Shell ’selling suicide’ by preferring tar sands to wind

Shell was accused yesterday of “selling suicide on the forecourt” by pressing ahead with tar sands operations in Canada and continuing to flare off excess gas in Nigeria while pulling out of renewable schemes such as the London Array – the world’s largest offshore wind scheme.

The accusation that Shell was irresponsibly adding to climate change was made by an unnamed shareholder at its annual meeting in The Hague after Shell chief executive Jeroen van der Veer insisted the company was doing all it could to meet rising demands for energy while reducing CO2 emissions. Shell would listen to all stakeholders but he warned “ultimately it will not be possible to meet fully everyone’s expectations”.

Linda Cook, Shell’s executive director of gas and power, defended the decision to put its stake in the London Array up for sale. The economics did not meet the group’s “hurdles rate”, she said. In terms of unit costs it was “two and a half times cheaper to build onshore projects in the US” than to pursue the scheme off the Kent coast, she explained, insisting Shell remained committed to renewables.

Shell revealed two weeks ago that it was selling its 33% stake, much to the frustration of green politicians, campaigners – and even its partner E.ON, which signalled the retreat could kill off the scheme.

Guardian