New Zealand,[28] Lufthansa, and Virgin Airlines.[29] HP Pavilion DV9248EA Battery
In February 2010, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency announced that the U.S. military was about to begin large-scale production oil from algal ponds into jet fuel. After extraction at a cost of $2 per gallon, the oil will be refined at less than $3 a gallon. HP Pavilion DV9248XX Battery
A larger-scale refining operation, producing 50 million gallons a year, is expected to go into production in 2013, with the possibility of lower per gallon costs so that algae-based fuel would be competitive with fossil fuels. The projects, run by the companies SAIC and General Atomics, are expected to produce 1,000 gallons of oil per acre per year from algal ponds. HP Pavilion DV9252EU Battery
Algae can produce up to 300 times more oil per acre than conventional crops, such as rapeseed, palms, soybeans, or jatropha. As algae have a harvesting cycle of 1–10 days, it permits several harvests in a very short time frame, a strategy differing from yearly crops (Chisti 2007). HP Pavilion DV9252XX Battery
Algae can also be grown on land that is not suitable for other established crops, for instance, arid land, land with excessively saline soil, and drought-stricken land. This minimizes the issue of taking away pieces of land from the cultivation of food crops (Schenk et al. 2008). Algae can grow 20 to 30 times faster than food crops.[31] HP Pavilion DV9253EA Battery
Most companies pursuing algae as a source of biofuels are pumping nutrient-rich water through plastic or borosilicate glass tubes (called "bioreactors" ) that are exposed to sunlight (and so called photobioreactors or PBR).
Running a PBR is more difficult than an open pond, and more costly, but may provide a higher level of control and productivity. HP Pavilion DV9253XX Battery
Algae farms can also be set up on marginal lands, such as in desert areas where the groundwater is saline, rather than utilize fresh water.[32] They can also be grown on the surface of the ocean.[33]
Because algae strains with lower lipid content may grow as much as 30 times faster than those with high lipid content.HP Pavilion DV9254EU Battery
the difficulties in efficient biodiesel production from algae lie in finding an algal strain, with a combination of high lipid content and fast growth rate, that isn't too difficult to harvest; and a cost-effective cultivation system (i.e., type of photobioreactor) that is best suited to that strain. There is also a need to provide concentrated CO2 to increase the rate of production. HP Pavilion DV9254XX Battery
Another obstacle preventing widespread mass production of algae for biofuel production has been the equipment and structures needed to begin growing algae in large quantities. Maximum use of existing agriculture processes and hardware is the goal.[35]
In a closed system (not exposed to open air) there is not the problem of contamination by other organisms blown in by the air. HP Pavilion DV9255EA Battery
The problem for a closed system is finding a cheap source of sterile CO2. Several experimenters have found the CO2 from a smokestack works well for growing algae.To be economical, some experts think that algae farming for biofuels will have to be done as part of cogeneration, where it can make use of waste heat, and help soak up pollution. HP Pavilion DV9255XX Battery
Open-pond systems for the most part have been given up for the cultivation of algae with high-oil content.[39] Many believe that a major flaw of the Aquatic Species Program was the decision to focus their efforts exclusively on open-ponds; this makes the entire effort dependent upon the hardiness of the strain chosen, HP Pavilion DV9260NR Battery
requiring it to be unnecessarily resilient in order to withstand wide swings in temperature and pH, and competition from invasive algae and bacteria. Open systems using a monoculture are also vulnerable to viral infection. The energy that a high-oil strain invests into the production of oil is energy that is not invested into the production of proteins or carbohydrates, HP Pavilion DV9260US Battery
usually resulting in the species being less hardy, or having a slower growth rate. Algal species with a lower oil content, not having to divert their energies away from growth, have an easier time in the harsher conditions of an open system.
Some open sewage ponds trial production has been done in Marlborough, New Zealand. HP Pavilion DV9265EA Battery
Research into algae for the mass-production of oil is mainly focused on microalgae; organisms capable of photosynthesis that are less than 0.4 mm in diameter, including the diatoms and cyanobacteria; as opposed to macroalgae, such as seaweed. The preference towards microalgae is due largely to its less complex structure, HP Pavilion DV9265LA Battery
fast growth rate, and high oil content (for some species). However, some research is being done into using seaweeds for biofuels, probably due to the high availability of this resource.
