Sn the fossil planet, Denmark created a surprise in 2017 by taking a radical decision: the sale of the “oil & gas” activity of the company Dong Energy and its refocusing on renewable energies alone. Renamed Orsted in 2019, the group became the world's leading operator of offshore wind turbines following a transition that began in the late 2000s. “Our vision is clear: a world using only green energy”he displays on his site. An example for oil companies to follow? Interest rates, commodity prices, excessive diversification and investment bulimia have led to the abandonment of giant projects and heavy losses. Ecological virtue does not pay, and Orsted is now in difficulty.
At the time when the Danish group was making its revolution, Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, Equinor and ENI were promising to “green” (timidly) their energy mix. Low or zero carbon technologies (wind, solar, hydrogen, batteries, C0 capture and storage2…) were going to gain momentum by 2030 and represent a growing share of their investments and activities – even if oil and gas would remain their core business. Five years later, there is also disillusionment, at least for those who believed in these promises.
“No company is aligned with the Paris Agreement's goal of limiting warming to well below 2°C, constate le think tank Carbon Tracker. ENI, TotalEnergies, Repsol and BP rank first, committing to reducing in absolute terms greenhouse gas emissions linked to the production and use of their products by 2030. But the objectives of most companies only cover emissions from their operations. » This is true of American firms and public companies like Saudi Aramco (Saudi Arabia), Pemex (Mexico) and Petrobras (Brazil).
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