Gerald Schotman, CTO, Shell

As the largest company in the world, Royal Dutch Shell should be well placed to deal with the challenges facing the energy industry. Earlier this year, however, the oil giant provoked criticism when it announced it would cut all new investment in wind, hydrogen and solar energy projects.

Gerald Schotman, who joined the group as chief technology officer in the wake of the backlash, has since undertaken a strategy to address what governments are increasingly terming a ‘global energy crisis’.

With the weight of environmental campaigners and company shareholders on his shoulders, the laid-back Dutchman appears undeterred by the challenges his new role presents. ‘At the end of the day, the reality of life is that you always have to think from a personal perspective,’ he said. ‘There’s no technology that you want to develop without the customer in mind.’

This focus has been a key part of Shell’s triple-billion-figure revenues and an underlying reason for conflict with ‘green’ campaigners. However, Schotman argues that an impending peak oil situation means the environmental agenda and customer needs will no longer be incompatible.