Fuel sales drop sees Shell's carbon emissions decline

Royal Dutch Shell has seen a significant drop in overall climate emissions owing to a general demand slump for traditional fossil fuels as oil and gas sales fell sharply due to the coronavirus.

The company's total emissions dropped by 16% year-on-year for 2020, as revealed in its latest annual financial report.

Read more: Shell suffers 71% drop in 2020 earnings but raises dividend

The company have attributed the decline in emissions to lower demand for energy, particularly oil and gas.

This could also partially be due to the fact the worst of the pandemic was seen through the warmer parts of the year, meaning energy was being used less for things such as heating.

The company described its net carbon intensity - the primary metric it uses to measure its emissions - dropped last year to 75g per megajoule of energy, a 4% reduction on 2019 levels.

This metric allows the company to reduce overall emissions by supplementing its fossil fuel portfolio with renewable sources or carbon capture technology.

Shell has set a date for complete decarbonisation of their industry of 2050 - in line with many other companies and nations - and follow the guidelines laid out by the Paris Climate Accord.

The annual report lays out the company's plans to accelerate its own energy transition in line with current industry trends and standards.

Shell's Chair Chad Holliday said: "The strength and clarity of our strategy will enable us to succeed as a business in the energy transition. We will continue to power progress by generating value for shareholders and investing in energy projects to help meet demand. In turn, this will support supply chains and boost local economies."

He added Shell should continue to expect the unexpected and better prepare for the future.

The oil giant currently runs over 46,000 fuel stations worldwide.

The current pay of company executives is being dictated by their ability to deliver on its climate targets.

Offshore Engineer reports that CEO Ben van Beurden's pay packet dropped by 42% in 2020 owing to the coronavirus and is being tasked with overseeing the company's transition into a greener and more sustainable energy provider.

In a statement in the financial report, the CEO said the company implemented a new safety approach in 2020 which led to, for the first time in the companies history, zero fatal accidents occuring at Shell facilities.

He believes this shows Shell's commitment to progress.

Read more: Shell pin 2050 date for complete carbon-neutrality

He added: "We will lower emissions from our operations, including the energy consumed in running them and help our customers reduce their emissions from using our products. Importantly, this will include emissions from oil and gas that others produce and we then sell in our products - an industry-leading approach."

Van Beurden also commented on the company committal to investing in carbon capture technology to help reduce net carbon emissions.

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