10 Years of Indonesia’s Participation in Shell Eco-marathon: Encourage the Nation's Young Generation to Face the Challenges of Achieving Sustainable Mobility

"The Shell Eco-marathon plays an important role in inspiring Indonesia's younger generation of future leaders to experiment intelligently and creatively in finding solutions to current and future fuel efficiency challenges. In the 10 year journey of Indonesia's participation in SEM, we should be proud of the increase of more than 200% in the number of students taking part and the number of campuses involved, from only 4 in 2010 to more than 25 educational institutions in 2020. SEM has also become a forum for students across disciplines such as engineering, business, management and other related fields of study, to collaborate in creating innovations, "said Shell Indonesia President Director & Country Chair Dian Andyasuri.

The participation of students from various universities across Indonesia has assisted in the creation of a series of energy-efficient vehicles, which are the result of innovations that prioritize energy efficiency. Having begun with 9 teams participating in the internal combustion category (internal combustion engines with gasoline, diesel, ethanol and compressed natural gas), in 2020 that number has grown to 16 teams in the internal combustion category and 15 teams in the electric car and hydrogen fuel cell category.

Indonesia has also succeeded in impressing the global public at the Drivers' World Championship (DWC) as the Asian regional representative. On different occasions, the Sapuangin team from the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) and the Bumi Siliwangi 4 team from the Indonesian University of Education (UPI) have also won titles by defeating competing teams from Canada, the United States and several European countries. The achievements of the Indonesian teams to date have shown that Indonesia's younger generation is competitive, persistent, and innovative.

In fact, the number of team participants and educational institutions that take part in transportation innovation in Indonesia has increased greatly from year to year. Currently there are about 80 teams from 45 educational institutions that already have contributed innovations in the field of energy efficient cars. Support from the government by presenting the Energy Efficient Car Competition (KMHE) which adopts SEM models and regulations at the national level, provides an opportunity for more teams and educational institutions to test their innovation skills in preparation for competing in other regional and global events, such as SEM. Asia and Drivers' World Championship (DWC).

Celebrating the enthusiasm and achievements of these young Indonesian innovators, Shell Indonesia has launched a book entitled "Shell Eco-marathon Stories: A Quest of Contribution on Developing Indonesia Innovative Talents" which summarizes every trace of their steps and struggles in the Shell Eco-Marathon event. It is also hoped that this book will be a source of inspiration and encouragement for other young Indonesians to be more courageous and to never give up in developing their innovations.

As the culmination of this book launch, Shell Indonesia also held a webinar with the theme "Preparing Future Leaders for Energy Transitions: Encouraging Cleaner Energy Solutions through Energy Efficient Vehicles".

Director General of New, Renewable Energy and Energy Conservation (EBTKE) of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Dadan Kusdiana, who was one of the speakers in the webinar said, "The younger generation is the main player in achieving the target of increasing energy efficiency by 1% per year, NRE by 23% by 2025, and a reduction of CO2 emissions by 198 million tons in the energy sector by 2025. They are the ones who will enjoy and implement the realization of a clean energy future. The participation and achievements of Indonesian students in the Shell Eco-marathon need to be appreciated and supported in order to help to prepare young people who are responsive for facing energy challenges in the future. "

In line with the Mission of Higher Education

Representing educational institutions in the webinar, the Rector of the Sepuluh Nopember Institute of Technology (ITS) Prof. Mochammad Ashari stated that the university has always welcomed and supported the Shell Eco-marathon program because its mission is in line with the university's mission. "The main task of a university is to prepare superior and quality human resources to be able to actively contribute to the nation and state. Through the Shell Eco-marathon, we can produce a generation that is creative, innovative, and has character as future leaders,” he explained.

Through the launch of the book "Shell Eco-marathon Stories: A Quest of Contribution on Developing Indonesia Innovative Talents", Shell seeks to highlight the importance of the nation's youth in knowing and understanding the mobility energy sector. The book tells of the journey of the Indonesian student team in developing innovative ways to obtain the efficient use of mobility energy in prototype vehicles. However, it not only talks about technology, but also reveals the human aspects, such as hard work, team cohesiveness and time management, as well as revealing the various problems and challenges they faced in lectures, family, and throughout the competition.

Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources (ESDM), Arifin Tasrif, in his remarks in the book, talked of his appreciation of the spirit of the Shell Eco-marathon, which is in line with the spirit of the three main programs of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources to encourage increased energy research; internal ministerial reform, improving the quality of human resources involving youth with a high spirit of innovation, and producing higher quality research.

The Shell Eco-marathon is believed to be a right step in encouraging innovation among students, giving greater depth to research development in order to solve various future energy problems, and to foster the enthusiasm necessary for the younger generation to dare to compete in the global arena.

The Shell Eco-marathon is believed to be the right step in encouraging innovation among students, giving depth to research development to solve various future energy problems, and fostering the enthusiasm to dare to compete in the global arena among the younger generation. The Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources hopes that the research collaboration between the government, academics and other stakeholders will be able to produce innovations that have a visible, significant, and real impact on society.

Supporting Indonesia's younger generation to be involved in this effort is one of the company's initiatives in realizing this commitment and SEM has become an effective platform for the nation's youth in creating various embryos of sustainable energy mobility solutions to be developed and realized.

 “I believe in the power of collaboration to drive clean and sustainable energy solutions for mobility. Therefore, it is important for all parties, including Shell Indonesia, to participate in preparing qualified human resources in the energy sector as the seeds for future leaders who are able to become agents of change as well as enablers in implementing various clean energy solutions in the context of the energy transition, "concluded Dian.