Shell Ditches Hydrogen Plans in Norway – Apparently Destroying the Planet Is Easier Than Decarbonizing It

Look who’s pulling out of yet another “green” project. Shell – that beacon of environmental virtue (LOL) – has just scrapped its plans for a hydrogen plant on Norway’s west coast. Why, you ask? Because apparently, there’s just not enough demand for “blue hydrogen.” Yes, the same Shell that’s been sucking oil out of the ground for over a century like a vampire at an all-you-can-drink blood buffet is now suddenly worried about market viability for clean energy. Color me shocked.

“We haven’t seen the market for blue hydrogen materialize,” a Shell spokesperson said, probably while laughing into their gold-plated coffee cup. Let’s be real: when your entire business model revolves around churning out fossil fuels and drowning the planet in CO2, the last thing you want is a hydrogen revolution cutting into your profits. So, what better excuse to bail than a “lack of demand”?

Now, if you’re not familiar with the wonders of “blue hydrogen,” it’s basically hydrogen made from natural gas – you know, that stuff Shell has been profiting from for decades – but with a shiny new bow of carbon capture slapped on top. It’s supposed to be a stepping stone to decarbonizing European industry, but surprise, surprise, it’s “more costly than traditional methods”. In other words, it’s not cheap enough to keep Shell’s investors like BlackRock swimming in cash, so naturally, Shell just couldn’t be bothered to continue.

And they’re not the only ones bailing. Equinor, Norway’s golden child of oil, also recently canceled its own hydrogen project because it, too, was too expensive and lacking demand. So now we’ve got two of the world’s biggest polluters waving the white flag on hydrogen because, hey, why help the planet when you can just keep burning fossil fuels for another century?

Shell’s plan, in partnership with Aker Horizons and CapeOmega, was to produce around 1,200 metric tons of blue hydrogen per day by 2030 at the Aukra Hydrogen Hub. They were going to do this at their Nyhamna gas processing plant, because of course, Shell couldn’t be caught dead doing anything that didn’t involve gas. But now, the partnership is as dead as Shell’s moral compass. The partnership expired in June, and Shell is, unsurprisingly, in no rush to start another hydrogen project in Norway.

Here’s the kicker though – let’s not forget Shell’s toxic legacy. They’re not just the poster child of oil and gas greed. No, this is the same company that once cozied up to the Nazis, ran carcinogen experiments on their own employees (because who needs human rights when there are profits to be made?), and keeps a sinister spy firm, Hakluyt, lurking in the shadows to target anyone who dares oppose them – like Greenpeace. So, it’s not exactly shocking that Shell’s idea of a “green project” starts with gas and ends with excuses.

And let’s be honest, Shell probably never had any real interest in this hydrogen stuff to begin with. They love throwing around these flashy green initiatives just long enough to keep regulators off their backs and shareholders like BlackRock feeling good about investing in “sustainability.” But when the numbers don’t add up, they scrap it faster than you can say “climate emergency.” After all, why invest in clean energy when you can just keep cashing in on the same dirty oil and gas that’s killing the planet?

Of course, none of this is a surprise to John Donovan, the fearless owner of royaldutchshellplc.com and eternal thorn in Shell’s side. Donovan’s been calling out Shell’s hypocrisy for years, and – surprise, surprise – Shell’s never managed to shut him down with a libel suit. Probably because, when your sins are this public, there’s not much room to argue against the truth.

So, here we are, with Shell once again proving they’ll always choose their bottom line over the planet. But don’t worry, they’ll probably slap some solar panels on a refinery and call it progress. After all, greenwashing is a lot cheaper than actually saving the world.

This website and sisters royaldutchshellgroup.com, shellnazihistory.com, royaldutchshell.website, johndonovan.website, and shellnews.net, are owned by John Donovan. There is also a Wikipedia segment.