upstreamonline
By Xu Yihe
Photo by AFP/SCANPIX
Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell has signed a deal with Chinas Shanxi Institute of Coal Chemistry to jointly research and develop techniques to derive high-tech fuels from synthetic gas produced from coal.
Shell Global Solutions International said the research would focus on tapping Indias vast coal reserved to produce alternative fuels or value-added chemicals. It said the research had the potential to realise new technologies to produce cleaner fuels and fuel additives from coal, and to reduce dependence on petroleum for transport.
Shell said the research into higher alcohol technology would seek to reduce the environmental footprint of synthetic fuels production by using byproducts such as carbon dioxide or hydrocarbons in synthetic gas or in gasoline blending.
This agreement is a nice example of Shell’s approach to collaboration with Chinese institutes to find and demonstrate an alternative way to convert coal into fuels, said Shell chief technology officer Jan van der Eijk.
