‘Shell badly needed for energy transition’ | Financial

Van Baal talked to Shell director Maarten Wetselaar. The latter recognizes that there is a considerable task for Shell, but also that it is not only up to Shell to limit emissions. According to him there is also a role for the end user.

Emissions

According to Wetselaar, Shell is good for the annual emission of 1.7 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas. This not only concerns the emissions by the company itself, but also mainly by the customers who use Shell products such as fuels. This means that the company accounts for 3% of the worldwide emission of harmful substances.

Last week, a large majority of Shell shareholders approved the company’s climate plans. Shell wants to reduce its emissions to zero by 2050. In doing so, it wants to offer customers sustainable alternatives. For example, a large hydrogen factory is being built in Rotterdam, for which it is not yet certain whether there are customers for it. According to Wetselaar, hydrogen plays an important role in reducing emissions in the transport sector and in heavy industry.

Sustainable

The Follow This motion, which calls, among other things, to stop investing money in pumping up oil and gas and investing more in sustainable variants, did not make it. But with the support of 30% of the shareholders, there is a growing group that demands a more sustainable course from Shell.

Van Baal emphasized that Shell is good at setting up large projects quickly. As an example he cited the construction of the gas pipelines after the Groningen gas field was discovered. Within ten years, almost all of the Netherlands was connected to natural gas. “Now we also want something like this from Shell,” said Van Baal.

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