Good Morning all!
This Friday's newsletter will focus on one of the most valued resources that we utilize on a daily basis which is ENERGY.
The main goal of this newsletter is to bring the newest trends and practices of preserving Energy. We will start off by covering why this topic is really important to stakeholders and how big companies behave in this particular matter. Then, we will mention other companies that have taken a step towards change and more sustainable services that have somewhat positively influenced the environment.
Types of renewable energy and companies mentioned In this newsletter:
1. Solar - GivePower, Masen Morocco, Shell
2. Wind - Masen Morocco, Chevron
3. Water - GivePower, Masen Morocco
4. Bio - Nanyang Technological University
We are excited to launch this first newsletter of the Strategic Management course Maria Inês Reis Bogalho, Adrian Peña Ranz, Feyza Yaman, and Lidia Luque Ruiz Students at the University of Carlos III de Madrid
Today's newsletter is 1404 words, a 10-minute read___
❝ The future is green energy, sustainability, renewable energy❞ - Arnold Schwarzenegger
Actor, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist, Politician, and Movie Director
This quote summarizes the intentions of The International Energy Agency, which works globally towards reaching a more sustainable future for all in different sectors and with different fuels and technologies. Feel free to watch this video and learn more about this Agency’s work!
HOW DO RENEWABLE ENERGIES AFFECT BUSINESS?
Renewable energies serve as a long-term investment for businesses to reduce their energy bills, protect them from price fluctuations, increase reliability and efficiency, improve reputation in the long term and reduce long-term risk.
For more information click here
But, what is renewable energy...?
This sort of energy derives from natural resources and its lifecycle is renewed faster than the creation of new sources of energy within a human lifetime, which helps to not overtake from earth’s resources. The known energy types today are sunlight, wind, rain, tides, waves, biomass, and thermal energy, existing mainly everywhere around the globe and in unlimited amounts.
On the other hand, fossil fuels, such as coal, oil, and natural gas exist in finite quantities and are over-extracted by human activities, meaning that sooner or later they will be nonexistent.
The importance of Renewable Energies in the United States
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From the image above we can see that renewable energy only accounted for 12% of the energy consumption in the U.S in 2020, which is not a high percentage compared to other sources of energy, but it is increasing over the years, as the awareness of climate change becomes a major concern for society.
In addition, from the graph, above we can conclude that some renewable energy sources like wood have decreased their intense usage, at the same time that other renewables have boosted their presence in this market, although petroleum, natural gas, and nuclear still win in the energy sources race.
In general terms, renewable energies are extremely important for businesses and have an impact on society as:
Help reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Help reduce energy imports and reduce fossil fuel use
Emits almost no air pollutants which is better for human health
Generation of new jobs which helps increase employment
Energy system resilience, with a low shortage of power
Easily accessible for all and safer
The U.K government's concern with “greenwashing”...
The United Kingdom has been unveiled as a country in which energy suppliers take advantage of selling generated energy from fossil fuels and then buying renewable energy certificates to sell it to consumers at a much higher price.
Solutions for this problem
One of the most criticized companies regarding this situation was Good Energy as it was investigated for not purchasing from 100% renewable energy suppliers. In response, after the scandal was solved and controlled by the government, this company shared on its website how clean and reliable their sources of energy are to gain customers' trust back.
For more information click here
ACTIONS TAKEN TOWARDS A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
Oil and gas companies lately realized the importance of investing in renewable energy so that they start to build a more sustainable future for themselves. Furthermore, now these companies do not want to be called "oil & gas" but "energy companies".
Here are some examples of what the big oil & gas companies do for renewable energy.
BP (Beyond Petroleum): The company has more than 2200 megawatts wind capacity in the US and is planning to create innovative zero-carbon solutions.
For more information click here
Shell: The company is currently working to create Singapore's first fully electric ferry service and also plans to launch a 25 megawatts solar plant in the Sultanate of Oman.
For more information click here
Total Energies: The company aims to be one of the top five companies in renewable energy by 2030 and recently they invested $60 billion in renewable projects in Nigeria.
For more information click here
ExxonMobil: The company has an agreement with Global Clean Energy to purchase renewable diesel up to 5 million barrels per year.
For more information click here
Chevron: The company and Moreld Ocean Wind invested in Ocergy’s production and commercialization of floating offshore wind turbines and also Chevron aimed to invest $10 billion in renewable energy until 2028.
For more information click here
Other Solutions & Inventions
Renewable energies are the focus of today's world news as they are a crucial motor for the current economy, and can even generate political conflicts between countries.3
Some countries that are rich in natural resources and therefore can take advantage of this
Some other countries have some climate or geographical conditions that impede them to do so.
As an example, we can take Morocco
As Morocco is a country with a high average temperature and rocky terrain, it imports energy from other countries.
Despite this, the country reaches the point where 37% of its own electricity comes from green power. It is huge potential and makes the country set the goal to reduce energy dependence to 20% by 2050 and avoid dependency.
The main issue here comes with the low self-subsistence that Morocco can have in the future.
The country has historically relied a lot on coal
The fact that the scarce resources the country has (water) are going to be invested in renewable energy makes the citizens reluctant to do this
For more information click here
The case of The Dutch Shell Company
We believe it is possible to go from contaminating firms to increasing the use of renewable energy instead. Although it may be difficult, we believe there is a possibility of implementing these changes. But these must be done from modifications within the organization and changing the culture of a business that revolves around resource wasting.
Recently, the Dutch Shell company has seen a change in CEO after 25 years, who has transferred to Cepsa.
This departure can mean the company leading the energy transition that has been demanded so much.
The change is a critical opportunity for the company since Shell is seeking to transform itself to become one of the cleaner energy providers.
For more information click here
The Case of Nanyang Technological University
According to a study conducted by the Nanyang Technological University of Singapore, there exists a specific type of algae protein that, in combination with liquid droplets, improves the artificial photosynthesis process by producing more energy and generating fewer wastes.
The main function of these proteins is to absorb light with the aim of carrying out photosynthesis and producing energy. Thanks to the mixture of the proteins with the water, the light which breaks through the droplets stay trapped for an extended period of time. This is the reason why more energy is generated.
It is essential to comment that although artificial photosynthesis is less efficient than solar panels, they are much more sustainable and environmentally friendly. On the other hand, the use of proteins from algae reduces the number of toxic products generated from the manufacturing of solar panels.
For more information click here
Our recommendations:
A video: Ted Talk
Why renewables can’t save the planet | Michael Shellenberger | TEDxDanubia
An Instagram account: Renewable Energy
GE Renewable Energy (@gerenewableenergy) • Instagram photos and videos
A podcast: Newest trends, cleantech, renewables, and the environment
The Energy Gang | Podcast on Spotify
🎤 An Event: WREC 2021 - Lisbon, Portugal
Event: World Renewable Energy Congress (WREC 2021) | SDG Knowledge Hub | IISD
⁉️ A Quiz: Ecological Footprint Calculator