Posts under ‘Environment’

BBC NEWS

Vast energy firm profits raise fresh questions over windfall tax

By Douglas Fraser: Business and economy editor, Scotland

• Vast profits for BP and Shell have put them in the frontline of a battle over the winners and losers from the energy crisis.
• Extension of the windfall tax is seen by the industry as a way of discouraging further investment.
• Some would prefer to see that discouraged and are dismayed as BP increases spend, while others want taxes to target benefits to shareholders.

BP and Shell get the attention because they’re big, public brands based in Britain. They’re not the only ones making vast amounts of money.

US firm ExxonMobil reported a profit of $56bn (£47bn) for last year. Chevron, also in the US, reported $36bn (£30bn).

Shell had profits of $40bn (£32bn) and BP has weighed in at $28bn (£23bn). All of them have more than doubled profits as the invasion of Ukraine and sanctions on Russia roiled the world’s energy markets.

Equinor (formerly Statoil), based in Norway and the largest supplier of gas to the UK and European Union after Russian gas flow was cut sharply, announced on Wednesday its net profit for the year was $28.7bn (£24bn), up from $8.6bn (£7bn) in 2021. Adjusted operating profits – before tax and removing one-off items – came to $75bn (£62bn). read more

EXPRESS

Energy crisis lifeline: Shell announces plans for £25bn injection into UK clean power

SHELL has announced its plans to massively expand in the UK, boosting its energy security with an investment worth up to £25billion.

By ANTONY ASHKENAZ 12:12, Tue, Jun 14, 2022 | UPDATED: 12:13, Tue, Jun 14, 2022

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the volatility of the global fossil fuel energy market have pushed European countries, including the UK, to ensure their own energy security. As the cost of wholesale gas around the world skyrockets, the UK has announced ambitious renewable energy generation targets, along with major investments in low-carbon sources of energy like wind and nuclear power.

As part of its own push towards clean energy and away from oil and gas, the UK-based energy firm plans to supply clean power to five million households and electric car drivers by 2030, up from about 1.5 million today.

According to the Telegraph, Shell is planning to invest £20billion-£25billion in the UK over the decade, with over 75 percent of that sum being invested in low carbon energy such as wind turbines and electric car charging points. read more

The Telegraph

Shell plans to expand amid energy market chaos

The FTSE 100 company plans to invest £20bn-£25bn in the UK

Shell is pursuing a significant expansion of its business supplying electricity to UK households amid intense volatility in energy markets.

The FTSE 100 company wants to supply clean power to five million households and electric car drivers by 2030, up from about 1.5m today, as part of plans to diversify away from oil and gas.

Shell plans to invest £20bn-£25bn in the UK over the decade, more than 75pc of which will go towards low carbon energy such as wind turbines and electric car charging points. read more

THE TIMES

Investor rebellion over climate change at chaotic Shell AGM

A fifth of Shell shareholders have voted to reject its climate transition plans, almost double the rebellion that it endured a year ago.

The revolt came at a chaotic annual general meeting in London that was delayed for several hours after disruption by environmental protesters. Sir Andrew Mackenzie, Shell’s chairman, called police to clear the room at Central Hall in Westminster and three people were arrested outside the venue.

Shell, Europe’s biggest oil and gas group, is under intense scrutiny by investors and wider society over the speed of its plans to make the transition to cleaner energy. It has committed to eliminating its emissions to net zero by 2050, but faces pressure to make steep cuts in the near term, including from a read more

CNBC

Safety consultant goes viral for leaving Shell after a decade, says ‘core business’ is dangerous

Catherine Clifford: @IN/CATCLIFFORD/@CATCLIFFORD: PUBLISHED TUE, MAY 24 20224:30 PM EDT

• At 8:27 a.m. on Monday morning Caroline Dennett emailed 1,400 executives at the oil and gas conglomerate, Shell, to announce her resignation after 11 years doing safety consulting for the company through her firm, .
• Shell’s internal safety program is dubbed “Goal Zero” and its aim is to have “no harm and no leaks,” Dennett said. “The Goal Zero is honorable, but they don’t equate that to the harms that are being done on a massive scale,” she told CNBC.

At 8:27 a.m. on Monday morning, May 23, Caroline Dennett emailed 1,400 executives at the oil and gas conglomerate, Shell, to announce her resignation after 11 years working as a safety consultant.

