Continuing improvements in Royal Dutch Shell

It's been a while since my last post. Since March, Shell New Zealand was under a strategic review by the portfolio strategists in Royal Dutch Shell. The 'For Sale' sign is now hammered down into the front-lawn of our national downstream business. UBS, popularly known as the Swiss Bank, has been appointed as the dealer.

Most of my time during the strategic review has been within our strategy, marketing and sales businesses. Not much on projects. Nevertheless, exciting times await.

We also have a new CEO now - Peter Voser. Jeroen van der Veer retired after many progressive years of service where he placed a springboard to lead through the challenge of increased global demands, balancing the energy mix, and greater corporate social responsibility to stakeholders. It's a difficult job being the most senior leader, and I'm fortunate I'm not going to be yet.

There has been a major planning and transition underway since June. Upstream is journeying through a planetary-wide restructure. Mr Voser has set a new focus on business agility, maximising ourselves of the global economic downturn, and conserving resources. In a couple years, I can picture a company that's more leaner, responsive, sustainably more profitable, and better for all stakeholders. My revised mid-year career plans will be inline with these prospective themes. As a (very very) junior officer to another chief XO, I wish Mr Voser bon voyage.

2009 - the year of business challenge and opportunity

Jeroen van der Veer, our CEO, said this year will be very tough. Cash is king in this global recession. His main message was to focus on doing the essential things, and reduce non-essential expenditure and investment. This was not just good advice, it was advice for survival for business and jobs.

This has led me to think more carefully about my 2009 goals and plans. My goals will be much more adapted to this business climate. I believe that the Enterprise-First mindset and behaviour based on leadership, accountability and teamwork are even more relevant. To stay in business requires good teamwork, and leadership of integrity by every team member.

As a national business, Shell in New Zealand still needs to continue to simplify, and continue to excel operationally. By doing business better during difficult times, we will earn greater trust and staying-power with our customers who are also in hardship.

We do not have to go about massive-spending projects to achieve these changes. Cash is very tight now. We need to do things differently. So our actions will require more innovative and critical thought prior to any spending or investing. The simple question before doing anything is: Why do I need to use money on this? What is a better way?

This year is not necessarily a year of gloom. We can turn this year into opportunity. It is difficult to think in a positive light, but I strongly believe anyone can think of newer and alternative ways to make business better.

Note: also written within my Shell Blog (intranet)

Unsustainable biofuels bill repealed today

Today the new New Zealand National Government repealed the biofuels bill. This is the Bloomberg article of the news. It is encouraging news for New Zealand (and the world). The excerpt below is especially poignant.

Governments worldwide are tempering their drive for biofuel use after a surge in production increased land clearance in Latin America and Asia and reduced food production in some regions. In July, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimated wheat and corn prices may rise as much as 7 percent in the next decade because of greater U.S. and European production of alternative fuels.

You can see how negative the effects of foodcrop-based biofuels can be. There are better ways to manage energy. Number one is making things more energy efficient, and conserving fuel and power. So let's start doing that.

I'm off to Malaysia on a Mission

That's correct - I'm going overseas from 18 November and returning 8 December. Here are our team's websites:

• http://arisemission.blogspot.com for the blog
• http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=6519024 6112 for the facebook group and photos

Enjoy.

Future energy challenges and future scenarios

In 2007, our CEO Jeroen van der Veer, said there are three hard truths of global energy challenges.

1. The global demand for energy is growing, both in the developed and developing world. This will mean greater demand for oil and gas.
   
2. Supply will struggle to keep pace. Easy oil (accessible, conventional oil and gas) cannot keep up with the unconstrained growth in energy demand. Society has no choice but to add other sources of energy including alternatives like solar, wind and biofuels and 'unconventional' fossil fuels like oil/tar sands, oil shale and contaminated gas. Even with huge improvements in energy efficiency and substantial growth in renewables, fossil fuels will still be the major part of the energy mix by mid century.
   
3. Environmental stresses are increasing. More energy means more CO2 emitted at a time when climate change looms as a critical global issue. The societal imperative to limit greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at a level less than 550 ppm will require the strict management of CO2 emissions from both the production of energy and its use by consumers.
   

