The shift to renewables has been ditched for a carbon intensive future
As BP moves back to petroleum I have to wonder what will happen to their “beyond petroleum” tag line? The article in The Guardian by Terry Macalister has some worrying information regarding the Tar Sands in Canada and the continuing attitude of Big Oil to carry on with business as usual in the face of massive change socially, economically and ecologically.
That said, there are glimmers of hope in the article. Lord Browne (the former BP boss) seems to have a forward thinking perspective:
Browne has kept a low profile since he left the company, but at a recent speech to the World Future Energy Summit in Abu Dhabi, he let fly, saying there was a need to “displace high-carbon options” in the choices that were made in future.
Browne said the way energy companies approached carbon in future would be a core issue for investors and it was only a matter of time before the world would see several carbon billionaires while renewable power “majors” would make it into the Fortune 500.
Maybe BP won’t be going beyond petroleum, but it seems there are a number of big corporates who are and it seems they are getting ready to make some serious money from clean energy. Lets hope the clean energy companies succeed, I am cynical/realistic enough to know that their success financially is what will drive clean energy into the future.
