Shell's Arctic Drilling Gamble

Energy Gang

Wood Mackenzie

Tech News, Environment, Sustainability, Innovation, Renewable Energy, Technology, Alternative Energy, Energy, News, Cleantech, Wind Energy, Business, Climate Change, Solar Energy

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 11 September 2015

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In 2012, Shell ventured up to the Arctic to drill exploratory offshore oil wells. A lot went wrong. Its containment dome failed, a ship ran aground, another vessel was threatened by ice, one of its contractors was fined for safety violations -- and after all that, Shell never completed its exploratory drilling operation. The company has spent $7 billion to explore for oil in Arctic waters. And with a new plan of attack and fresh approval from the Obama Administration, Shell plans to spend $1 billion every year to get access to the region's rich reserves. In this episode, we look at the environmental, economic and political risks that Shell faces as it searches for oil in the Arctic. We'll also ask if its money could be better spent on harnessing energy resources beyond petroleum. Later in the show, we'll talk about how Hurricane Katrina influenced the environmental justice movement over the last 10 years. And we'll end with a discussion about steep feed-in tariff cuts for solar in the UK that business say will destroy the industry. This podcast is sponsored by ReneSola, a Tier 1 solar cell and module manufacturer with a decade of experience in the cleantech industry. The Energy Gang is produced by Greentechmedia.com. The show features weekly discussions between energy futurist Jigar Shah, energy policy expert Katherine Hamilton and Greentech Media Editor Stephen Lacey. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Transcript

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0:00.0	The Energy Gang is brought to you by Renna Sola America, a Tier 1
0:04.8	Solar Module producer and LED Light manufacturer with a decade of experience in the
0:09.3	clean tech industry. Renna Sola is your complete procurement provider of clean energy solutions.
0:15.0	The company has a proven track record of being a partner for project developers looking to maximize their return on investments.
0:21.0	Call 415-852-74-21 to find your local representative or head on
0:29.0	over to their website at renisola. US.
0:40.0	For the week of September 10, 2015, this is the Energy Gang from Green Tech Media.
0:43.0	Hello all, welcome to the show, a weekly Clean Tech Digest where we talk about the week's energy, environment,
0:56.3	Clean Tech News.
0:57.3	I'm Stephen Lacey, a senior editor with Green Tech Media as usual in Washington, DC. In this edition, we'll talk about Shell's second attempt to drill for oil in Arctic waters.
1:07.0	Why is it the only company willing to take the risk,
1:10.0	and will the Obama administration let it continue.
1:13.0	Then, 10 years after Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans and the Gulf Coast,
1:18.0	we'll discuss how the disaster was used to raise awareness about environmental justice.
1:23.0	Finally, we'll talk about a proposal to eliminate feed and tariffs for solar in the UK,
1:27.0	part of another round of subsidy cuts that has solar businesses there in turmoil.
1:32.0	Catherine Hamilton and Jigger Shaw are with me ready to discuss.
1:35.0	Catherine is in her offices in Washington, D.C.
1:38.0	those offices are 38 North Solutions, a public policy consulting firm.
1:43.5	How are you, back to reality now, huh?
1:46.0	Yeah, absolutely.
1:47.2	It's hard because I'm not operating at a
	...

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