Royal Dutch Shell has attacked the “ridiculous” impact of European energy policy, warning that governments are erasing the environmental benefits from expensive renewables by allowing coal use to increase.
Europe is burning more coal, while demand for gas – which emits much less CO2 than coal – is declining Photo: GETTY IMAGES
By Emily Gosden: 6:03PM GMT 28 Oct 2012Andrew Brown, one of Shell’s most senior executives, also warned that shale gas would not have the same impact in the UK as it has in the US, where is has been heralded as a new era of cheap energy.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Brown, Shell’s upstream international director, said the UK and Europe were “missing a trick” in their policies.
“There are a lot of subsidies going towards renewables. Gas and coal are having to compete to be taken into power generation,” he said.