France needs urgent measures to have result-oriented energy debate - report

Apr 26, 2013 - France needs to adopt urgent measures if it wants to have a result-oriented and efficient debate on energy transition, leading to a better performance in achieving renewable energy targets, according to two sector experts quoted by business daily Les Echos.
The two authors of the article regret that the current energy debate in France is not very convincing and most of the initiatives organised as part of the debate will not produce tangible results.
This is especially true for the domestic solar power industry which has been facing serious setbacks. Each week, between one and three companies from the French solar sector stop operations.
This was also confirmed by French President Francois Hollande in September 2012 when he admitted that the solar industry in France has lost 15,000 jobs in two years.
The two experts who wrote the article for Les Echos call for fixing an ambitious but achievable objective for solar energy production. The authors believe that with more willingness France may achieve an energy big bang, comprising further diversification of the country's energy mix.
The renewable energy sector in France may have some 500,000 employees by 2030. Apart from job creation, renewables are also leading to greater efforts for innovation and inserting innovative methods or technologies in the clean energy sector. Hence, this may be beneficial for the French economy in general.
Regrettably, France is one of the few European countries in which the share of electricity derived from renewables has declined in the two decades between 1990 and 2011. France still allocates important sums of money to secure imports of petroleum, gas and uranium, considered primary energy sources.

Choose your newsletter by Renewables Now. Join for free!