France Plans for its Energy Future

The planned law seeks to tackle the stubborn problem of developing stable and dependable energy sources for the future that are also environmentally sound. France fears, as do many other European countries, that it will become increasingly dependent on fossil fuels that must be imported for its energy production.

To avoid over dependency on foreign energy sources, the French government is investing more in its nuclear power program. The country's existing nuclear power plants are to be renovated and expanded in line with the wishes of France's economics minister, Nicolas Sarkozy. According to him, nuclear energy makes sense from an environmental protection standpoint.

"Getting out of nuclear energy would raise our CO2 emissions by 30 percent," said Sarkozy, speaking in front of parliamentarians.

Part of the government's nuclear strategy is the development of a new power plant technology, a so-called EP reactor, which uses pressurized water and is supposed to be much safer and even less expensive to run than current nuclear plants. The development project, which the French government wants to test in the near future, is a cooperative effort among several European energy concerns including the state-owned Eléctricité de France, EDF.

France is feeling some pressure to adopt the new technology soon: Many of its nuclear plants in operation are beginning to show their years. In 2011, one half of all its nuclear facilities will have reached the their age limit of 30 years. Since some 77 percent of France's energy needs are met through nuclear power, planning for the future of the country's nuclear plants is a top priority.

Renewables not forgotten

Although nuclear power often gets the lion's share of attention, renewable energy is also getting its time in the spotlight and has been designated the second pillar of France's energy plan. The government wants to bring in technologies such as biomass, wind and water energy to stir up the country's energy mix without doing damage to the environment. By 2010, one-fifth of France's energy is supposed to come from alternative sources, in line with EU guidelines that apply to all of its member states.

France is primarily focusing on water and wind energy, since both energy-generating methods have been long in use and are uncontroversial. However, environmentally sound energy policy is not only limited to the public sphere, according to Sarkozy. Part of the energy plan will focus on ways to get the French in the habit of saving on electricity use.