Following a year's "national debate on energies" carried out throughout France to determine the energy mix over the next 30 years, Delegate Industry Minister Nicole Fontaine presented Nov. 7 the outcome of the country's situation in a white paper on energies.
Based on an unprecedented nationwide debate conducted through open meetings and the internet, the white paper contains the government's proposals, which will still be open to debate until yearend. A framework draft law then will be submitted to Parliament in first quarter 2004.
Predraft law details
Not surprisingly, the predraft law retains nuclear energy in its mix, but it also focuses on energy conservation and renewables, since France has long-term international commitments to the European Union for renewables, which must account for 21% of its energy mix by 2010. (Based on the Kyoto Protocol on Climate Change, France is required to reduce by 5.2% its greenhouse gas [GHG] emissions from the 1990 base.)
Currently, renewables account for about 15% of France's energy resource base, mainly through various hydroelectric, wood, wind, and solar energy projects around the country. The white paper provides a real policy to encourage these projects' development—particularly wood and solar.
Energy conservation falls within the realm of sustainable development for which the white paper encourages voluntary actions as well as tax and regulatory incentives, including the creation of "White Certificates" under which energy suppliers will have to encourage their clients to carry out energy savings along the lines of what already is being done in the UK. The government will set yearly targets, and lagging suppliers will be able to trade certificates with more aggressive renewables developers.
As for nuclear energy, there was no question that it could not be scrapped in a country where it accounts for 75% of electric power generation and has contributed to reducing France's energy dependence to 50% from 76% over the last 3 decades. Nuclear power also has reduced France's GHG emissions to the lowest in the EU and has compensated for the country's poor oil and gas resources.
However, nuclear also has become a controversial subject in France. The renewal of the country's 58 nuclear plants starting in 2020 requires that a third-generation reactor be launched soon in order that a demonstration model be ready for a government decision in time "for the deployment of an industrial series," said a government official. This is still a subject for debate even within the government, and it will be up to Parliament to take a final decision.
