Energy storage has become a key issue for the solar industry. SF is working with the Grantham Institute at Imperial College, London, on a report exploring solutions for off-grid energy organisations, looking at technology choices, challenges and opportunities. Here we share the initial findings on technology availability and supply chains, realised costs of storage solutions,…
Shell Foundation has supported M-KOPA since 2011 to establish its solar and mobile technology solution and to provide affordable, clean and bright energy to off-grid villages in East Africa. In 2016, M-KOPA Labs was established to accelerate the company’s ability to produce innovative, larger capacity appliances capable of interfacing with off-grid energy. In developing new…
One third of all food produced in emerging markets is lost or wasted between the farm and the table. In India alone the total value of lost food is estimated to be around $4.5bn annually. Part of the problem is the lack of ‘cold chains’ in rural areas. Cold chains provide an unbroken series of…
When Shell Foundation was created in 2000, we set out to test a theory, largely unproven at the time, that market forces could be directed to deliver lasting socio-economic, health and environmental value to low-income communities – and that eradicating many of the world’s most entrenched development challenges could be financed predominantly from private capital.…
Nearly two billion people lack access to reliable and affordable modern energy – severely constraining their health, education and earning potential. Of this group, 60% live entirely without electricity for cooking, lighting and heating at home, for community services, or for improving the productivity of small businesses and farms. Accelerating Access to Energy outlines our…
We have learned a lot about trying to achieve scale and sustainability over the past decade. We set about doing this in ways that were new at the time by pioneering an enterprise-based approach. We concentrated our efforts on tackling social and environmental issues in which the energy industry has a particular responsibility. We also…
In 2005 the confluence of advocacy, political serendipity and natural disaster has rapidly pushed the plight of the impoverished up the agenda of the wealthy as never before. The sharpness of the challenge being thrown down on behalf of the poor and the pressure on the rich to take action in response is unprecedented, as…