Member Info for bald_eagle

It seems you are right about Drax...it may not be a solution to climate change:

"Drax claims that burning wood pellets is “carbon neutral” because the emissions released by wood pellet combustion in a power plant are offset by the emissions that trees absorb while they grow. The claim is disputed by many environmental scientists and campaigners."

So it appears you may have Greta on your side!!

"Wind is definitely NOT the answer, it will always be peripheral imo."
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Not according to the 'experts':

"In May 2021, the International Energy Agency published Net Zero by 2050: A Roadmap for the Global Energy Sector. The roadmap says that 90% of electricity generation globally will come from renewable sources in 2050, with solar and wind being responsible for 70%."
[https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/windenergyintheuk/june2021#future-of-wind-energy]

Presumably, that will require infrastructure to build, maintain & replace turbines on a rolling basis (You cannot build, walk away & forget about them). Most people will also want these wind farms to be off-shore and Shell has the skills for such projects.

PS Most of Scotland is on mainland UK btw....or have they sneakily voted for independence?!

"Wind power has never provided a substantial or reliable part of the UK's electricity supply."
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Ken, I'm not sure what you call substantial but 24% isn't insignificant...and presumably that figure is set to grow.

"Wind energy generation accounted for 24% of total electricity generation (including renewables and non-renewables) in 2020; with offshore wind accounting for 13% and onshore wind accounting for 11%"
[https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/environmentalaccounts/articles/windenergyintheuk/june2021]

I have not seen the data in terms of reliability for wind power. Presumably solar is also impacted by cloud cover & obviously at night, so energy storage is an important technology, with EV's providing a storage option in the future.
I like the idea of the small nuclear plants being developped. We also import hydro power from Norway via subsea cable...so presumably Scotland has potential for Hydro. Another option is tidal power.
All technologies that Shell could use its expertise & resources to engage in.

Increasing numbers of Omicron cases were to be expected IMO....this is more transmissable than Delta.
The big question is whether symptoms lead to increased hospitalisations & subsequents deaths. Also the level of protection offered by current vaccines.
Anecdotal evidence from South Africa suggest Omicron may not be too bad but only the scientists can really answer that...no matter how much 'some' politicians want to pretend otherwise.

Heard something on Radio 4 that a member of the MPC is worried about the impact of Omicron on the economy and is thinking of maintaining base rates at 0.1% on 16th December. Delaying the inevitable IMO.

Aberdeen could well become the centre for a renewable energy industry in the North sea (wave & wind)....perhaps Shell has seen the writing on the wall. Why invest in a project that will take 25 years to pay back IF the demand for oil in the future is forecast to decline?

Hopefully the recent PR will prove beneficial to the fund raising process.
Personally I would prefer Altyn to fund the extra investment from profits but I guess that isn't feasible. SP seems to be in the doldrums awaiting news.

Some good debate IMO. All valid options. Reduce debt, money for investors and 'perhaps' a bigger push into renewables.
I would suggest that you have to be in the renewable business to understand it....even seed money with links to Universities could create a company with potential to grow. The 'danger' is that if you leave the transition too long then more dramatic & expensive decisions may have to be taken....perhaps an investment in Tesla a few years ago would have been too bold a move for Shell but there comes a point when you have to put your cards (& cash) on the table to be taken seriously. A 'green' CEO would be one such bold move...I doubt it will happen (or a similarly bold move), which would probably tells us where Shell is heading short to medium term.

"Grand total 31.843....@ £5.4....£171.95m "
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That would be very generous. There are approx 153m shares in issue. If management have remuneration of 31.8m that is a sizeable chunk of the business...too much perhaps?!
I reckon both sides of the TRMR debate are in agreement on this...which would be a first!!

"Why don't you invest the 9 Billion dollars in the renewable or Gas instead of returning it to share holders ??"
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Isn't that the 69 billion dollar question?
How much will be re-invested & in what, how much will be returned to investors?
Do they have a genuine plan for a 'green' future or is this 'just' a gradual wind down of the business....presumably with lucrative returns to investors & management for a period of time?

How are TRMR doing against their peers?....this drop in the SP seems relentless at the moment. At what point will investors see it as a massive buying opportunity?

It is possible that IF (big 'If' at the moment) Omicron is more contagious but with mild symptoms it could supplant Delta as the dominant strain....which could be good news because presumably hospitalisations & deaths would decrease (due to milder symptoms).
I'm not sure the WHO has given their verdict on Omicron yet.

A rise in base rate is coming at some point, I would have said a small increase on 16th Dec but I got it wrong last month. It is 'almost' a political decision now with one eye on the economy and another on government debt repayments.
Because of ‘net interest margin’ (NIM) any increase should benefit bank profits....I must say that I don't understand this subject. A recent article in Nov 21 AJ Bell/YouInvest sharemagazine 'suggested' that "...the positive impact on domestic sector profits of a 25 basis-point UK rate rise could fall from 5% to 3%".
I think the article was attempting to suggest that rising interest rates will increase bank profits but not as much as in the past....I did not understand why exactly!! Something to do with the nature of their reserve balances....Natwest is most sensitive apparently!

I guess this is all part of 'learning to live with the virus'....learning to invest with the virus around.

I don't reckon PR like that is helpful. What happened about the Russian bond?

"IMO, Covid equivalent of a loaded gun = water pistol"
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More Americans have died from Covid-19 than both world wars, Korea, vietnam, Iraq & Afghanistan combined....that is some water pistol!!

"c500 have died from vaccine in this country and that is the reported figure"
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How many are estimated to be alive now because of the protection afforded by vaccines? How many prevented from being hospitalised, how many prevented from having long covid (estimates of course)?...if I turn into Mr Hyde at night I am willing to take that risk.

Some people like to play russian roulette with a fully loaded gun...not me!!

"I doubt that the rugby at Twickenham will have helped any, unfortunate timing to be hosting a South African team."
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Is that why we beat them??.....excuses. excuses!!

"So risk of it being a lot worse (deaths) seems unlikely. "
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No....nobody knows yet. It will take 2-3 weeks before the boffins start to get enough data.

South Africa is a relatively young population...although there is anecdotal stories that people who are vaccinated aren't being hospitalised in large numbers by the new variant.

"13 MORE cases to day"
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Presumably that is the 13 Omicron cases just announced in Holland?!

They tested two flights from South Africa and 61 tested positive for Covid....presumably 13 of those 61 cases were Omicron.

From the BBC: "The flights by Dutch national carrier KLM from Johannesburg arrived at 10:30 and 11:00 local time (09:30 and 10:00 GMT) on Friday. Some 600 passengers were held for several hours after arrival while they were tested for the virus.
The passengers who tested positive for Covid-19 have been quarantined at a hotel near Amsterdam's Schiphol airport."

I don't think the UK is testing people who arrive from SA. The % of undiagnosed people with the new variant will presumably be similar (say 2-3% of arrivals)....How many planes arriving from SA until the travel ban comes in?....How many people?
The new variant is most likely already here.
PS We of course ask people to self-quarantine for 10 days if they have symptoms. I'm sure they all will....if they have symptoms!!
But of course we have our world leading 'track, trace & isolate' system, thank god for that.