France has set itself an ambitious energy policy centered on promoting renewable energy sources. After two years of debate, the French Parliament finally approved the new energy policy in June 2005. Some of the consequences were felt almost immediately, notably the tax credits available to households choosing renewable energy sources for heating. But the new policy will have far-reaching effects, shaping France’s energy guidelines for years to come.
Overall, the French government has pledged to trim the nation’s greenhouse gas emissions by 3% a year with a long term goal of cutting emissions by 4 by 2050. In parallel, energy intensity (a measure of the amount of energy a country needs to function) is also set to decline by 2% a year to 2015.
The cornerstone of the policy is energy diversification: by 2010, renewable energy is targeted to cover 10% of national demand, versus barely 2% today.
Opportunities for businesses in the sector will come specifically from the challenges the government has set for expanding renewable energy uses within the next 5-7 years. The use of renewable energy for electricity production is set to climb from 15% today to 21% within just 5 years. Renewable heat production will have to increase by 50% to meet the government goals while biofuels are set to make up 5.75% of petrol versus just 1% today. Much of the know-how, the technology and certainly the capacity, is beyond current French resources and tenders for businesses are already being prepared.
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