Name: This Massive Facebook Solar Project Will Power Shell’s Fracking Operations in Texas
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This Massive Facebook Solar Project Will Power Shell’s Fracking Operations in Texas

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Series:Series:In the heart of the Permian oil patch in West Texas, a massive $416 million solar array began converting sunshine to electricity this summer. One of the project’s main financiers has a very familiar name —&nbsp;Facebook.The social media corporation helped make possible the 379-megawatt Prospero I solar array, located about 18 miles west of the city of Andrews and covering an area five times larger than New York City’s Central Park. The project represents a model initiative for Facebook, which is striving to become a leader on climate change. A June 2019 article about Prospero I repeatedly implies its energy will power Facebook’s data centers, where photos, videos, and other information is stored. The article quotes Mark Zuckerberg in saying that, “These new solar projects will help us reach” a goal “for all our data centers and offices to use 100% renewable energy by&nbsp;2020.”But the admirable renewable energy commitments and corporate bluster belie a simple truth about the Prospero I solar project. The energy produced here will not directly power a Facebook data center; it will, in fact, be routed to Shell Energy North America to power the oil and gas giant’s fracking operations in the Permian, the nation’s most booming and polluting oil&nbsp;play.For all of our renewable energy projects, we work closely with local utilities and renewable project developers to find new projects that meet our needs,” said Melanie Roe, who works in Technology Communications at Facebook. “Important factors for us include when the project will be constructed, how progressed the project is from the perspective of securing required permits and grid access agreements and how much energy it can generate once&nbsp;constructed.”DeSmog asked Facebook to explain how in the present time of perilous climate change, linked to the production and combustion of fossil fuels, the social media company could finance a project that directly powers additional fossil fuel development. Roe did not answer the question directly, but stated, “Investing in the Prospero 1 Solar project offered us a flexible solution for meeting our renewable energy&nbsp;goals.”She added, “Shell Energy North America will be buying most of the power generated by the [Prospero I] project.” Facebook is the sole tax equity investor in the project, a relationship that enables them to invest in the project and receive renewable energy credits. Other investments came from two Danish pension funds, and PenSam. The project itself was developed by Longroad Energy, a large U.S.-based renewables&nbsp;firm.Shell Energy signed a long-term solar Power Purchase Agreement () with Longroad Energy,” says Jim Appleby, a Shell external relations advisor. “This and the associated renewable energy credits will increase the supply of renewable power into the grid and help to offset our carbon footprint in the Permian&nbsp;Basin.”Facebook did not reply directly to questions about the details of the financial relationship. Shell did not reply directly to questions about exactly how the energy would be transmitted to the company, or which specific parts of its oil and gas operations would be utilizing the&nbsp;energy.But while Facebook touts Prospero as a model project, at least some members of the Texas environmental community are not&nbsp;impressed.This is definitely a real tarnish on Texas’s renewable success,” says Luke Metzger, Executive Director of Environment Texas, a nonprofit that advocates for clean air, water, and energy. “Oil and gas companies trying to green up their reputation in this way when in fact their actions are quite destructive to the environment and public health is ridiculous. It is disappointing that a company like Facebook would be involved in such a&nbsp;project.”The Prospero I solar project is not the only large array to rise out of the oil well–dotted scrub of the West Texas desert. In fact, a number of major oil and gas companies operating in the Permian oil patch have chosen to power their operations with renewable energy. “As the thirst for electricity to power drilling rigs in West Texas drives the state’s energy needs to new highs, oil and gas companies are increasingly relying on wind and solar power to ensure that the shale boom continues,” states a .A year ago, Occidental Petroleum Corp. announced the launch of a solar facility to help power its Permian oilfield operations. In August 2019, Chevron signed a deal to source Permian operations with wind. And in November 2018, ExxonMobil signed a multi-year supply contract with the Danish renewable firm Orsted for 500 megawatts of wind and solar energy in&nbsp;Texas.The whisper of wind across the desert of West Texas means a lot more now than a cool break from the summer heat,” reads