President of Repsol critical questions emissions from power and their grants – Yahoo Finance Spain

By Jose Elias Rodriguez

MADRID (Reuters) – The president of the oil company Repsol stirred debate Friday on the responsibility of different sectors industrial in the fight against climate change, criticizing both the level of emissions in the electricity sector as subsidies to renewable initiatives.

In his speech to the general meeting of shareholders of the Spanish group, Antonio Brufau said that to comply with the resolutions of the climate summit in Paris late last year were required joint efforts and bet on energy as nuclear, renewables, gas, hydro and bioenergy.

Brufau said that power generation was now responsible for 30 percent of emissions of greenhouse gases, almost double transport (16%), which largely depends on the use of hydrocarbons due to the still prominent global carbon paper.

“Why electricity emits as much CO2: for because electricity generation processes prominence has coal,” he said. “If the whole park should be replaced by coal combined cycle natural gas who were using, which emits half the carbon emissions that generate the electricity sector would be reduced a third party.”

The Catalan businessman also questioned forcefully that have received subsidies of renewable energy in countries like Spain in relation to their impact on reducing emissions.

“If they are subsidies to create an industrial development that has not been achieved so far, with honorable exceptions such as wind, or to create economic and social returns, welcome subsidies … (but) if they are grants to improve the income of those receiving subsidies, are not in that game. “

in a similar vein, Brufau was especially critical of subsidies from the German government for the promotion of electric car and he questioned its environmental impact if electricity from coal plants Germanic was needed to move it.

“When I see such a as serious as the German government will subsidize 4,000 euros electric cars and in Germany 45 percent of electricity is produced by coal, I have to think q equal the grant to the coal sector will or will the German car to make it more efficient “sector.

in a meeting without surprises, shareholders approved among other things a dividend of 0.80 euros from the last year and reelection to the board of Isidro Fainé and Gonzalo Gortázar representing La Caixa, the largest shareholder of Repsol.

BETTER WITHOUT OPEC

Brufau also loaded inks against the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and held that the change in the rules of the sector that brought the fracking boom in the US has disrupted the cartel historical control production and prices.

“Without the OPEC functioning as a price stabilizer, favors companies like Repsol,” said the president, noting that the best thing that could happen to the industry is that ceased to exist to have a functioning purely market .

The remarks came at a time of dissension within OPEC, which last April failed to agree on a deal to freeze production levels cartel and rebalance a market glut for entry unconventional

hydrocarbons, a situation that has caused a sharp collapse in prices in the last two years.