Abstract: Increasingly, our energy system will become electrified because costs of renewable energies like solar PV and wind continue to decrease. However, whereas the traditional fossil fuels like coal, oil, and natural gas offer 24/7 availability, wind and solar energy are only available intermittently. In my presentation I will explore the use of cheap renewable electricity to create carbon-based fuels and chemicals with a zero-carbon footprint from water and CO2. Technically such “power to liquids” (PTL) or “liquid sunshine” schemes are feasible, yet economically they are far from being attractive. Also, often such schemes cannot lay claim to truly having a zero-carbon footprint. I my presentation I will indicate what technical breakthroughs are required to make PTL schemes being zero-carbon and economically attractive.

Brief bio:

Dr. van der Made Alexander was born in 1960 in the Netherlands and graduated cum laude in 1988 from Utrecht University (The Netherlands) with an MSc in Chemistry/Biology and a PhD in Chemistry. Since 2003 he also holds an MBA from Rochester University (USA) and Nyenrode Business School (The Netherlands).

He joined Shell in 1989 and has worked in Amsterdam, Houston, Louvain la Neuve, London, Rotterdam, Beijing in various roles ranging from fundamental research, process development, manufacturing, innovation management, strategy development and setting up external technology collaborations. Since 2009 he is involved as a senior principal scientific advisor to Shell’s New Energy Technologies group.

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