These three hard truths pose obvious dilemmas that can only be reconciled through joint, concerted efforts by governments, industry and consumers. The task of balancing the accessibility, affordability and acceptability of energy will not be an easy one. Humanity faces a challenging outlook for energy. This can be summed up in five words: "more energy, less carbon dioxide".

To help think about the future of energy, long term planners developed two scenarios that describe alternative ways it may develop. In the Scramble scenario policymakers pay little attention to more efficient energy use until supplies are tight. Likewise, greenhouse gas emissions are not seriously addressed until there are major climate shocks. In the Blueprints scenario, growing local actions begin to address the challenges of economic development, energy security and environmental pollution. A price is applied to a critical mass of emissions stimulating the development of clean energy technologies, such as CO2 capture and storage, and energy efficiency measures. The result is far lower CO2 emissions.

Mr van der Veer said he was determined to provide energy in responsible ways and serve customers and investors as effectively as it can. Both these scenarios help the company do that by testing their strategy against a range of possible developments over the long-term. It is in his view, the Blueprints' approach offers the best hope for a sustainable future, whether or not the scenario arises exactly in the way it is described.

World Food Crisis

What did you and your family have to eat this week? With food prices going up, a greater portion of our household income is being spent on food. Many Kiwis are having to cut back even on basic food items. But have you ever considered what the average family in France, Chad or Aussie is eating and how the rising cost of food globally is impacting them?

To check out what other families around the world are eating click here — there are some amazing and shocking differences. Thank God that He has blessed me as a Kiwi living a comfortable life, but it's my (and all of our) responsibility to love our neighbours as we love ourselves.

Can Google massively reduce fossil fuel usage in USA by 2030?

Clean Energy 2030
Google's Proposal for heavily reducing U.S. dependence on fossil fuels by 2030

Right now we have a real opportunity to transform our economy from one running on fossil fuels to one largely based on clean energy. Technologies and know-how to accomplish this are either available today or are under development. We can build whole new industries and create millions of new jobs. We can cut energy costs, both at the gas pump and at home. We can improve our national security. And we can put a big dent in climate change. With strong leadership we could be moving forward on an aggressive but realistic time-line and an approach that offsets costs with real economic gains.

The energy team at Google has been analyzing how we could greatly reduce fossil fuel use by 2030. Our proposal - "Clean Energy 2030" - provides a potential path to weaning the U.S. off of coal and oil for electricity generation by 2030 (with some remaining use of natural gas as well as nuclear), and cutting oil use for cars by 38%. Al Gore has issued a challenge that is even more ambitious - getting us to carbon-free electricity even sooner - and we hope the American public pushes our leaders to embrace it. T. Boone Pickens has weighed in with an interesting plan of his own to massively deploy wind energy, among other things. Other plans have also been developed in recent years that merit attention. More...

This is great, but far too idealistic. I do not think most of this achievable. The biggest reason why this can't be achieved is that mankind is addicted to materialism, power, money, pride and selfishness. The US government can't amass that effort in their citizens to replace the addictions of black-gold with the alternatives in two decades time. For everyone to work together for all of these initiatives is improbable. For example, the Clinton and Bush administration were far too defensive to get into the spirit of Kyoto, while much of the Western world did or tried.

I agree everyone can conserve more energy with habit change and efficiency initiatives. However we need a fundamental change in the hearts and minds of people. We need to get into the spirit of contribution, interdependence and synergy for a win/win scenario - for Google's proposal to take effect.

Yah! I'm attending the Shell International Nanotechnology Forum

I've taken up a special opportunity to participate in the Shell International Nanotechnology Forum. It's in Houston, Texas. I will be watching this virtually since travelling to Houston won't be economic, and it's not helpful for the environment or my workmates. Here is the website

This forum is going to talk about what I love about nanotechnology. It's a hot topic in the scientific world and world academic experts will be there. Nanotechnology is about the controlling matter at a molecular level. Being able to control matter at a really really small scale is opening up a range of opportunities that could further help the company meet rising energy demand. Already, we're is seeing projects here in Australiasia benefiting from the nano-engineering of conventional metals, composites and other materials. For example it means we can drill ever deeper, work at greater depth offshore, and lay pipe safely in extreme conditions. The forum will discuss further opportunities as well as the direction the science could go in the coming years.