Companies such as Sapphire Energy and Bio Solar Cells[51] are using genetic engineering to make algae fuel production more efficient. HP Pavilion DV9266EA Battery
According to Klein Lankhorst of Bio Solar Cells, genetic engineering could vastly improve algae fuel efficiency as algae can be modified to only build short carbon chains instead of long chains of carbohydrates.[52] Sapphire Energy also uses chemically induced mutations to produce algae suitable for use as a crop.[53] HP Pavilion DV9266EU Battery
Proviron has been working on a new type of reactor (using flat plates) which reduces the cost of algae cultivation. At AlgaePARC similar research is being conducted using 4 grow systems (1 open pond system and types of 3 closed systems). According to René Wijffels the current systems do not yet allow algae fuel to be produced competitively. HP Pavilion DV9267EA Battery
However using new (closed) systems, and by scaling up the production it would be possible to reduce costs by 10X, up to a price of 0,4 € per kg of algae.[54]Some commercial interests into large-scale algal-cultivation systems are looking to tie in to existing infrastructures, such as cement factories,[38] coal power plants, or sewage treatment facilities. HP Pavilion DV9267XX Battery
This approach changes wastes into resources to provide the raw materials, CO2 and nutrients, for the system.[55]
Aquaflow Bionomic Corporation of New Zealand announced that it has produced its first sample of homegrown bio-diesel fuel with algae sourced from local sewerageponds. A small quantity of laboratory produced oil was mixed with 95% regular diesel. HP Pavilion DV9268EA Battery
A feasibility study using marine microalgae in a photobioreactor is being done by The International Research Consortium on Continental Margins at the Jacobs University Bremen.[56]
The Department of Environmental Science at Ateneo de Manila University in the Philippines, is working on producing biofuel from a local species of algae.[57] HP Pavilion DV9268XX Battery
NBB’s Feedstock Development program is addressing production of algae on the horizon to expand available material for biodiesel in a sustainable manner.
Nutrients like nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K), are important for plant growth and are essential parts of fertilizer. HP Pavilion DV9269EA Battery
Silica and iron, as well as several trace elements, may also be considered important marine nutrients as the lack of one can limit the growth of, or productivity in, an area.[59]
Bubbling CO2 through algal cultivation systems can greatly increase productivity and yield (up to a saturation point). HP Pavilion DV9269XX Battery
Typically, about 1.8 tonnes of CO2 will be utilised per tonne of algal biomass (dry) produced, though this varies with algae species.[60] The Glenturret Distillery in Perthshire, UK – home to The Famous Grouse Whisky – percolate CO2 made during the whisky distillation through a microalgae bioreactor. HP Pavilion DV9271EA Battery
Each tonne of microalgae absorbs two tonnes of CO2. Scottish Bioenergy, who run the project, sell the microalgae as high value, protein-rich food for fisheries. In the future, they will use the algae residues to produce renewable energy through anaerobic digestion.[61]
A possible nutrient source is waste water from the treatment of sewage, agricultural, HP Pavilion DV9271XX Battery
or flood plain run-off, all currently major pollutants and health risks. However, this waste water cannot feed algae directly and must first be processed by bacteria, through anaerobic digestion. If waste water is not processed before it reaches the algae, it will contaminate the algae in the reactor, HP Pavilion DV9272EA Battery
and at the very least, kill much of the desired algae strain. In biogas facilities, organic waste is often converted to a mixture of carbon dioxide, methane, and organic fertilizer. Organic fertilizer that comes out of the digester is liquid, and nearly suitable for algae growth, but it must first be cleaned and sterilized. HP Pavilion DV9272XX Battery
The utilization of wastewater and ocean water instead of freshwater is strongly advocated due to the continuing depletion of freshwater resources. However, heavy metals, trace metals, and other contaminants in wastewater can decrease the ability of cells to produce lipids biosynthetically and also impact various other workings in the machinery of cells. HP Pavilion DV9273EA Battery
The same is true for ocean water, but the contaminants are found in different concentrations. Thus, agricultural-grade fertilizer is the preferred source of nutrients, but heavy metals are again a problem, especially for strains of algae that are susceptible to these metals. HP Pavilion DV9273XX Battery
In open pond systems the use of strains of algae that can deal with high concentrations of heavy metals could prevent other organisms from infesting these systems (Schenk et al. 2008). In some instances it has even been shown that strains of algae can remove over 90% of nickel and zinc from industrial wastewater in relatively short periods of time (Chong, Wong et al. 1998). HP Pavilion DV9274EA Battery
There is always uncertainty about the success of new products and investors have to consider carefully the proper energy sources in which to invest.[61] A drop in fossil fuel oil prices might make consumers and therefore investors lose interest in renewable energy. HP Pavilion DV9274EU Battery
Algal fuel companies are learning that investors have different expectations about returns and length of investments. AlgaePro Systems found in its talks with investors that while one wants at least 5 times the returns on their investment, others would only be willing to invest in a profitable operation over the long term. HP Pavilion DV9275EA Battery
Every investor has its own unique stipulations that are obstacles to further algae fuel development. Additional concerns consider the potential environmental impact of Algal fuel development, as well as secondary impacts on wildlife such as bears and fish.