Dennett, who is based near London, asked executives and management at Shell “to look in the mirror and ask themselves if they really believe their vision for more oil and gas extraction secures a safe future for humanity.” read more

DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

Shell Signs Deals to Develop Solar PV Projects in the UK

By Jaime Llinares Taboada: Published: Oct. 4, 2021 at 5:44 a.m. ET

Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Monday that it has signed deals with Island Green Power and Clearstone Energy to develop solar photovoltaic projects in the U.K.

Both deals would be subject to a future final investment decision, Shell said.

Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com; @JaimeLlinaresT

FULL ARTICLE

FORECOURTtrader

Shell starts trading power from Europe’s largest battery storage project

By John Wood 19 July 2021

Shell has started trading power from Europe’s largest battery storage project, the 100-megawatt system in Minety in Wiltshire, South West England.

Controlled and optimised by Shell-owned Limejump the battery, which is now fully operational, will help balance the UK’s electricity demand, providing electricity for up to 10,000 homes for a day before being recharged.

Shell Energy Europe signed a multi-year offtake agreement in early 2020 to trade all of the power from the battery, as part of Shell’s wider work to help accelerate the transition to cleaner energy sources. read more

Energy giants’ lobbying fuels the rise of hydrogen

Shell and BP want the controversial gas in families’ boilers. They’re pushing hard. By John Collingridge

Sunday May 02 2021, 12.01am, The Sunday Times

EXTRACTS

Few parts of the UK have attracted as much government attention in recent months as northeast England. Although Conservative mayor Ben Houchen is favourite to win Thursday’s Tees Valley mayoral election, ministers have left nothing to chance.

The 34-year-old has hosted visits from Boris Johnson, chancellor Rishi Sunak and business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng. Nearby Hartlepool, where the Tories’ Jill Mortimer is the bookies’ favourite to grab the seat from Labour in this week’s by-election, has received a similar love-bombing.

Houchen’s campaign has had a distinctly green tinge. He has campaigned on a ticket of clean industrial rebirth in an area ravaged by the closures of steel and chemicals works.

Hydrogen has been at its heart — an element that in just a few years has propelled into the mainstream.

Huge vested interests lie behind the rise of hydrogen: oil giants such as Shell, BP and Norway’s Equinor have staked their futures on natural gas as a less-polluting alternative to oil. read more

By Leigh Collins 

Blue hydrogen may well be more expensive than green H₂ by 2030, as some analysts predict, but large volumes of the blue variety — produced from natural gas with carbon capture and storage (CCS) — might nevertheless still be needed, Shell’s top hydrogen executive explains in a Recharge podcast.

Paul Bogers, vice-president, hydrogen, at Shell, argues that the power sector will need an awful lot of renewable energy to decarbonise, so there may simply not be enough wind or solar power available to produce green hydrogen on top of that. read more

Jillian Ambrose: Thu 15 Apr 2021 13.58 BST

Royal Dutch Shell has urged investors to vote for its strategy to shift the business towards cleaner energy sources, despite warnings that the plan does not go far enough to meet the Paris climate agreement goals.

The oil company set out its energy transition plan before its annual shareholder meeting in May, when investors will be able to take part in an advisory vote on Shell’s climate plans for the first time. The vote will not be binding. read more

Shell Outlines Plans for Reducing Its Own Carbon Footprint

The energy giant has high hopes for sustainable aviation fuel

BY LISA LACY: 7 April 2021

While energy giant Shell may not be the first name that comes to mind when you think of sustainability, it’s looking to change that by “reduc[ing] the carbon intensity of all the energy that we sell by 2050.”

That’s according to Dean Aragón, CEO of Shell Brands International AG, who said the company has set milestones toward becoming a net-zero emissions energy business for the years 2023, 2030 and 2035 that are “very clear, measurable and quantifiable targets on the decarbonization journey.” He did not provide specifics. read more

Shell takes control of first Dutch offshore wind farm

30 March 2021

Shell has acquired Vattenfall’s 50% share in the 108MW Egmond aan Zee offshore wind farm, one of the first to be built.

Following the transaction Shell is the 100% owner of NoordzeeWind that manages the asset.

Vattenfall head of asset management Kasper Simonsen said: “The lessons we have learned from the first Dutch offshore wind farm can be applied in the construction of Hollandse Kust Zuid and other future offshore wind farms. read more

As a climate activist, I object to the Post Office selling me to Shell Energy

Miles Brignall: Tue 30 Mar 2021 07.00 BST

I am among the 465,000 Post Office home phone and broadband users who have been collectively sold to Shell Energy, and are to become the firm’s customers.

