Discovery Green will host Shell Eco-marathon event

If you're not familiar with this energy challenge, it is a global, educational competition where student teams design, build and test energy-efficient vehicles.

This past spring, 241 teams representing 33 countries participated in the Americas and Europe events. For 2010, Shell is also adding an Asia event to that roster. Since this competition began decades ago, students have seen miles-per-gallon numbers go from about 50 mpg to thousands of miles-per-gallon.

In March, the Shell Eco-marathon Americas event will take place around Discovery Green, on the edge of downtown Houston, the "Energy Capital of the World." Students will test their vehicles on a street track — for the first time in Shell Eco-marathon history.

This event is a terrific and rare opportunity for students — our future leaders — who are passionate about finding sustainable solutions to the world's energy challenge.

The competition offers young people interested in technology, energy and transportation a unique hands-on opportunity to stretch the boundaries of fuel efficiency, using real-life examples.

You hear about technology development a lot, but it's not enough to lead in technology development. Our real challenge is in applying the new technologies in the real world. Some previous Eco-marathon students have actually patented their own technology, and that's what we love to see. That's the purpose of the Shell Eco-marathon.

Students who participate in this challenge come from universities, colleges, technical institutes and even high schools from across the Americas. They will each practice hands-on application of the concepts they have learned in the classroom, and by inventing new technologies, these students will prepare for jobs that may not even exist today.

For the Eco-marathon challenge, students can enter vehicles in one of two categories. They can enter a futuristic, streamlined "prototype" vehicle where the only design consideration is reducing drag and maximizing efficiency. Or they can enter an "urban concept" vehicle, which is a four-wheel design to more closely meet drivers' needs.

Conventional fuels, such as diesel, gasoline and liquid petroleum gas can be used. And, student teams can also fuel their vehicles using alternatives, such as gas-to-liquid, solar, ethanol, hydrogen and biofuels. As long as teams adhere to safety rules and size requirements, the design of their vehicles is limited only by their imaginations.

If you're wondering about an oil-and-gas company encouraging students to test alternative energy sources, keep in mind that Shell has long recognized the conflict between the need for mobility and the toll it can take on our planet. We continue to work with governments, academic institutions, non-government organizations and other industries to develop long-term, responsible solutions to meet the growing global demands for energy.

For Shell, some of those solutions include work on biofuels and several CO2 capture and storage projects.

But what will those solutions include for next year's teams competing in Shell Eco-marathon Americas? We don't know. But we do know we'll see it all happen against the backdrop of a downtown Houston skyline, and that's exciting.