The three most interesting points I took away:

* Shell often produces two future scenarios to enable them to think about what is probably coming (up to 2050). Recently, they made two, "Blueprint" and "Scramble", where the former means a cooperative, pro-active and structured approach to the energy problem and the latter means a self-interested, reactive and non-effective approach (http://www-static.shell.com/static/public/downloads/brochures/corporate_pkg/s.... Overall, Shell decided to be realistic (or pessimistic): Both Scenarios broadly assume a bussiness-as-usual approach and even in 2050 see only ~60% of renewables.

* Shell completely stopped any research in Carbon-Capture-and-Storage technology (CCS), because the technology has acceptance issues. He didn't mention technological problems, though I am sure those actually exist, too.

* Research-cooperation between companies as well as between companies and government is sharply on the rise. Mr Graafland mentioned an EIRMA-study which points out that the level of cooperation of today actually was similar in the beginning of the last century. Following a U-shaped curve, it simply was very low in the middle of the century. This seems to point to an interesting insight about the 20th-century.