In the Future of Energy Challenge: Mobility, the next generation of thinkers, inventors, and entrepreneurs collaborate to design and innovate solutions to mobility challenges related to alternative fuels, electric mobility, access to energy, retail stations, nature-based solutions. Participants are challenged to develop and submit proposals with a business idea or a system solution addressing one of the challenge questions listed below. The final deadline for submissions is November 25, 2019.

  • Alternative Fuels: How might we intervene, within the supply chain, to improve alternative fuel (non-eMobility) production in order to bring it to scale, either at a regional or global level?
  • Electric Mobility: Despite the current cost of Electric Vehicle technology and outside of policy changes, how might we nudge a wider adoption of electric transportation of all kinds in the interest of shifting towards widespread usage in the near future? How might we influence or incentivize consumers to invest in electric mobility?
  • Access to Energy: What business models and innovative technologies might drive a future that promotes more inclusion and access to energy resources, either locally or worldwide?
  • Retail Stations: Taking into consideration the importance of delivering benefits to broader society, as well as our local wholesalers, how might Shell leverage its vast, networked retail presence to address pressing sustainability challenges? 
  • Nature Based Solutions: What is the critical factor(s) for success, in North America, in increasing the credibility of nature-based solutions in the eyes of consumers? How should the concept of offsetting individual carbon footprint with NBS be approached, and by whom?

Finalist teams will be chosen and announced in December 2019 after which they will refine their proposals with support and mentoring from industry and Shell experts over a three-month accelerator. Our mentors for the Challenge this year include:

  • Petersen Barnaby - Commercial Advisor for Nature Based Solutions (NBS). In this role, Petersen works with Shell Downstream Businesses to integrate NBS into their customer value propositions and create a compelling set of opportunities for Shell to deepen the partnership with our customers, through helping them to reduce their Carbon Footprint.
  • Richard Garcia - Commercial and Strategic Partnerships Head. In this role, Richard is responsible for the Commercial Strategy, Category Management, Customer Insights and Analytics for the market entry of Shell Select Convenience Stores in the USA market.
  • Sutton Guldner - Project Engineer and Manager for the Biofuels Portfolio. In this role, Sutton works with a multi-disciplinary team of engineers and businesspeople on early stage projects, developing them from due diligence, through design, and into execution.
  • Pierre Liagre - Researcher for Shell’s multi-disciplinary Offshore Wind Innovation Program. In this role, Pierre focuses on floating and station keeping systems technology for the future installation of wind turbines on floaters moored in water depths ranging from about 60 to 1,000 meters.
  • Dakota Stormer - Carbon Opportunities Analyst on the Group Carbon Opportunities team. Dakota is also the chairman of Shell’s employee network for the energy transition. Dakota spends his days developing new business opportunities and hosting innovation workshops across the company in search of new ideas to provide more, cleaner energy across the world.

Teams will travel to SxSW in Austin, Texas, in March 2020 to participate in face-to-face segments of the accelerator to finalize their proposals into fully developed and scalable concepts. In Austin, teams will participate in a live pitch competition in front of an audience and panel of judges who will evaluate their solutions based on clarity, innovation, breakthrough potential, and feasibility of implementation.. Immediately following the live pitch competition, an online voiting session will be conducted with the judges and audience members to determine a winner. The winning team will be invited to attend Shell's Powering Progress Together (PPT) forum in San Francisco, California - an event which convenes leaders from across sectors to discuss and collaborate around accelerating the energy transition. For more information about Shell’s PPT forum, please visit the US PPT webpage.