Factsheet: Energy in France

What Energy Sources Are Consumed in France?

This chart shows a breakdown of

primary energy

All energy sources that have not undergone any conversion process and remain in their natural...

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consumption in France in 2019: 

© Planète Energies

Source:

1.  BP Statistical Review of World Energy 2020
    

France also imports natural

uranium

Gray, very dense radioactive metal that is relatively abundant in the Earth's crust and ocean...

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from a range of countries, including Niger, Canada, Australia and Kazakhstan.
 

What Is This Energy Used For?

Here is a table detailing each sector’s share of final energy consumption:

Source: 

1. Key Energy Figures, 2020 edition – French Ministry of Ecological Transition (in French only)

How Is

Electricity

Form of energy resulting from the movement of charged particles (electrons) through a conduct...

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Generated?

Electricity is generated:

1. In thermal

   power

   In physics, power is the amount of energy supplied by a system per unit time. In simpler term...

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   plants (nuclear reactors, gas-fired plants, some

   coal

   Coal is ranked by its degree of transformation or maturity, increasing in carbon content from...

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   -fired plants, hardly any oil-fired ones).
2. In large hydropower plants (dams, La Rance

   tidal power plant

   A power-generating station that harnesses the energy of tidal currents. The difference in hei...

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   ).
3. At wind and solar farms.
4. Via waste

   incineration

   Technique used to convert waste into energy. The waste is burned, producing heat, power or both.

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   .

The breakdown looks like this:

Source: 

1. RTE - Electricity Report 2019 (in French only)

How Much CO₂ Does France Emit?

This graph shows the change in CO₂ emissions per capita since 1990: 

Source:

1.  Key Energy Figures, 2020 – French Ministry of Ecological Transition (in French only)

FUTURE CHALLENGES

What Are France’s Objectives?

1. Achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 (see Close-Up: What Is Carbon Neutrality?). 


2. Halve final energy consumption by 2050, with two intermediate targets: a 7.5% reduction by 2023 and a 16.5% reduction by 2028.


3. Two key drivers: improving technology for greater

   energy efficiency

   In economic terms, energy efficiency refers to the efforts made to reduce the energy consumpt...

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   and encouraging more “virtuous” consumer habits.


4. Develop renewable energies to curb CO₂ emissions.


5. Reduce the share of nuclear in the power generation mix to 50% by 2035, to achieve a more even balance and mitigate risks.

How Can They Be Achieved?

1. Two priority sectors: transportation and housing. 


2. Key drivers: promoting new forms of mobility (car pooling, public transportation), electrifying vehicles, and renovating 2.5 million homes by 2028.

Quick Quiz: Energy and You

1. Where is the largest solar plant in Europe? 
   
   Answer: In France, near Bordeaux. The Cestas plant, which spans 260 hectares (2.6 square kilometers), has a capacity of 300 megawatt-peak, corresponding to the annual domestic consumption (excluding heating) of the city of Bordeaux (250,000 people), but less than 0.1% of annual French power generation. 
    
2. There are almost 5,000 wind turbines in European waters. How many are French? 
   
   None! France is behind the United Kingdom, Germany and the Nordic countries. But it plans to build six

   offshore

   Term used to designate offshore exploration or exploitation areas and operations (e.g. wind f...

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   wind farms by 2024, off the coasts of Seine-Maritime, Calvados, Côtes-d’Armor, Vendée and Loire-Atlantique. 
    
3. France plans to shut down its four remaining coal-fired power plants. When? 
   
   France intends to shut down its last four coal-fired power plants (Le Havre, Saint-Avold, Cordemais and Gardanne) in 2022. However, nothing is set in stone, as the shutdown of the Fessenheim nuclear power plant in Alsace may mean the country has to keep them running as a precaution – albeit at lower levels.    
    
4. What is the number one

   renewable energy

   Energy sources that are naturally replenished so quickly — sometimes immediately — that they ...

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   source in France?  
   
   Wood, well ahead of hydro and heat pumps. And wood energy is expected to consolidate its position, as close to 400,000 wood stoves are sold every year. It is estimated that around 6% of the population uses wood-fired heating. 
    
5. When is Airbus promising there’ll be

   hydrogen

   The simplest and lightest atom, the most abundant element in the universe.

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   -powered airplanes? 
   
   In 2035, so very soon! European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has revealed three concepts for hydrogen-powered airplanes. However, many technical problems need to be resolved, particularly in terms of tank volume and safety.