As a climate activist, I most definitely do not want to become a customer of Shell Energy, something that I did not, and would never have, agreed to.

The Post Office has told me I will have to pay an £88 penalty if I wish to cancel my contract and leave. read more

Shell hunts for hydrogen opportunities in Australia in net zero push

Shell Australia Chair Tony Nunan said the company sees hydrogen and carbon capture and storage as essential to the company’s net zero ambitions, and Australia is well placed to be competitive in both of those technologies.

Australia, like its biggest coal and gas customers China, Japan and South Korea, has mapped out a hydrogen strategy, with plans to become an exporter by 2030, using its vast wind and solar resources to produce “green” hydrogen and natural gas and carbon capture for “blue” hydrogen. read more

Shell pilots on-site battery system for ultra-fast charging

Launched at a station in the Netherlands, the Shell-Alfen pilot project will allow drivers to simultaneously use the site’s two 175kW charge points.

Last update: March 12, 2021
Author: PetrolPlaza Correspondent Pablo Plaza

Shell and Alfen have launched a pilot to trial an on-site battery-powered system to support ultra-fast electric vehicle charging at Shell’s Zaltbommel forecourt in the Netherlands, allowing drivers to simultaneously use the site’s two 175kW charge points, according to a press release. read more

Shell partners EV charging subscription service Onto

Alice Grundy: Reporter, Current±: 11 March 2021

Shell has partnered electric vehicle (EV) charging subscription provider Onto, offering users access to over 3,400 UK chargepoints.

This partnership allows Onto customers to charge at over 100 Shell Recharge chargepoints as well as giving them access to the remaining chargepoints through its 17 network partners at no extra cost to their monthly subscription.

These network partners include Char.gy, ESB and ESB Group, EV-Box, Fastned, Franklin Energy, Gronn Kontakt, NewMotion, Osprey Charging and Porsche among others. read more

Shell targets grid-restricted EV forecourts with 360kWh battery

Shell is trialling large batteries for energy storage at its EV charging forecourts, with the aim of providing ultra-fast EV charging in areas with restricted access to national grids.

Implemented in pilot form at Shell’s forecourt in Zaltbommel, the Netherlands, the system comprises a 360kWh on-site battery that stores electricity to increase capacity.

This allows drivers to use two 175kW EV chargers simultaneously. Normally, such performance would require a costly grid upgrade, but the presence of an on-site battery avoids this. read more

Shell and Eneco sign offshore grid deal to power a million Dutch homes

Together, they will build the offshore grid connection for the Hollandse Kust wind farm

Shell and Eneco have agreed to build the offshore grid connection for the Hollandse Kust wind farm in the Netherlands.

The wind farm, which has a total capacity of 759MW and is scheduled to be operational in 2023, is forecast to produce energy equivalent to the consumption of more than one million homes.

The agreement was sealed with the Dutch transmission system operator TenneT and will allow the group to connect and transmit power from the wind farm. read more

Shell to pilot faster-charging, solar-powered stations for EVs in Singapore

THREE Shell service stations in Tampines, Pasir Ris and Lakeview will soon be powered by solar energy and offer significantly faster charging services for electric vehicles (EVs). The Energy Market Authority (EMA) and Shell have jointly awarded a research grant to a consortium led by local solar company Eigen Energy, to pilot the stations by early 2022.

The new stations will add to Shell’s network of 18 stations with EV charging services across the island. However, they will offer much shorter charging times – up to three times faster – than the 50 kilowatt rapid direct current chargers deployed at the existing stations. The latter typically provide up to an 80 per cent charge in about 30 minutes, depending on the EV model. read more

Energy firms bet on hydrogen boom, but payday far away

By Ron Bousso, Stephanie Kelly: March 3, 2021: 4 MIN READ

“Without hydrogen by 2050 we cannot aim to be a net zero (carbon) economy,” Royal Dutch Shell CEO Ben van Beurden told the CERAWeek online conference this week.

The universe’s most abundant element, hydrogen has been touted for decades as an alternative to fossil fuels, but attempts to commercialise it for use in vehicles and industry have largely failed.

So far, commercial-scale production has been from natural gas or coal and it is a niche market used mainly in oil refining and heavy industry. read more