As urbanization, population growth and living standards increase throughout Asia and more vehicles crowd the roads, energy demand has surged. So too has air pollution.
The rise in energy demand, prompted Shell to hold its first ever "Make the Future" event in Asia, where more than 120 student teams engineered and built hybrid car models. Teams competed from 20 different countries ranging from Australia to Qatar.
However, the competition, which took place in Singapore, wasn't for the fastest vehicle, but the most fuel efficient one.
"Our world faces one of its greatest challenges: to generate more energy, while producing fewer CO2 emissions," said Norman Koch, Shell Eco-marathon general manager. "This will mean a big changes for our energy-hungry, interconnected world and energy system."
According to Shell, 40 percent of all global energy sources could come from renewable resources like wind, solar and yet to be determined sources.
"We want to inspire individuals, communities, governments and businesses across Asia to come together and drive change in a responsible way," Koch said.
In addition to generating awareness and promoting innovative solutions to tackle the world's energy demands, Shell is looking for real solutions from some of the student teams that can ultimately inform the future of the region's energy consumption.
A similar annual event has been held by Shell in London, where past student teams produced solutions now being used. In 2014, a team built their entire car using a table-sized 3-D printer.