Stranded assets will be the name of the game in the fossil fuel sector. Up to 84% of the proven fossil fuel reserves of energy companies could turn into stranded assets, 2/3 being coal. According to the Financial Times this adds up to $900 bn, apart from the assets in exploring, storing and producing energy. Nevertheless, investors are still pricing in the value of these reserves although valuations of fossil producers have declined somewhat in the past five years. Hence, theoretically there is no value in exploring new fossil sources and Investors are by definition speculators or seeing competitive advantage in the end game of particular sources. At the same time, big oil companies only spend 2% of their total capital investments on renewables. When investors increasingly turn to renewables, and they will, valuations of fossil companies and sources will spiral downward rapidly. The only relevant question is when the tipping point is crossed and the acceleration starts.
by Benita Welter from Pixabay