BP Share News (BP.)

By Ron Bousso

March 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. energy secretary blastedrenewable fuels champions on Wednesday while the head of RoyalDutch Shell urged the energy sector to focus on worldefforts to cut carbon emissions, revealing a yawningtrans-Atlantic gap on climate issues.

Speaking at the CERAWeek conference by IHS Markit inHouston, Shell CEO Ben van Beurden outlined an ambitious plan toreduce the Anglo-Dutch company's carbon footprint and expand inrenewables, and called on others to follow.

"The energy landscape is changing fast. So we must change,where change is what the world needs," van Beurden said.

He spoke after U.S. Energy Secretary Rick Perry struck astarkly different tone, blasting the 2015 Paris ClimateAgreement to limit global warming. Perry said it was "immoral"to say people should live without fossil fuels.

"We are passionate about renewable energy. But the world,especially developing economies, will continue to need fossilfuels, as over a billion people on the planet live withoutaccess to electricity," Perry said.

The United States, which under former President Barack Obamahelped negotiate the Paris agreement, is now the only countrythat has backed out of the pact which calls for a gradual shiftto renewable energy by the end of the century. President DonaldTrump decided to withdraw last year.

Van Beurden, in an unusually strong-worded speech, saidclimate was the biggest challenge facing the energy sector.

"There may not be total unity behind the Paris Agreement anylonger, but there is no other issue with the potential todisrupt our industry on such a deep and fundamental level."

Perry extolled growing U.S. energy independence, as a boomin onshore shale drilling led to a rapid growth in oil as wellas natural gas, the least polluting fossil fuel.

The rise of gas at the expense of dirtier coal helped theworld's biggest economy sharply reduce its carbon emissions overthe last decade, as gas displaced much domestic coal demand.

"The lesson is clear (that) we don't have to choose betweengrowing our economy and caring for our environment, by embracinginnovation over regulation we can benefit from both," Perrysaid.

Shell and other European peers including BP, France'sTotal and Norway's Statoil are becomingincreasingly active in the low-carbon energy sector and arevocal supporters of the Paris agreement. Until recently, climatehas been less prominent in strategy presentations from U.S.rivals Exxon Mobil and Chevron.

Executives at the Houston conference repeatedly noted theongoing increase in demand for fossil fuels, and downplayed theoverall viability of renewable energy.

Other executives spoke of moving to carbon capturetechnologies and carbon taxes. Robert Dudley, president of BP,said Tuesday that "at some point in the future a price on carbonhas to be part of this answer."

The projected growth of oil demand is "definitely not inline with the Paris climate goals," said International EnergyAgency Executive Director Fatih Birol, saying the industry muststart using carbon capture technologies.

Few were as emphatic as van Beurden, who outlined how Shellis moving to meet its targets to halve carbon emissions by 2050.Steps include limiting emissions from operations and boostingnatural gas production to reach 75 percent of company oil andgas output.

"Over time, this net carbon footprint ambition willtransform our company's product mix," van Beurden said.

Shell, the world's top trader of liquefied natural gas,currently produces around 3.7 million barrels of oil equivalentper day, of which roughly half is natural gas.

In New York on Wednesday, Exxon Mobil Chief ExecutiveOfficer Darren Woods echoed Perry's words at the company'sinvestor day, noting developing nations need solultions togenerate more electricity as their standard of living increasesalong with the need for carbon reduction.(Reporting By Ron Bousso; Writing by David Gaffen and RonBousso; Editing by David Gregorio)