Shell buys Perth-based Select Carbon
Shell has bought a Perth-based carbon farming business as part of a broader ambition to reach net zero emissions.
Energy giant Shell has bought a Perth-based carbon farming business in its latest push into the Australian renewables amid a broader global ambition to reach net zero emissions by 2050.
The energy operator, one of Australia’s biggest gas producers, plans to acquire environmental services company Select Carbon, which taps agricultural and land management techniques to cut greenhouse gas emissions and store carbon in vegetation and soils.
The deal marks the first acquisition globally for Shell’s Nature-Based Solutions business as part of a plan to invest $US200m ($280m) in the unit between 2020 and 2021. The price of the Select Carbon buyout was not disclosed. Shell said it was focused on finding ways of offsetting emissions either through farming solutions or carbon capture and storage where Shell already holds a stake in Chevron’s giant Gorgon CCS development in WA.
“There will still be a demand for hydrocarbon based products from our customers,” Shell Australia chairman Tony Nunan said. “Those customers will want to make sure that we find ways of producing offsets for that carbon and the best ways to do that are either through CCS or nature-based solutions and we see opportunities for both of those.”
The oil major announced an ambitious plan in April to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050.
Select Carbon has developed and manages a portfolio of 70 projects covering nine million hectares. Carbon credits generated are offered for sale through the federal government’s Emissions Reduction Fund.
Shell said in June several of its high-profile Australian gas projects were to blame for a massive $US8bn-$US9bn writedown triggered by lower prices amid a COVID-19 demand shock.
Shell is one of the dominant operators in Australia’s energy sector, running the QCLNG export plant in Queensland, the Prelude floating LNG project off Northern Australia along with stakes in Western Australia’s North West Shelf, Gorgon and Browse LNG ventures and gas business Arrow. Shell is pushing into electricity and renewables markets in Australia after paying $620m for ERM Power, buying a half stake in solar power developer Esco Pacific and developing the 120MW Gangarri solar plant in Queensland.
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