What is Nanotechnology?

There are several definitions of nanotechnology. To choose one, according to the National Nanotechnology Initiative, “Nanotechnology is the understanding and control of matter at dimensions of roughly 1 to 100 nanometers, where unique phenomena enable novel applications.” One nanometer equals one thousand millionth of a meter. There are three elements to this definition:

1) Size: materials or features that have at least one dimension in the range of 1 - 100 nm. As a comparison, to understand what one nanometer is, a human hair is approximately 50,000 nm thick, the HIV virus is 90 nm long and a DNA helix has a diameter of around 2 nm.

2) Unique phenomena: Ordinary materials (like gold or carbon) often show novel properties when reduced to the nanoscale. For instance, 12 nm gold particles do not have the typical gold colour; they are red. Other novel properties that some materials show at the nanoscale are higher strength, electrical conductivity and increased reactivity.

3) Novel Application: We talk about Nanotechnology, when the unique phenomena can be exploited in an application, in something useful. For instance: stronger and lighter composites, more sensitive sensors, faster electronics, etc.

Another common definition for nanotechnology is that nanotechnology is engineering at the molecular scale.

When was nano technology applied first?

The concept of nanotechnology can be traced back to 1959 when Richard Feynman from MIT gave a speech entitled “There's plenty of room at the bottom”. He put the idea forth of atom-by-atom construction. The word “nanotechnology” was first used by Norio Taniguchi in 1974 to refer to “production technology to get the extra high accuracy and ultra fine dimensions, i.e. the preciseness and fineness on the order of 1 nm (nanometer), 0.0000000001 meter in length”.

Nanotechnology as we understand it today, started taking shape in the 80's and the 90's with the development of new characterisation tools with atomic resolution and the discovery of new nanomaterials (fullerenes in 1985 and carbon nanotubes in 1991), which intrigued scientists due to their unique properties. Although some commercial products based on nanotechnology appeared during the 90's, commercial applications have started to spread faster only in recent years.

Health, Safety and Enviroment (HSE) - There is a lot of debate about the HSE implications of nanomaterials, but they are not all the same. Different nanomaterials might pose different HSE risks - as different chemicals do. As yet the limited research that exists is rather inconclusive, even contradictory. The nanotechnology group in Shell Westhollow Technology Center (WTC) has worked with the WTC HSE department and internal safety guidelines for the use of nanomaterials in Shell labs have been established. Extinction Level Scenarios such as a 'grey goo' will be far from occurring.

We won the Shield! Let's have a parade on Tuesday 23rd Sept at 12.45pm

The heroic Wellington Lions – and the Ranfurly Shield - will be paraded before adoring Wellingtonians in a lunchtime parade along the Golden Mile on Tuesday 23 September 12.45pm. This parade will offer the perfect chance for us to welcome the Shield back after 26 years' absence - and pay tribute to the team. That game was one of the great tough Shield challenges - we overcame some terrible pressure from Auckland in the first half. By holding the parade on Tuesday, it'll just give us a little more time to get over the fact that the Shield is back in Wellington - and to prepare for a rousing reception. The Lion's match performance has ended 26 years of psychological torment in the Wellington region. I know we will be out in force on Tuesday and it'll be a parade to remember. In our heart of hearts we've always known the Lions are far and away the hardest and most entertaining provincial side in the country. Now the long dark years of paranoia and self-doubt are over. Life is good and we are content.

Man vs Walls

This epic struggle explains why He made us what we make and do what we do. He is why we get out of bed every day - it's our prospect of creating pathways above, below, around and through walls. To start a connection between thousands of people and a world of ideas. He lifts up the smallest of us. And catapult the most audacious of us. But, most importantly, He connects all of us to the four corners of our own lives and to each other. To go on doing the little stuff, the big stuff, the crazy stuff and that ridiculously necessary stuff. On our own or together. This is more than our own self-effort we're talking about. It's an approach with faith. He's dedicated to fulfilling the purpose of life and to anything that might stand in the way of Him.

Today, more than one billion people worldwide have God as their interdependent sovereign Lord. Which is just another way of saying we have each other.

Prose based from this campaign here.