By Frank Andorka, Senior Correspondent
According to Maxx Chatsko at The Motley Fool, it may not pay for renewable energy advocates to fit Big Oil for the Snidely Whiplash top hat and cape. It seems they are investing billions of dollars into renewable energy research that could help make a 100% renewable future possible – but only if they’re allowed to continue their work.
The argument is all about scale. While solar is spreading like wildfire of its own accord, building an infrastructure like the one Big Oil already has in place would take decades (if not centuries). Plus, solar companies at this stage in their development don’t have the capital on hand to make those investments. Much of the industry is still in the aggressive start-up mode, with money to make payroll still taking precedence over long-term investing in infrastructure.
Like Katie Fehrenbacher’s article earlier about using utilities to build electric vehicle (EV) charging structure, the question is how do clean energy advocates use the current infrastructure to widen the appeal for renewable energy. And Chatsko thinks there just might be a syngergy between renewable energy advocates and Big Oil (words we guarantee you never expected to see that close together – or even in the same sentence).
Chatsko writes (and he may well be right):
Displacing and replacing fossil fuels won’t be easy. Nor cheap. That leads to an inconvenient reality for most narratives surrounding clean energy: moving to a renewable future as quickly as possible will require help from the incredible capital generation capabilities of the world’s largest oil companies.
The numbers are impossible to ignore. Consider that ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM), Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE:RDS-A) (NYSE:RDS-B), Chevron (NYSE:CVX), BP (NYSE:BP), and Total SA (NYSE:TOT) have generated a combined $44.6 billion in free cash flow in the last 12 months. That’s a whole lot of solar panels. Or research and development. Or equity investments in promising start-ups.
It may be galling to a lot of renewable energy advocates, but it’s not the craziest suggestion we’ve ever heard. And if the checkbooks and possibilities are open, who are we to say no to their help?
More:
Big Oil Is Investing Billions in Renewable Energy. Here’s Where and How.