New challenges for French energy policy

¹ UMR CNRS Art-Dev, Université de Montpellier (CREDEN), Espace Richter, CS 79606, 34960 Montpellier Cedex 2
² Société Chimique de France, 28 rue Saint Dominique, 75007 Paris

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Abstract

France now faces three new challenges in implementing its energy policy.

It needs to move away from carbon-based fossil fuels in order to meet the target of carbon neutrality by 2050, and this will involve raising the price of carbon. Secondly, it needs to invest massively in electricity generation to meet the growing demand for electricity as a result of the electrification of energy uses, and this requires investment in dispatchable, low-carbon nuclear power. Finally, France must rise to the challenge of large-scale storage and retrieval of renewable energies, and look at the extent to which electric mobility can contribute to this.

We also need to rethink the way the electricity markets operate if we are to ensure that these challenges are financed.