Shell signs deal with China's Shanxi Institute of Coal Chemistry
Anglo-Dutch supermajor Shell has signed a deal with China's Shanxi Institute of Coal Chemistry to jointly research
and develop techniques to derive high-tech fuels from synthetic gas produced from coal.
Shell Global Solutions International said the research would focus on tapping India's vast coal reserved to produce
alternative fuels or value-added chemicals. It said the research had the potential to realise new technologies to
produce "cleaner" fuels and fuel additives from coal, and to reduce dependence on petroleum for transport.
Shell said the research into "higher alcohol technology" would seek to reduce the environmental footprint of
synthetic fuels production by using by-products such as carbon dioxide or hydrocarbons in synthetic gas or in
gasoline blending.
"This agreement is a nice example of Shell's approach to collaboration with Chinese institutes to find and
demonstrate an alternative way to convert coal into fuels," said Shell chief technology officer Jan van der Eijk.
