ELF 2018: ‘Renewable energy firms need to up the ante in face of fracking’

Futurist Dean Van Leeuwen told ELN green utilities could find themselves undercut by cheaper shale prices

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Renewable energy companies need to “up the ante” in the face of competition from cheaper sources of power such as shale gas.

That’s according to Dean Van Leeuwen, Chief Xploration Officer and Co-Founder at TomorrowToday, who spoke to ELN at last week’s Energy Live Future event in London.

He said despite soaring global energy demand, the energy industry is “clearly not” going to hit peak fossil fuel because of the relatively new ability to extract large volumes of shale gas at low costs.

The futurist added renewable-only businesses could find themselves undercut by cheaper shale prices.

He said: “Shale gas in many ways is a great fortune and it’s also a great problem because it’s providing abundant cheaper energy but it’s also contributing to global warming so there’s a move away now from the greener technologies.

“I think companies that are focusing on green technology have to really up their ante and convince customers that this is the right thing to be doing.”

He added shale gas has allowed the US to become a net exporter of oil for the first time ever in the history of the petroleum industry.

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