Shell sold millions of carbon credits for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions that never happened, allowing the company to turn a profit on its fledgling carbon capture and storage project, according to a new report by Greenpeace Canada.
Under an agreement with the Alberta government, Shell was awarded two tonnes’ worth of emissions reduction credits for each tonne of carbon it actually captured and stored underground at its Quest plant, near Edmonton.
This took place between 2015 and 2021 through a subsidy program for carbon, capture, utilisation and storage projects (CCUS), which are championed by the oil and gas sector as a way to cut its greenhouse gas emissions.
At the time, Quest was the only operational CCUS facility in Alberta. The subsidy program ended in 2022.
one of my favorite fun facts, is that apparently a non insignificant number of “carbon credits” come from unsealed oil wells being sealed up. Which sounds good and all.
Until you realize that leaving oil wells unsealed is literally illegal and not to regulation standards what so ever. So you are literally paying for carbon credits, that remove carbon, that never should have been in the environment to begin with.
I love capitalism.
Well, if big companies can get carbon credits, why can’t I? Biking a few miles a day should yield me some, shouldn’t it? Because I’m not using a car? Sure, I breathe more, but it’s still less CO2 than by using a car.
Think bigger. You need to offset the carbon you’ll save by not burning hundreds of tons of garbage at the local landfill. Do you own the landfill? Hell no. Will you burn it? Not if they pay you not to.
Yeah, you can basically tokenize anything ad absurdum. This kind of highlights how carbon tokens are just a PR move and nothing else.
Howling
nothing is stopping you from selling your own carbon credits…