Greenpeace Argentina urges Shell to keep investment promise

Greenpeace is campaigning in Argentina for Anglo-Dutch oil company Shell to urgently invest in wind power in line with its public pledge to step up environment investment. Earlier this year Shell announced investment of $500 million-$1 billion in continued development of a range of new energy businesses, including solar, wind, geothermal and hydrogen. But Greenpeace feels it is talk with little action. "Shell investments in renewable energies are insignificant in relation to its annual investment in the development of new reserves of fossil fuels," Greenpeace Argentina energy spokesperson Juan Carlos Villalonga says. Villalonga met with Shell's southern cone corporate affairs head Juan Sabogal to present the idea. In response Sabogal said any Shell investment would have to be profitable, according to newspaper La Nación. "We're trying to get Shell to join wind development in Argentina and for that we are suggesting some projects that are feasible to develop immediately, Villalonga says. Such projects are Rada Tilly (50 MW, Chubut province), Bahia Blanca (100 MW, Buenos Aires province) and Puerto Madryn (60 MW, Chubut province), which a Shell spokesperson says the company is studying. Greenpeace argues for the installation of 3000 MW of wind power in Argentina by 2010.