Oil companies face the tremendous challenge that their core business is phasing out. And, if history is any guide, the leaders of one industrial revolution—fossil fuels—are seldom the leaders of the next industrial revolution—renewable energy. However, every step towards more clean, renewable energy is a good and important one. So the news that Shell, Europe’s largest oil company, has established a separate division, New Energies, to invest in renewable and low-carbon power, is welcome. Shell’s new division brings together its existing hydrogen, biofuels and electrical activities but will also be used as a base for a new drive into wind power.