BP Plans to Invest $8 Billion In Renewable Energy
by Justin Thomas, Virginia on 11.29.05
BP, Europe's largest oil company, plans to double spending on alternative and renewable energy, creating a business unit that may generate about $6 billion a year in revenue within a decade. The company will invest $1.8 billion over the next three years on solar, wind, hydrogen, and carbon-sequestration, focusing on new technologies that can replace oil-and-gas-based generation, which accounts for more than 40 percent of man-made greenhouse gas emissions, the company said. See this analysis on Worldchanging by Joel Makower. :: Fuel Cell Today and The Guardian
Don't be fooled, BP isn't interested in protecting the environment. At the same time they made this announcement they are fighting to float supertankers into the Puget Sound - all under the threat of pulling a refinery out of the area. BP is not a friend of the environment and if they are looking at alternative energy, it's only because there must be a profit in it.
does it really matter if they're doing it for profit? at least they're doing it. not everyone can do everything for idealistic reasons. they are a business. they want to make money. if they happen to be able to make money from something that will benefit us all, good for them. it's using good business foresight -- if they're only tapping into non-renewable energy sources their business won't last. so who really, really cares if they're doing it for the idealistic reasons you or i would have? lets just be happy someone is stepping up at all.