Shell and building materials supplier CRH have agreed to jointly develop and deploy decarbonisation solutions and technologies to accelerate progress towards net-zero emissions.
The agreement will see Shell and CRH - a manufacturer and supplier of aggregates, lime, cement, ready-mix concrete, concrete products and asphalt globally - explore decarbonisation opportunities across transport, operations and materials across both their operations and supply chains.
Among the solutions will be vehicle electrification and charging infrastructure to reduce transport emissions, deployment of low-carbon fuels for off-road equipment, renewable electricity to power facilities and development of low-carbon asphalt solutions.
Shell and CRH said they believe that collaboration “is key to moving at speed and scale to unlock new and innovative decarbonisation solutions”. The companies will start work together immediately to begin delivering progress on decarbonisation across Europe, North America, and Asia Pacific.
“By working together, we hope to maximise learning and knowledge sharing to accelerate the deployment of low-carbon solutions and technologies that will help both companies to reach net zero,” noted their statement.
In a recent interview with World Highways, Raman Ojha, the global head of Shell’s Construction and Roads division, created last year, said decarbonising construction is a major challenge. “Construction and roads is one of the most complex and difficult sectors to decarbonise. How materials are produced, how they are transported, how they are used to produce the end product, the whole supply chain is pretty complex.”
However, Ojha, who has been with Shell for 17 years, working in major roles in China, the US and India, said he is up for the challenge: “It makes things more exciting. It would be boring if it was vanilla.”
CRH employs 73,000 people in 29 countries and is the largest building and material supplier both North America and Europe, along with regional strengths in Asia.
