In a radical move, the French government has quietly dropped their renewables targets from their draft energy bill, risking being seen as unfashionable losers in billionaire ski clubs. The nation that, forty years ago, built 56 nuclear reactors in 15 years has decided they just need to build another 6 to 14 new nuclear plants to reach “Net Zero” by 2050. This puts them in danger of being one of the only nations on Earth that might reach their target.
This, of course, is terrible for the renewables industry as it risks exposing the wanton frivolity and utterly superfluous nature of the wind and solar subsidy farms. If France can do this without the bird chopping, the slave labor and the lithium bombs, so can nearly everywhere else.
It’s a big change from 2014 when France aimed to reduce nuclear power to just 50% by 2025.
As NetZeroWatch says in their email newsletter, this is a win:
France drops renewables targets, prioritises nuclear in new energy bill
The proposed text, which is slated to go before the cabinet early next month and then be submitted to lawmakers, reaffirms France’s commitment to nuclear power to ensure “energy sovereignty”.
So France wants “energy security” as opposed to energy slavery where nations hope their enemies will be nice to them when they get cold.
The proposed text affirms “the sustainable choice of using nuclear energy as a competitive and carbon-free” source of electricity, and targets the construction of at least six but as many as 14 new reactors to pull off the transition to clean energy and meet climate change goals.
Climate activists (also known as renewables salesmen) are tying themselves in knots as France solves the net zero non-problem without their pet socialist technologies.
“It’s a terrible step back,” said Arnaud Gosse, a lawyer specialising in environmental law.
“If you only quantify nuclear power, you do not know the share of non-renewable energies. As a result, nuclear gets prioritised and, depending on remaining coverage needs, non-renewables will be the subject of floating (future) decrees. It’s no longer a mix,” Gosse said.
Lord help us all, “it’s no longer a mix”, what a disaster, and a few environmental lawyers might be out of a job.
In the end renewable energy is free, clean and cheaper than anything else they tell us, but somehow the government still has to force people to use it and set targets or no one will build it. The unwashed masses must be too stupid.
As the World Nuclear Association points out:
“France is the world’s largest net exporter of electricity due to its very low cost of generation, and gains over €3 billion per year from this.“
France is saving Germany and others from their own exorbitant experiments. Who will save Australia?
UPDATE: The bottom line is that the French government is testing out the idea of dropping their renewables target. Presumably they are waiting to see how big the protest and pressure is to keep those targets. But this is an important sign that those at the highest levels of French government would prefer to ignore renewables.
Photo: Spiritrespect
