Choices for the future

Fuels of agricultural origin : The use of biofuels offers new prospects to reduce French energy consumption, not to mention greenhouse gas emissions. However, biofuels still represent a minority additive to oil products (in automobile fuel tanks for example), and the only biofuels that can be used without transformation are still those with the lowest fuel efficiency.

Biomass can also be used to generate power. This bioenergy comes from the solar energy stored by plants and can be harnessed continuously. It represents the main source of renewable energies produced in France.

Renewable hydroelectricity, non-polluting and clean, should also not be forgotten. This technology is used to generate 18% of the world's electricity and 12% in France. However, hydropower is sometimes challenged by environmentalists on the grounds that it has a poor carbon balance.

Geothermal energy consists in tapping the heat of the Earth's crust. It is regular and is also the only energy source that can supply the two main energy requirements: electricity and heat.

The sun, an unbelievable energy source, can contribute to electricity production. The French photovoltaic market is growing at a rate of over 30% annually, but remains underdeveloped in comparison with the stock in Germany. As for thermal solar installations, they represent a fast growing sector (the market enjoys annual growth of between 70 and 100%), due both to the increasing awareness of the population and the subsidies granted by local authorities.

Finally, the growth margin for wind turbines is considerable. Alone, they could supply 10% of our electricity consumption by 2020. France, which had no wind farms in 1990, is equipped with 326 farms today thanks to a second wave and to the development of new tools. Today, an even more powerful wind farm can be built using fewer wind turbines.