Whereas technical problems, such as harvesting, are being addressed successfully by the industry, HP Pavilion DV9275LA Battery
the high up-front investment of algae-to-biofuels facilities is seen by many as a major obstacle to the success of this technology. Only few studies on the economic viability are publicly available, and must often rely on the little data (often only engineering estimates) available in the public domain. HP Pavilion DV9276EA Battery
Dmitrov[62] examined the GreenFuels photobioreactor and estimated that algae oil would only be competitive at an oil price of $800 per barrel. A study by Alabi at al.[63] examined raceways, photobioreactors and anaerobic fermenters to make biofuels from algae and found that photobioreactors are too expensive to make biofuels. HP Pavilion DV9276XX Battery
Raceways might be cost-effective in warm climates with very low labor costs, and fermenters may become cost-effective subsequent to significant process improvements. The group found that capital cost, labor cost and operational costs (fertilizer, electricity, etc.) by themselves are too high for algae biofuels to be cost-competitive with conventional fuels. HP Pavilion DV9283EA Battery
Similar results were found by others,[64][65][66] suggesting that unless new, cheaper ways of harnessing algae for biofuels production are found, their great technical potential may never become economically accessible. Recently, Rodrigo E. Teixeirademonstrated a new reaction and proposed HP Pavilion DV9283XX Battery
a process for harvesting and extracting raw materials for biofuel and chemical production that requires a fraction of the energy of current methods, while extracting all cell constituents.
Even with these difficulties some companies have managed to mass produce algae. Highlighted below are Blue Marble and Solazyme. HP Pavilion DV9285EA Battery
These two companies have made significant progress in either environmentally safe practices or producing enough algae for the mass production of biofuel.
Blue Marble Production is a Seattle based company that is dedicated to removing alga from algae-infested water. HP Pavilion DV9285XX Battery
This in turn cleans up the environment and allows this company to produce biofuel. Rather than just focusing on the mass production of algae, this company focuses on what to do with the byproducts. This company recycles almost 100% of its water via reverse osmosis, saving about 26,000 gallons of water every month . HP Pavilion DV9286EA Battery
This water is then pumped back into their system. The gas produced as a byproduct of algae will also be recycled by being placed into a photobioreactor system that holds multiple strains of algae. Whatever gas remains is then made into pyrolysis oil by thermochemical processes. HP Pavilion DV9286XX Battery
Not only does this company seek to produce biofuel, but it also wishes to use algae for a variety of other purposes such as fertilizer, food flavoring, anti-inflammatory, and anti-cancer drugs.[68]
Solazyme is one of a handful of companies which is supported by oil companies such as Chevron. HP Pavilion DV9287CL Battery
Additionally, this company is also backed by Imperium Renewables, Blue Crest Capital Finance, and The Roda Group. Solazyme has developed a way to use up to 75% percent of dry algae as oil .This process requires the algae to grow in a dark fermentation vessel and be fed by carbon substrates within their growth media. HP Pavilion DV9287XX Battery
The effect is the production of triglycerides that are almost identical to vegetable oil. Solazyme’s production method is said to produce more oil than those algae cultivated via photosynthetically or made to produce ethanol. Oil refineries can then take this algal oil and turn it into biodiesel, renewable diesel or jet fuels. HP Pavilion DV9288EA Battery
Part of Solazyme’s Maersk Line was a test, in collaboration with the U.S Navy, which placed 100% algae fuel into 300- meter Maersk container vessel . This 100% algae fuel was used in a test to sail from Northern Europe to Indonesia. This voyage was highly successful. Using 300 tons of algae based fuel, these carriers made the one month voyage. HP Pavilion DV9288XX Battery
The next test would be a 50/50, gasoline and algae biofuel, mix for a "Green Strike Group" that should be in operation by summer 2012.
Universities in the United Kingdom which are working on producing oil from algae include: University of Sheffield, University of Glasgow, University of Brighton, HP Pavilion DV9289EA Battery
Cambridge University, University College London, Imperial College London, Cranfield University and Newcastle University. In Spain, it is also relevant the research carried out by the CSIC´s Instituto de Bioquímica Vegetal y Fotosíntesis (Microalgae Biotechnology Group, Seville).[72] HP Pavilion DV9289XX Battery
Ukraine plans to produce biofuel using a special type of algae.
