Shell Ends Its Small Investment in Renewables

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The oil company Shell, which recently launched a blog about climate change issues, announced that "it will no longer invest in renewable technologies such as wind, solar and hydro power because they are not economic." Instead, "it plans to invest more in biofuels which environmental groups blame for driving up food prices and deforestation." Shell will also work to develop "cleaner ways of using fossil fuels, such as carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technology. It hoped to use CCS to reduce emissions from Shell's controversial and energy-intensive oil sands projects in northern Canada," reports the Guardian. Friends of the Earth commented that while "Shell is at least being a bit more honest about the fact they are a fossil fuel company," it is "backing the wrong horse when it comes to renewable energy -- biofuels often lead to more emissions than the petrol and diesel they replace." Columnist George Monbiot writes that he now understands why, during his recent interview with outgoing Shell CEO Jeroen van der Veer, "I asked the same question 15 times: 'What is the value of your annual investments in renewable energy?'" Eventually, van der Veer "admitted that he knew the figure, then flatly refused to reveal it," saying that it "is not the right message to give to the people."