Experts

OUR FOUNDING TEAM HAS MORE THAN A CENTURY OF EXPERIENCE

Syrie Crouch

Chief Executive Officer

Syrie Crouch is an experienced energy professional with 30 plus years of experience in the International Energy Industry, including governing capital investment for Shell’s global CCS project portfolio, including Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), Direct Air Capture (DAC) and lowering carbon intensity products with a combined CAPEX budget of US $1.5 billion and FEASEX of US$ 200 million. Syrie worked at Shell for over 30 years, where she fulfilled multiple roles, most recently as the VP CCS where she worked across the upstream, downstream and integrated gas directorates to support their net zero emissions (CCS, DAC, biofuels, blue hydrogen and sectoral decarbonisation ambitions). In this role Syrie was responsible for setting Shell’s CCS strategy and building a project portfolio and team with the capacity and capabilities to deliver on it. The team that Syrie built was responsible for working with multiple governments and regulatory bodies around the world to deliver CCS regulations and legislation to ensure it is effective and works for both industry and Government bodies. Syrie brings a globally unique skillset in this space having both managed a global portfolio of CCS projects and having actually delivered a working CCS project; she took the Quest project in Canada through a public hearing and to FID in 2012, this project started-up in 2015 and has now injected over 9 million tonnes of CO2. She also has experience at the VP level for both Exploration and Development where she was a member of Shell's Upstream International Operated Leadership Team responsible for Development, including all activities between discovery and production with a CAPEX budget of US$2 billion. Syrie is also a volunteer speaker for STEM learning events.

Professor Niall Mac Dowell CEng FIChemE FRSC

Director of Science

Niall is an internationally recognised expert in the energy transition and carbon management strategy. He is a Professor of Future Energy Systems at Imperial College London, and has published over 200 scientific papers, technical reports, and books in this context. A Chartered Engineer, a Fellow of both the IChemE and the Royal Society of Chemistry, Niall has more than a decade’s experience as a consultant to the public and private sectors, including a two-year secondment to the UK Government where he acted as an expert policy advisor on CCUS and GGR. Niall has served as a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of TotalEnergies, the Norwegian CCS Research Centre (NCCS). He was a member of the US National Petroleum Council (NPC) CCUS Roadmap Team, as well as the technical working group of the Zero Emissions Platform (ZEP), the Carbon Capture and Storage Association (CCSA), and acts as a science advisor to a number of venture capital and private equity groups.

Sheila Graham

Director of Commercial

Sheila Graham brings over 30 years of in-depth knowledge of the Energy and Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) businesses, latterly in senior managerial positions. She has Commercial, Business/Economics and Technical experience across multiple Geographical

regions. From 2016 to 2022, in her role as Shell’s Global GM Commercial for CCS, Sheila was accountable for the Commercial delivery of a global portfolio of CCS hubs spread across Europe, Asia, Canada, and the USA with a combined CAPEX budget of US$1.5 billion and FEASEX of US$200 million. She developed the commercial thinking around nascent business models and commercial constructs. Sheila led a global team of CCS Commercial professionals whose remit included developing CCS Contracts and Agreements, influencing emerging CCS policy in Europe (UK, Norway, Netherlands ) developing commercial models for CCS payment structures and translating technical and regulatory risk into commercial constructs. An important focus for Sheila is the construction and sustainability of end to end value chains. Prior to working in CCS, Sheila was a member of Shell's Upstream International Operated Leadership Team. This role was accountable for the asset Commercial delivery of Shells Global Operated portfolio across the UK, Netherlands, Norway, Nigeria, Malaysia, the Philippines, Iraq and Tunisia. Sheila has also worked as Shell’s Vice President Commercial in Australia.

Laura Hurley

Director of Policy

Laura brings a deep understanding of regulatory frameworks, the thinking that underpins them, and how to build business models (contracts for difference) for investment in electricity and carbon dioxide removal. She has over a decade of experience as an economist and accountant in the UK Civil Service across departments responsible for climate, energy, transport and housing overseeing a budget of £600,000. During her time in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, Laura set up the UK’s first Greenhouse Gas Removal (GGR) team and laid the foundations for the UK’s GGR strategy including a world-leading 5Mt removals ambition by 2030 and the development of a business model for GGR support. She has worked closely with political advisers from her time in the private office of the UK’s Transport Secretary. Prior to joining HMG, Laura worked in DG Environment at the European Commission where she researched the environmental policies of EU member states.

Dr Anthony Ku

Principal Technology Expert

Anthony has over 20 years of experience in industrial technology development and commercialisation and has delivered four products from lab to market across the energy, water, and aviation sectors. He is the former Chief Technology Officer of NICE America, a US-China clean tech incubator that developed and commercialized technologies in carbon management, hydrogen refuelling, energy storage, and digital optimization of energy assets. Anthony has been involved in the creation of end-to-end value chains, including the creation of innovative business models for clean energy technologies. He also acts as a technical project reviewer for a range of public and private investors in the carbon management space, including the US DOE. Anthony has served on the US National Academy of Science’s committee on Condensed Matter and Materials Research, and was recently a Non-resident Visiting Fellow at Princeton’s Andinger Center for Energy and the Environment. He has been active in critical materials risk assessment and mitigation since 2009, and has direct experience in helping companies navigate supply chain risk. Finally, Anthony has advanced degrees in engineering from Princeton and MIT, has over 50 issued patents and has published over 50 peer-reviewed scientific articles, and continues to provide technical consulting support to Princeton.