The Aquatic Species Program, launched in 1978, was a research program funded by the United States Department of Energy (DoE) which was tasked with investigating the use of algae for the production of energy. HP Pavilion DV9291EA Battery
The program initially focused efforts on the production of hydrogen, shifting primary research to studying oil production in 1982. From 1982 until its end in 1996, the majority of the program research was focused on the production of transportation fuels, notablybiodiesel, from algae. HP Pavilion DV9291XX Battery
In 1995, as part of overall efforts to lower budget demands, the DoE decided to end the program. Research stopped in 1996 and staff began compiling their research for publication.
US universities which are working on producing oil from algae include: HP Pavilion DV9292EU Battery
The University of Arizona, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,[74] University of California San Diego,[75] University of Nebraska Lincoln, University of Texas at Austin,[76] University of Maine, University of Kansas, The College of William and Mary, Northern Illinois University, HP Pavilion DV9292XX Battery
University of Texas at San Antonio, Old Dominion University, Utah State University, New Mexico State University,[77] andMissouri University of Science and Technology.[78][79]
At the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and the Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institution the wastewater from domestic and industrial sources contain rich organic HP Pavilion DV9293EA Battery
compounds that are being used to accelerate the growth of algae.[16] The Department of Biological and Agricultural Engineering at University of Georgiais exploring microalgal biomass production using industrial wastewater.[80] Algaewheel, based in Indianapolis, Indiana, HP Pavilion DV9293XX Battery
presented a proposal to build a facility in Cedar Lake, Indiana that uses algae to treat municipal wastewater, using the sludge byproduct to produce biofuel.[81][82]
Sapphire Energy (San Diego) has produced green crude from algae.
Solazyme (South San Francisco, California) has produced a fuel suitable for powering jet aircraft from algae.[83] HP Pavilion DV9294EA Battery
The Algal Biomass Organization (ABO) is formed by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, A2BE Carbon Capture Corporation,[84] National Renewable Energy Labs, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, Benemann Associates,[85] Mont Vista Capital[86] and Montana State University. HP Pavilion DV9294EU Battery
Global air carriers Air New Zealand, Continental, Virgin Atlantic Airways, and biofuel technology developer UOP, a Honeywell company, will be the first wave of aviation-related members, together with Boeing, to join Algal Biomass Organization.[87]
The National Algae Association (NAA) is a non-profit organization of algae researchers, HP Pavilion DV9295EA Battery
algae production companies and the investment community who share the goal of commercializing algae oil as an alternative feedstock for the biofuels markets. The NAA gives its members a forum to efficiently evaluate various algae technologies for potential early stage company opportunities. HP Pavilion DV9295EU Battery
The European Algae Biomass Association (EABA) is the European association representing both research and industry in the field of algae technologies, currently with 79 members. The association is headquartered in Florence, Italy. The general objective of the European Algae Biomass Association (EABA) HP Pavilion DV9296EA Battery
is to promote mutual interchange and cooperation in the field of biomass production and use, including biofuels uses and all other utilisations. It aims at creating, developing and maintaining solidarity and links between its Members and at defending their interests at European and international level. HP Pavilion DV9296EU Battery
Its main target is to act as a catalyst for fostering synergies among scientists, industrialists and decision makers in order to promote the development of research, technology and industrial capacities in the field of Algae.
Pond Biofuels Inc.[88] in Canada has grown algae directly off of a cement plant smokestack emissions, and used waste heat to dry the algae, as well.[38] HP Pavilion DV9297EA Battery
Ocean Nutrition Canada in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada has found a new strain of algae that appears capable of producing oil at a rate 60 times greater than other types of algae being used for the generation of biofuels.[89]
VG Energy, a subsidiary of Viral Genetics Incorporated,[90] HP Pavilion DV9297XX Battery
claims to have discovered a new method of increasing algal lipid production by disrupting the metabolic pathways that would otherwise divert photosynthetic energy towards carbohydrate production. Using these techniques, the company states that lipid production could be increased several-fold, HP Pavilion DV9299EA Battery
potentially making algal biofuels cost-competitive with existing fossil fuels.
Algae production from the warm water discharge of a nuclear power plant has been piloted by Patrick C. Kangas at Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station, owned by Exelon Corporation. HP Pavilion DV9299XX Battery
This process takes advantage of the relatively high temperature water to sustain algae growth even during winter months. HP Pavilion DV9300 Battery,HP Pavilion DV9301TX Battery,HP Pavilion DV9301XX Battery
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