a post on . “It also means more affordable, reliable, and cleaner energy to support our growing asset&nbsp;base.”The oil and gas industry has learned that large wind and solar farms are a good way to safeguard electricity supplies. For example, using renewables might save an oil and gas firm from having to rely on diesel fuel, which can be problematic and dangerous. Fracking requires a tremendous amount of energy and is flourishing in a remote desert rich in wind and sun. These factors, along with key financial incentives, have helped inspire the seemingly odd union, between large renewable firms and large oil and gas&nbsp;companies.Globally, the oil and gas industry first started deploying large-scale renewable projects in the early 2000s, according to the information firm Markit. But the uptake was slow. There were fewer than 15 projects before 2017, after which there was an explosion of growth. “ Markit now tallies more than 45 announced projects in its Oil and Gas Field-based Renewable Energy database, with 13 announcements made in 2018 and 15 made in 2019,” the firm .Stakeholder pressure to reduce emissions is a factor,” stated Judson Jacobs, executive director for upstream energy at Markit, in a company press release. “It is also about steeply declining costs for renewables and the industry’s growing familiarity and experience with these technologies. And there are tangible improvements to operational performance that go along with using&nbsp;them.”Jacobs added, “Energy efficiency efforts and reductions in flaring can only do so much to lower greenhouse gas emissions, so some companies are turning to zero-carbon sources to power their upstream, midstream, and downstream&nbsp;operations.”Dr. Leah Stokes, an assistant professor of political science at the University of California, Santa Barbara and an energy policy expert, says the main avenue for financing renewables has been through the tax code. Renewables have enjoyed tax credits since the early 1990s, and in 2005 an investment tax credit, referred to as the , was passed which allowed companies with tax liability to pay less back to the federal government if they made an investment in solar energy. “If you think building renewables is a good thing, then we need some way for the federal government to do it, and this is one way,” says&nbsp;Stokes.But the system appears to have been captured by the market. “What has happened with the is there are companies who basically take tax liability and sell it off to other companies,” says Stokes. “There are marriages between people who owe the federal government money and people who are building projects.” She adds, “In a weird way it is almost like a fossil fuel subsidy, because you are making the solar power cheaper with an investment tax credit, then using the solar power to extract&nbsp;oil.”This creates a seemingly disjointed cycle where resources and space are used to create renewable energy in order to then produce additional energy in the form of fossil fuels, whose production has put the life-support system of the planet in&nbsp;jeopardy.We should be thinking about siting renewable energy facilities in a way that can power our homes and cities and farms,” says Stokes, “not in a remote area to power more&nbsp;extraction.”In the last year, Facebook has repeatedly been in the crosshairs over the issue of climate change. The journalist Emily Atkin, in a September issue of her popular newsletter, , pointed out that although Facebook has set up a Climate Science Information Center to feature credible news and promote personal climate actions, the site continues to be a bullhorn for science&nbsp;deniers.Facebook is one of the planet’s largest purveyors of climate disinformation,” wrote Atkin. Stories and videos claiming climate change is a hoax or that humans are not responsible have received millions of views on the social media&nbsp;platform.The company’s efforts to put on a climate-friendly face are extensive. “Renewable energy [is] incredibly important, we believe in it strongly,” Peter Freed, the Head of Energy Strategy at Facebook, stated in a for Stanford’s Precourt Institute of Energy. Freed works on a team that makes sure that for each amount of energy used by the company’s massive energy-hungry data centers, an equivalent amount of energy has been procured from a renewable source. But that renewable energy need not necessarily be used by Facebook itself. It is this accounting that allows a company like Facebook to make claims of 100 percent renewable&nbsp;energy.The Energy Information Administration told DeSmog it did not have statistics that specifically addressed the issue of how much of the renewable development in West Texas, or elsewhere in the country, is going towards directly supporting fossil fuel&nbsp;production.Either way, the trend and its implications do not seem to concern Facebook. “I have been hearing more and more frequently, even in the folks that care about renewables…‘Hey, like we got to slow down corporate procurement because we’re going