Archive for France
EDF buys half of Constellation nuclear activities
Posted by: on December 18, 2008 in Tags: Energy, France, nuclear, USA
The French national utility Electricité de France - EDF - just bought half of nuclear activities of US based utility Constellation for 4.5 billion US Dollars (3.3 billion euros).
This occurs only a few months after the acquisition of British Energy by EDF, which is willing to become a major global player in nuclear energy, one of the lowest carbon emitting solutions.
EDF will manage on US soil five reactors which accounts for nearly 4,000MW of generation capacity. This adds up to the 58 reactors already managed in France. Continue reading »
The Grenelle: 440 billion euros of investments
Posted by: on November 11, 2008 in Tags: Energy, France, Sustainable development
The Grenelle de l’Environnement, the cornerstone of the French environmental policies, might lead to investments worth of 440 billion euros (or $560 billion) by 2020.
An important part of this money will be allocated to transport and doubling the amount of fast train lines (TGV, left). Other major sectors will be renovating buildings and renewables.
All this should lead to the creation of more than half a million local jobs by the next twelve years. A most interesting news we will see in details. Continue reading »
The Grenelle is still alive : some bright ideas
Posted by: on October 3, 2008 in Tags: Efficiency, Energy, France, housing
The cornerstone of the environmental policy in France - the Grenelle de l’Environnement - has been facing wide criticism as it is not going as fast as it should be.
Yet, interesting ideas arose in the last weeks on reducing the light pollution at night and providing financial aid to those willing to insulate their housing.
The French daily le Figaro provide us more data on what could become enacted laws that would cut our emissions and energy consumption. Continue reading »
EDF takes over British Energy for 15.7 billion €
Posted by: on September 24, 2008 in Tags: Energy, Europe, France, nuclear
The French national utility Electricité de France - known as EDF - is beginning to take over the UK company British Energy for an estimated cost of 15.7 billion Euros (or $23 billion).
According to the Financial Times quoted below, this is the largest international expansion plan for EDF. The company plans to build at least four nuclear plants on British soil in the next years.
This occurs as John Hutton, UK Business Secretary, says his country needs rapidly new nuclear plants to keep on answering to the increasing demand. Continue reading »
As the official website was launched today, I would like to write about this major event in the energy industry. After two years of talks a new giant energy company is born : GDF Suez.
The company is the product of the merger of Gaz de France and Suez. The group weights nearly 75 billion euros or 118 billion US Dollars, which is more than Gazprom (67 billion euros)
Other thing that has to be noted, Suez Environnement was launched on the stock market as an independent company. Continue reading »
The French tax system for the promotion of efficient cars
Posted by: on July 17, 2008 in Tags: Climate change, France, transport
The French Grenelle de l’Environnement may not be as advanced as it should be, but one of its first part is already in place since January 1st. It is a huge success.
Since this date, if you buy a car in France you may be the subject of a price reduction or an additional tax on your car, depending on its carbon dioxide emissions, and thus its mileage.
This mechanism was created by the Ministry for Sustainable Development and Energy to promote the replacement of older cars by new efficient ones. Continue reading »
Renewable energies and the fears of recession
Posted by: on April 14, 2008 in Tags: Energy, France, renewables
In two different articles, Les Echos [Fr] and the IHT are fearing that the current fears of recession might endanger the expansion of renewable energies.
Indeed the IHT noticed a drop in stocks of these companies and Les Echos reported a fear that the French government might not respect its Grenelle’s commitments.
Indeed, as the economies worldwide seem to slow done, renewables might suffer the most as they still don’t represent the priority they should be. Continue reading »
The Carbon Atlas : see your country’s carbon emissions
Posted by: on March 26, 2008 in Tags: China, Climate change, France, USA
The UK newspaper The Guardian published last December a fantastic map displaying all countries and their respective carbon emissions.
Very visual, it enables us to see easily who are the largest carbon emitters and even the thumbnail on your left shows the huge importance the USA and China have.
According to this rating, France is the 13th largest emitter, despite being the fifth economic power and 20th most populated country. Continue reading »
Oil prices reached 110 USD a barrel !
Posted by: on March 13, 2008 in Tags: Efficiency, Energy, France, Oil
That’s it, yesterday at the New York Mercantile Exchange the oil prices reached $110 for the first time in History. This occurs only two months and a half after it reached $100.
This can be explained by the fact that the Dollar is weakening as time goes and as now the Euro is worth $1.55. This becomes a serious problem for the purchasing power.
This event should push leaders worldwide to work seriously on energy efficiency and behavioral changes as they are the only permanent solutions. Continue reading »
The AGV, the new fast train by Alstom
Posted by: on February 6, 2008 in Tags: Energy, Europe, France, transport
Alstom unveiled yesterday its AGV, which is the successor of the TGV (train à grande vitesse, fast speed train) a huge success for the company.
The AGV brings several improvements compared to the previous model as it goes faster - 360 kilometers per hour compared to 320 - and consumes less energy.
This will make trains an even better alternative to cars and planes for long distance travels and this will thus contribute to the mitigation of climate change. Continue reading »
