A 100 % renewable electricity supply : silly dream or foreseeable future ?

Towards a 100 % renewable electricity supply : this scenario considered by the French Energy Agency ADEME in a recent report would mean getting rid of all nuclear power in France. It has been strongly challenged by some, including Libération journalist Sylvestre Huet in two articles in end 2015. It is obviously up to the report authors to answer critics. But the controversy is a good opportunity to assess some of the arguments put forward.

Towards a 100 % renewable electricity supply : this scenario considered by the French Energy Agency ADEME in a recent report would mean getting rid of all nuclear power in France. It has been strongly challenged by some, including Libération journalist Sylvestre Huet in two articles in end 2015. It is obviously up to the report authors to answer critics. But the controversy is a good opportunity to assess some of the arguments put forward.

Posted on 9 February 2016
Last modified 23 November 2016

Most of the objections on the ADEME study seem to be based on an outdated knowledge of the existing progress in research and industry, as well as on a stance to resist change.

The genuine question is not the technical feasibility of a 100 % renewable electricity supply – we mostly know we can do it. But the ability of the current system to change and implement it.

The ADEME study does not cover the latter. It provides a credible foreseeable future – even with relatively conservative assumptions on renewable energy costs. Yet, it doesn’t provide the path to make it happen.