to get too much renewables on the system and then it’s going to drive more fossils,’” said Freed, in the Stanford talk. But it appears to be a view with which he pointedly disagrees. “We should just be plowing as much renewables onto the grid as possible,” Freed exclaimed. “I think none of the corporate buyers should slow&nbsp;down.”This manner of renewable procurement again highlights an uneven reality. Major tech companies like Facebook get to claim they are powered by 100 percent renewable energy, a boast that carries valuable public opinion capital, even if some of the energy procured is actually going to power more fossil fuel&nbsp;development.Peter Freed’s June talk for Stanford’s Precourt Institute of Energy did little to disavow the idea that Big Tech and Big Oil were in bed together — it was sponsored by&nbsp;Chevron.Facebook is not the only big tech company to make a flashy climate commitment and then partner with oil and gas firms. In a striking 2019 investigation for , journalist Brian Merchant reported that Amazon has actively sought business from oil and gas corporations under its cloud computing subsidiary, Amazon Web Services, or .The irony is, in this case, twofold,” writes Merchant. “Amazon’s massive cloud operation appears to once again be getting dirtier, powered by a growing share of fossil fuels” and “ is then selling its fossil-fueled cloud to oil, gas, and coal companies, to help them better find and extract more fossil fuels.” Clients include the likes of , Shell, Halliburton, and Chesapeake Energy. At the same time, Amazon has managed to put forth a façade of climate leadership, and in 2019 co-founded The Climate Pledge, a commitment, according to their , “to be net zero carbon across our business by 2040, 10 years ahead of the Paris&nbsp;Agreement.”And it is these sorts of lofty media announcements that keep coming from Facebook&nbsp;too.In September, that not only would it eliminate or offset 100 percent of its own emissions by the end of 2020, but it would completely decarbonize its entire supply chain by&nbsp;2030.Back in Texas, not everyone is holding their&nbsp;breath.In terms of carbon emissions, our hole is getting deeper,” says Metzger, with Environment Texas. “We have had increased renewable development in Texas, but at the same time total emissions have actually increased and that is largely because of the Permian. So we are taking one step forward, but two steps&nbsp;back.”Stay up to date with DeSmog news and alertsJustin Nobel writes on issues of science and the environment for Rolling Stone and has a book on oil and gas radioactivity forthcoming with Simon Schuster entitled -238: Big Oil’s Dangerous Secret and the Grassroots Fight to Stop&nbsp;It.The federal government has broad authority to take action to slash greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report, including transforming an oft-forgotten Southeast public power corporation into a force for clean energy.The federal government has broad authority to take action to slash greenhouse gas emissions, according to a new report, including transforming an oft-forgotten Southeast public power corporation into a force for clean energy.Green MP Caroline Lucas said climate sceptics and “delayers” should be “nowhere near the prime minister’s top team”.Green MP Caroline Lucas said climate sceptics and “delayers” should be “nowhere near the prime minister’s top team”.Graham Stuart MP has championed the UK’s highly polluting wood-pellet burning power station, which is located close to his Yorkshire constituency.Graham Stuart MP has championed the UK’s highly polluting wood-pellet burning power station, which is located close to his Yorkshire constituency.Series:Series:Community groups present health and environmental justice concerns to the EPA, alleging workers at Austin Master Services are coated in dangerous levels of radioactive waste.Community groups present health and environmental justice concerns to the EPA, alleging workers at Austin Master Services are coated in dangerous levels of radioactive waste.Clearing the PR PollutionSectionsDatabasesTopicsDeSmogFollowClearing the PR PollutionSectionsDatabasesTopicsDeSmogFollowWebsite byStay up to date with DeSmog news and alertsResultsSee all resultsStay up to date with DeSmog news and alerts

Series:Series:In the heart of the Permian oil patch in West Texas, a massive $416 million solar array began converting sunshine to electricity this summer. One of the project’s main financiers has a very familiar name —&nbsp;Facebook.The social media corporation helped make possible the 379-megawatt Prospero I solar array, located about 18 miles west of the city of Andrews and covering an area five times larger than New York City’s Central Park. The project represents a model initiative for Facebook, which is striving to become a leader on climate change. A June 2019 article about Prospero...

This Massive Facebook Solar Project Will Power Shell’s Fracking Operations in Texas

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