Presidential candidate wants to turn France into "green model state"
Quicknote bioenergy policies
If the European Union is a car, then Germany is its economic engine, and France its political driver - so the saying goes. And if it depends on France's leading presidential candidate, Ségolène Royal, then soon that car will be entirely green and working on biofuels, so to speak.
Germany already is one of the world's leaders when it comes to implementing a green energy agenda, with its phase-out of nuclear and its heavy investments in renewables, particularly biodiesel, biomass and wind. But France has been lagging behind. Despite republican President Chirac's lofty discourses on green energy and climate change, France has not made much progress, compared to its neighbors.
Ségolène Royal, the popular socialist senator who currently ranks first in public opinion polls, wants to change the situation, and if elected President in 2007, France "will become an environmental model state". According to Royal, "l'après-pétrole est en marche" ('the post-oil era has arrived'), and France must act now to ensure energy security in a post-oil world.
France is the world leader when it comes to using nuclear energy and the industry's lobby is an extremely powerful force in France's energy debate. But Royal says she doesn't feel tempted to fall for it and instead wants "genuinely green" energy solutions. That is: biofuels, wind, solar, (geo)thermal and wave energy. For France, this could mean an important shift in its committment to implement the EU's green energy strategy.
Royal has a track record proving that she is serious on the matter. The senator was environment minister in the Jospin government, and has been implementing a series of initiatives in her home département of Poitou-Charentes: eight efficient express trains run on 30% biofuels, and the construction of entirely green highschools that will be energy producers is underway. She also supports local farmers who demand more action on biofuels. Royal affirms that "it is in the eco-industries that future employment opportunities will be found" [entry ends here].
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: sustainability ::renewables :: France :: Royal ::
If the European Union is a car, then Germany is its economic engine, and France its political driver - so the saying goes. And if it depends on France's leading presidential candidate, Ségolène Royal, then soon that car will be entirely green and working on biofuels, so to speak.
Germany already is one of the world's leaders when it comes to implementing a green energy agenda, with its phase-out of nuclear and its heavy investments in renewables, particularly biodiesel, biomass and wind. But France has been lagging behind. Despite republican President Chirac's lofty discourses on green energy and climate change, France has not made much progress, compared to its neighbors.
Ségolène Royal, the popular socialist senator who currently ranks first in public opinion polls, wants to change the situation, and if elected President in 2007, France "will become an environmental model state". According to Royal, "l'après-pétrole est en marche" ('the post-oil era has arrived'), and France must act now to ensure energy security in a post-oil world.
France is the world leader when it comes to using nuclear energy and the industry's lobby is an extremely powerful force in France's energy debate. But Royal says she doesn't feel tempted to fall for it and instead wants "genuinely green" energy solutions. That is: biofuels, wind, solar, (geo)thermal and wave energy. For France, this could mean an important shift in its committment to implement the EU's green energy strategy.
Royal has a track record proving that she is serious on the matter. The senator was environment minister in the Jospin government, and has been implementing a series of initiatives in her home département of Poitou-Charentes: eight efficient express trains run on 30% biofuels, and the construction of entirely green highschools that will be energy producers is underway. She also supports local farmers who demand more action on biofuels. Royal affirms that "it is in the eco-industries that future employment opportunities will be found" [entry ends here].
ethanol :: biodiesel :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: sustainability ::renewables :: France :: Royal ::
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