Shell has declared an ambition to double the amount it spends on green energy to $4 billion (£3.2 billion) a year, in a sign of how the Anglo-Dutch company is looking to speed up its move to a future beyond oil and gas. Maarten Wetselaar, the head of the gas and new energy unit which generates a third of the company’s revenues, said he wanted to raise Shell’s investment in low carbon energy. The company has already committed to spend $1 billion-$2 billion annually in the next two years, with the rest of its total $25 billion budget invested in hydrocarbons. Wetselaar said if his initial investments generated a good enough return, he would be able to successfully argue for an increase from 2020 onwards. “I would like my current business to be financially credible enough for not only the company, but shareholders, to want to double it and look at more,” he said.

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