Shell Maps Radical Plan for its Energy Future & Ours: HYDROGEN

Royal Dutch Shell gets it; other Big Oil firms still do not. Shell sees hydrogen gas providing 10% of global energy consumption by 2070, with many cars, trucks, and even airplanes running on hydrogen, despite the current enthusiasm for battery-electric vehicles. Shell is being pushed by activist shareholders to be more transparent and more environmentally responsible. The Anglo- Dutch firm plans to convert some of its natural gas plants to produce hydrogen. Shell sees the demand for oil stagnating in the 2020s, with natural gas declining in the 2040s, as governments mandate that many grids be powered 100% by wind, solar, and hydro. All the measures it foresees in its just released Sky scenario, will only limit global temperature warming to 1.7-1.8°C, which is under the Paris target of 2°C but above the aspirational target of 1.5°C.  The biggest impact governments could have on meeting the Paris goals would be to tax or price carbon by 2030. So, while Shell is relatively more enlightened than its peers, and recognizes that governments must complement energy industry efforts, it is vague on how it plans to achieve its ambitious targets, and it is silent on how to encourage its peers to match or exceed those targets. It is also silent on how to pressure governments to price carbon and curtail carbon subsidies.