Sep 14, 2009

Shell’s Calls Renewables 'Challenging' - But Tar Sands and CCS doable????

(Bloomberg) -- SHELL, Europe's biggest oil company, said the time needed for large-scale deployment of new energy sources is a bigger challenge than technological advances in replacing fossil fuels.

It takes a decade to bring a major energy project involving new technology to commercial production,
Shell Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser said today at a conference in Calgary.

It takes at least another 25 years for a new energy source to obtain a 1 percent share of the global market
Voser said renewable energy sources such as wind power and biofuels will provide about 30 percent of the world's energy supplies by 2050.

As global energy demand resumes growing, he said, oil producers will need to increase recoveries from existing fields and open "new frontiers" to keep up.
Shell said in May that it will boost spending on biofuels this year and next to create a "commercial-size" renewables business. The company said earlier this year it will focus on biofuels and the capture and storage of carbon dioxide, or CCS, at the expense of solar and wind energy.

Oil-sands projects may supply 6 percent of the world's oil supplies excluding OPEC nations, Voser said. Projects in the tar-like sands produce just 5 percent to 15 percent more carbon- dioxide emissions than conventional wells, and technological advances, such as CCS, will close the gap, he said.


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