Royal Dutch Shell has dropped over $400 million on various renewable energy acquisitions in recent weeks, ranging from solar power to electric car charging points, in an attempt to reduce the multi-billion dollar company's carbon footprint.
Compared to Shell's $25 billion annual budget, $400 million may seem like a drop in the ocean, however, Shell has shown an increasing urgency to develop cleaner energy with the recent acquisition of a 43.86 percent stake in Silicon Ranch Corporation, a Tennessee-based solar energy provider. Additionally, Shell has also invested in two projects to develop charging stations for electric vehicles across Europe’s highways and has signed agreements to buy solar power in Britain and develop renewable power grids in Asia and Africa.
Opinion:
It is clear that fossil fuels and hydrocarbons have a limited time left. Shell might claim that these investments into renewable energy are because they want to reduce their carbon footprint, but I'm sure that Shell is also doing this for business reasons - oil has little long-term future, the alternatives have a long-term future. Oil companies like Shell will have to evolve in this fashion in order to not get left behind when gas inevitably becomes out of favor or even obsolete. However, I still think this is a welcome change for your average consumer. Even though Shell might be doing this for economic gain, they are still reducing emissions, which will hopefully lead to a greener planet in the future.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-shell-m-a/shell-buying-spree-cranks-up-race-for-clean-energy-idUSKBN1FF1A8
3 comments:
It's nice to see a petroleum giant like Shell investing in renewable energy. As solar and other forms of renewable energy become more efficient, I definitely see people moving away from coal and oil power and towards electric/solar power. However, this isn't the case for other petroleum companies around the United States. They seem to be actively promoting oil power over other sources of energy, and as long as the current president continues to deny global warming, there won't be anything done about it.
Seems like a smart business investment. The market for renewable energy is growing, and the oil market, while profitable, will not endure forever. Shell seems to be one of the few taking the risk of potentially enormous growth. With companies such as Tesla already spearheading the transition to renewables, there is plenty of precedent to do so.
I think this is a pretty smart business move from Shell. It will be convenient from an economic and environmental point of view. They are taking a big step towards a successful future .
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