A 15000 word dissertation
Indicative Title: Risks and opportunities for Shell Energy in the renewable energy sector. Indicative aims and objectives: Identifying and managing critical risks and opportunities associated with the upstream and downstream strategy of Shell in the oil and gas industry?
Identifying risks and opportunities with Blockchain technology?
Managing the risks and opportunities for a sustainable future in the renewable energy sector? Summary of the literature/ rationale for the study (about 200 words): The oil and gas industry leaders Shell and BP have bought transformational change in recent years with investments in renewable resources and acquisitions with start-ups and well-established energy companies in order to get ahead of the competition in the growing renewable energy industry. Among the renewable energy sector, Blockchain technology has disrupted the energy landscape with the ability to be manage and monitor transactions with no central authority since it is a shared and immutable ledger (SUSI Partners – Sustainable investments, A signed copy of this form must be submitted on Blackboard.
Leicester Business School Topic agreement form 2018).
In April 2017 Deloitte suggested blockchain has the potential to make a difference in the oil and gas industry mainly covering factors such as trading, decision making, supervision, and cyber security (Lu, 2019). Based on (Bryant, 2018) energy utility business models are increasing in the renewable energy sector, this paper is adding to the research by scrutinizing the technology used in order to make a sustainable business model for the fast pace transformation. The development of research in this field allows further exploration on potentially risky and opportunistic areas, the gaps and methods will explore the consistency of the ‘blockchain technology’ in the energy sector.
References : Bryant, S. S. (2018). “The typologies of power: Energy utility business models in an increasingly renewable sector”. Journal of Cleaner Production vol 195, 1032-1046. SUSI Partners – Sustainable investments. (2018). Blockchain – Disrupting the renewable energy landscape. Basel: SUSI Partners AG white paper in cooperation with the Center for Innovative Finance, University of Basel. Lu, H. H. (2019). “Blockchain technology in the oil and gas industry: A review of applications, opportunities, challenges, and risks”. IEEE Access, vol. 7, 1-19.
Indicative data Collection methods (about 80 words)
The research will be gathered by collecting information from annual reports and financial statements. Case studies of Blockchain technology will identify the risks and opportunity factors from 2009-2019. In order to get robust data a mix of qualitative and quantitative data will be used in collecting information from official annual reports and case studies. The qualitative data will highlight risks in relation to risks factors and opportunities from the annual report in a comparison of the upstream and downstream shifts. The quantitative data will be an analysis on financial data from the Shell’s revenue and investments in order to determine the risks and opportunities in the future of renewable energy sector. Case studies will include examples of Blockchain technology as company examples. The data will be used to determine the past, current and future position of Shell and an analysis will be made on the risk culture and risk appetite of Shell by creating a risk register for the risks and opportunities. The data will be presented in charts and tables in order to provide detail in the analysis. The Analysis will be followed by a discussion on the results and a conclusion. Previous data will identify the changes in organisational goals and how the disrupting factors have changed company perspectives. Distinct results from the data will identify the robustness of Shell’s business continuity & crisis management
