Shell Oil Always Keeps Us Guessing

DRARW5 Asia’s largest solar power station

Shortly after the formation of 2GreenEnergy in 2009, my brother asked me why big oil didn’t simply transition from fossil fuels to solar, wind, and the like.  I replied, “There are two answers, one speculative, one certain.  I speculate that they’re interested in maintaining an energy market that keeps their monopoly in place.  It’s extremely profitable to pump hydrocarbons out of the ground and sell them.  What I know for a fact, having been a business consultant for 30 years, is that the core competencies associated with oil and gas exploration have virtually nothing in common with renewable energy.  They are no more qualified to play successfully in solar and wind than large companies that brew beer or develop real estate.”

If there is an exception to the status quo approach of Big Oil, it may be Shell, who just acquired a 20% stake in Bangalore, India-based Orb, which has supplied 160,000 rooftop solar PV systems totaling 75MW since it was founded in 2006.