Study: Major oil companies use renewables as effective marketing

A new global study by the University of Barcelona highlights the gap between major oil companies’ clean energy marketing and their actual investments in renewables. According to the study, these companies are not contributing to the development of renewable energy to the extent they claim.

Despite public statements by giants such as TotalEnergies, Eni, BP, Shell, ExxonMobil and Chevron in support of the energy transition, these companies are doing far less than they claim to contribute to the global growth of renewable capacity. The study was reported by Reccessary. Researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona analysed the portfolios of the world’s 250 largest oil and gas companies.

The findings showed that these companies are responsible for only 1.42% of global installed renewable energy capacity. Even more surprisingly, according to the study, just 0.1% of these companies’ primary energy production comes from renewable sources. The study stresses that, based on the activity reports analysed, these companies will continue to rely predominantly on fossil fuels in the future, even as they present themselves as partners in the fight against climate change. They also overstate their investments in renewable and clean energy, using them as an essential marketing tool today.

The study’s lead author, Marcel Llavero Pasquina, said fossil fuel companies maintain their “political licence and legitimacy” by claiming to be part of the solution, even though the data prove otherwise. The research mapped all solar, wind, hydro and geothermal projects in which the companies have a direct or indirect stake. TotalEnergies leads with approximately 14.6 GW of installed capacity. US oil companies, Pasquina noted, “have virtually no renewable assets”.

In Africa, where access to energy remains an urgent issue, the involvement of major oil and gas companies in renewables is generally even more limited. Of the continent’s total 70 GW of renewable capacity, oil companies account for just 2.8%, mostly through foreign companies.

The limited projects are concentrated in South Africa, Nigeria and Morocco, while only one African company, Algeria’s Sonatrach, operates several renewable energy projects. Mohamed Adow of Power Shift Africa said the fossil fuel industry is deliberately delaying and blocking progress on clean energy while promoting natural gas as a transition solution.