03 April 2009
Big Oil Goes Green
Each large U.S. oil company’s position on energy efficiency reflects its distinctive corporate personality, but the companies have much in common. ExxonMobil Corp., Chevron Corp., Shell Oil Co., ConocoPhillips Corp., and BP America all support efficiency and the use of alternative fuels (bio fuels, solar, and wind) to different degrees.
ExxonMobil, in keeping with its conservative business approach, may have been slow to fully embrace the green mantra but now is an advocate. At a congressional hearing last year, Representative Edward Markey (Democrat-Massachusetts) accused the company of resisting the development of renewable fuels during the same period that the other four companies spent $3.5 billion on solar, wind, biodiesel, and other alternatives.
Rex Tillerson, ExxonMobil’s chairman and chief executive officer, affirmed the company’s commitment to energy efficiency during a 2008 talk at the World Petroleum Congress in Madrid. He observed, “Energy efficiency means using energy wisely — from employing advanced technologies to exercising common sense in using energy. It means doing the same — or more — with less.”
ExxonMobil spokesman Chris Welberry said, “Efficiency is a key element in all of the advertising and outreach that we do.”
Shell was an early proponent of alternative fuels and energy efficiency and in 2007 drafted a pro-environmental “sustainability report” that predicted supplies of easily accessible oil and natural gas probably will not meet demand after 2015. The study said, “To close the gap, the world will have no choice but to use energy more efficiently and increase its use of other sources of energy.”
Jeroen van der Veer, Shell’s chief executive, is guiding the company toward more ventures in alternative fuels. “It is clear that sustainable development is critical to everyone’s future and to our business success,” he said in a statement accompanying the report.
A spokeswoman told eJournal USA, “We at Shell believe we need all the solutions available to meet the energy challenge we face — including the renewable sources we have invested in, such as hydrogen, solar, wind, and biomass.”
In Chevron’s “Will You Join Us?” energy efficiency promotion, the company said it has cut its own consumption 27 percent since 1992. The campaign encourages consumers to cut their usage too.
Chevron’s Web site explained that efficiency enhancements are the easiest, cheapest, and most reliable source of “new” energy available. “By understanding how little actions, such as unplugging a computer overnight, can produce large-scale energy savings, we believe that people will be more willing to make small changes in their daily lives,” it said.
Spokesman Morgan Crinklaw said that Chevron’s Will You Join Us? Internet page [http://www.willyoujoinus.com] has had 3.5 million visits since it was launched in July 2005. “We believe the campaign has been very successful in encouraging dialogue about energy efficiency and conservation,” he told eJournal USA.
BP was the first large oil company to support limits on greenhouse gas emissions, which would force greater energy efficiency/conservation measures throughout the economy.
In May 1997 former chief executive John Browne said that BP believed climate change was occurring and that BP would cut its own carbon dioxide emissions. At that time, the other large international oil companies all were insisting that evidence was insufficient to support the global warming theory.
BP America says it has the nation’s most diverse portfolio of energy sources. It plans to spend more than $8 billion to develop alternative energy projects over the next 10 years.
In one of its public relations programs, A+ for Energy, the company offers grants for energy conservation education to schools in the United States and Canada. Teachers are encouraged to propose projects that promote energy-conscious thinking by students in kindergarten through secondary school. BP has invested more than $15 million in such projects since 2004.
ConocoPhillips claims to have been the first large U.S. oil firm to advocate binding limits for carbon dioxide emissions. In April 2007, Chairman and Chief Executive Jim Mulva said, “We recognize that human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, is contributing to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that can lead to adverse changes in global climate.”
Mulva’s company belongs to the U.S. Climate Action Partnership, a coalition of businesses and environmental groups that is lobbying Congress for legislation. Shell and BP also are members.
ConocoPhillips sponsors an annual prize, in conjunction with the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, for sustainable solutions to environmental challenges. With Pennsylvania State University, it offers a prize for ideas to improve the way the United States develops and uses energy.
-- Reported by Patrick Crow
