Cenamps on YouTube: Stimulating Innovation and New Ventures

Shell innovating the next generation of solar energy solutions

Shell is one of the global giant oil companies investing in renewable energy sources including solar energy. Solar energy is still regarded by many as still too expensive to be a viable widespread electricity source.

Shell appears to have put research focus on one major goal: driving down cost. Shell has pioneered CIS (copper indium diselenide), a new generation of solar technology.

Copper, indium and selenium particles are coated onto a glass sheet in layers 20 times thinner than a human hair, and are heated to form a compound that converts the power of the sun into electricity for consumers. CIS solar modules use 100 times less raw material in the electricity producing layer than their crystalline silicon counterparts.

Shell claims a lower material and manufacturing costs mean the CIS modules promises to be cheaper in high-volume production. They glass panels have a smooth black exterior, which makes them suitable for integration into walls and roofs of buildings.

The biggest European application to date is in Wales, a striking 85-kilowatt installation that forms an entire side of an innovation and business centre.

Shell and leading glass-maker Saint Gobain have formed a joint venture for largescale production and commercialisation of CIS solar technology.


Shak Gohir

CO2 emissions, material flows and Ecological Footprint of the North East

"......The North East’s total Ecological Footprint is 5.31 gha/cap, the third lowest in the UK. With the exception of food, all the major sectors that make up the region’s Footprint have a below average Footprint.

The Ecological Footprint is measured in a standardised area unit equivalent to a world average productive hectare or ‘global hectare’ (gha), andis usually expressed as global hectares per person (gha/cap) to permit comparisons between countries or regions.

The North East has the largest variation between “producer responsibility” and “consumer responsibility” CO2 emissions of any UK region or devolved administration – a difference of 32 per cent. Emissions from regional production are close to 16 tonnes per person (tonnes per capita or t/cap) – among the highest in the UK – while emissions from consumption are only 11.01 t/cap. This is the lowest in the UK, 7 per cent lower than the regional average and 18 per cent lower than the South East (the region with the highest emissions from consumption).

The North East consumes less energy than the UK average, but even so produces nearly 28m tonnes of CO2 a year. Its emissions from energy consumption are 11 t/cap compared with a UK average 11.8 tonnes. Emissions from production 15.8 t/cap, the highest in the UK. This largest difference in consumption and production emissions of any region."
Emissions from production come from a range of sources including manufacturing, industry and electricity generation. The North East produces some 26,060GWh pa of electricity, which is an estimated 174 per cent of electricity consumption in the region1. This is one of the main factors behind the difference in the region’s consumption and production emissions and means a large proportion of the electricity generated in the North East is consumed by neighbouring regions.


If everyone on Earth had the same Ecological Footprint as the average person in the North East of England, humanity would need the resources of three planets to support itself. Many policymakers, businesses and citizens are aware of this, and share an interest in moving towards a more sustainable use of the planet’s resources......"

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Shak Gohir