Royal Dutch Shell plc, through its subsidiary Shell International Exploration and Production B.V. ("Shell"), and SBI BioEnergy Inc. have reached an agreement granting Shell exclusive development and licensing rights for SBI's biofuel technology. Edmonton-based SBI has a patented process that can convert a wide range of waste oils, greases and sustainable vegetable oils into lower carbon drop-ins for diesel, jet fuel and gasoline. Under the agreement, Shell and SBI will work together to demonstrate the potential of the technology and, if successful, scale up for commercial application.
"We are confident that Shell is the right industry partner to commercialize our low carbon intensity renewable fuel process," says Inder Singh, SBI's Founding President & CEO. "Working with Shell means that we have a partner with proven capabilities to investigate the potential this technology has for global application and that is something that is very exciting for us."
SBI uses a continuous catalytic process that converts fat, oil or grease into renewable gasoline, diesel and jet fuel that can be dropped directly in to petroleum fuels. SBI's drop-in products do not require blending or any modifications to engines or infrastructure. Biofuels emit less CO2 than petroleum products so their addition to fuels has the potential to reduce transport emissions and help fuel suppliers to meet lower carbon or renewable fuel standards.
"SBI has a promising new Canadian biofuels technology," says Andrew Murfin, General Manager, Advanced Biofuels for Shell. "This is a great opportunity for us to combine Shell's innovation and commercialization capabilities with SBI's technical expertise to investigate the potential this technology has for commercial application."
Shell believes biofuels are essential to decarbonize transport fuels because they represent one of the most practical, commercial and cost-efficient solution to reduce CO2 emissions in the transport fuels sector over the next twenty years. Raízen, a joint venture between Shell and the Brazilian company Cosan, is one of the world's largest producer of sugar-cane ethanol. Shell is also developing advanced biofuels made with non-edible plants and crop waste.
Cautionary Note
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate entities. In this announcement "Shell", "Shell group" and "Royal Dutch Shell" are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words "we", "us" and "our" are also used to refer to subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These expressions are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular company or companies. ''Subsidiaries'', "Shell subsidiaries" and "Shell companies" as used in this announcement refer to companies over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Companies over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to "joint ventures" and companies over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as "associates". In this announcement, joint ventures and associates may also be referred to as "equity-accounted investments". The term "Shell interest" is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in a venture, partnership or company, after exclusion of all third-party interest.
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