issue 1 - Roland Berger

p industry report
trends and sectors
The shape of things to come
Gas to liquids, T-rays, public transportation and polytronics: current trends,
analyses and research reports shed light on the markets of the future.
gas to liquids
Liquid fuel from natural gas, or “gas to liquid”
(GTL) as it is known in the industry, is becoming a
real alternative to “black gold.” The reasons: In a
time of rising crude oil prices, GTL helps conserve
oil reserves and limits the amount of harmful emissions
when burned. The GTL process is based on
the Fischer-Tropsch method, developed in Germany
in 1920. It transforms natural gas and unusable
companion gases into synthetic oil. A field test by
Shell and Volkswagen showed that GTL reduces
the emission of unburned hydrocarbons by 63
percent, of carbon monoxide by 91 percent and
of carbon dioxide by 4 percent. According to
DaimlerChrysler, by 2010, GTL will be irreplaceable
at the pump.
In addition, GTL can help fully exploit isolated
natural gas reserves, a market that could well be
worth hundreds of billions of barrels of GTL. Just
these resources would be sufficient to cover global
energy needs for 25 years, according to Roland
Berger Strategy Consultants. The large oil companies
are already in the GTL business. For example, Shell
has been producing GTL since 1993 in Malaysia
(below) and is currently building a new facility in
Qatar that is expected to produce 3 million tons of
GTL annually.
t-rays
Ubiquitous and yet barely detectable, mysterious T-
rays are currently objects of developers’ desire, as
they try to wring useful market-ready products from
them. Terahertz waves lie between microwaves and
infrared light, and are considered one of the last
unexplored parts of the electromagnetic spectrum.
T-rays draw great interest because of their qualities.
For example, without the side effects of X-rays, they
can penetrate clothing and packaging, or even illuminate
teeth in the search for cavities (see photo).
Researchers consider T-rays revolutionary for biomedicine.
Because cancer cells grow faster than normal
tissue, they contain more blood and water. These
attributes mean cancer can be made visible by T-rays
at a stage that could not otherwise be diagnosed. The
British firm Teraview, a spinoff from Toshiba Research,
is already selling machines for cancer diagnosis.
T-ray scanners can also recognize dangerous biological
or chemical compounds when scanning packages.
British manufacturer Qinetiq is testing machines that
can identify ceramic knives and plastic explosives
during security checks. T-rays themselves are also
causing new security needs: Privacy advocates see a
danger for the confidentiality of mail, with every
letter now legible through its envelope.
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think: act