Oil firm’s warning comes after it had to halt work on Europe’s largest biofuel project and sell refinery in Asia

Shell has warned investors that it will take an impairment charge of up to $2bn (£1.6bn) in its next set of results after it was forced to halt work on Europe’s largest biofuel project and sell off a Singapore refinery.

The oil company told investors to expect a non-cash writedown of between $600m and $1bn when it publishes its second-quarter results next month because of trouble at a major biofuel project in Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

New computing infrastructure means big tech is likely to miss emissions targets but they can’t afford to get left behind in a winner takes all market

The artificial intelligence boom has driven big tech share prices to fresh highs, but at the cost of the sector’s climate aspirations.

Google admitted on Tuesday that the technology is threatening its environmental targets after revealing that datacentres, a key piece of AI infrastructure, had helped increase its greenhouse gas emissions by 48% since 2019. It said “significant uncertainty” around reaching its target of net zero emissions by 2030 – reducing the overall amount of CO2 emissions it is responsible for to zero – included “the uncertainty around the future environmental impact of AI, which is complex and difficult to predict”.

Technical difficulties blamed for new blow to firm’s sustainable energy plans

Shell has paused the construction of one of Europe’s largest biofuel plants which was expected to convert waste into green jet fuel and biodiesel by the end of the decade.

The oil company said on Tuesday it would “temporarily pause” work on one of its biggest energy transition projects to address the technical difficulties that have delayed its progress so far.

Amit Gudka is reinventing himself after the failure of his energy firm by plugging into the global battery boom

Britain’s fast-changing energy industry may be just the place for reinvention. In the wake of the unprecedented collapse of Bulb Energy, its co-founder, Amit Gudka, is trying to make the best of his next chapter: by plugging into the global battery boom.

Sitting in a central London coffee shop, not far from the offices of his new venture, Field Energy, Gudka explains how he has swapped home energy customers for battery projects and why he believes he should be given a second chance.