Shell’s report, named the New Lens Scenarios, examines two different paths world energy may take in the next half century. In the first scenario, named “Mountains,” Shell sees strong government and policies that lead to plentiful natural gas resources and carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology. Interestingly, Shell currently is involved in a large CCS project in Alberta.
The “Oceans” scenario, however, sees solar becoming a dominant source of energy production, but fossil fuels would still be accounting for 70% of road passenger travel in 2050. The natural gas industry, held by competitors to Shell, also fail to materialize. So even though the solar industry grows, this scenario still sees greenhouse gas emissions totalling up to 25% higher than the “Mountain” scenario as a result of higher oil and coal demand and lack of CCS investment.
The most obvious reason to be skeptical of Shell’s report is the fact that they discontinued investment into solar, hydrogen, and wind back in 2009. Strange that they would be pushing for a technology that they stopped researching.
So while there certainly is plenty of reason to be excited about the solar energy industry, don’t think that Shell is necessarily the new champion for the solar industry.
Image URL