It is possible for gas companies to make money being green in a variety of ways. We will explore what areas will receive the biggest impact of such changes.
Have you ever wondered how gas companies make money by being green? What you should really wonder is how much money would they lose if they weren’t trying to be green. In a world with skyrocketing fuel costs and dwindling fuel supplies, gas companies must focus on being green if they want to remain competitive in the market and retain the loyalty of their customers.
Green Initiatives
Most of the major fuel companies have departments devoted to green energy and initiatives. BP , Shell , and Chevron all have a variety of green tasks they are working on including making their own corporations more environmentally friendly . For example, Shell has societal initiatives that focus on reducing their impact on local communities, buying resources locally, as well as employing local individuals for their various endeavors. BP has a number of sustainability that covers a broad number of areas including health, safety, human rights as well as the environment.
Publicity
BP is probably the best example of making going green great for publicity, and also how failing to do so can wreck a company image. Before the Gulf Oil Spill, BP often referred to themselves in media releases as Beyond Petroleum because of all of their green initiative and their research into alternative fuels. They were seen as the green friendly gas company and they received a great deal of good environmental press. Unfortunately, in 2010 they were the cause of a huge ecological disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. This anti-green press was incredibly bad for them. In an interesting turn of events, however, BP managed to make many people feel they truly were a green company concerned with the environment and society because of the way they handled the disaster.
Fuel
If a gas company is not trying to find alternatives for petroleum based fuels , they will not have a business in the coming decades. Fuel supplies are dwindling and those that are left are becoming increasingly difficult to access, as the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico proved. Some of the alternative fuels that the various companies are working on include solar, carbon capture and storage, biofuels, wind power, geothermal, and of course more efficient ways to use coal, oil, and natural gas. The only way for companies to make money in fuel in the future will be to diversify their offerings.
How can gas companies make money being green? The possibilities are limited only by imagination. The first company to offer an inexpensive gas alternative will be able to offer a society that is hungry for a cheaper and better fuel exactly what they have been looking for. Companies that can prove they are taking care of the earth, rather than mindlessly exploiting it, will gain consumer confidence and loyalty which will also lead to increased revenue.
Photo Credit: Robin
