France aims to become a leader in green hydrogen production and reinvent nuclear power by building a small modular reactor by 2030 as part of a wider $34.6 billion (30 billion euro) plan to decarbonize industry and slash emissions, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday. France currently gets around 70 percent of its total electricity from nuclear power generation and is a major exporter of electricity, including to the UK. By the end of this decade, France will look to be a leader in green hydrogen production as it plans to build two massive factories for producing green hydrogen, Macron said. France’s nuclear power generation will be essential in producing green hydrogen, which is hydrogen produced from zero-emission electrolysis. According to Macron, Europe’s renewable energy capacity will never be enough to produce enough green hydrogen for mobility, so France’s nuclear power generation will be a key enabler for green hydrogen. France will invest the 30 billion euro to boost industry in line with pledges to cut emissions, according to the France2030 plan that Macron unveiled today. France’s bet on nuclear power—unlike Germany’s decision to phase out all nuclear plants after the Fukushima disaster—has been vindicated in recent weeks as Europe’s natural gas and power prices hit record highs. The gas and electricity crisis clashed with the net-zero pledges of the European Union and the United Kingdom as some utilities were forced to fire up mothballed coal plants as natural gas prices surged. France also led a group of EU member states, including Finland and several central and eastern European countries, who pushed earlier this week for including nuclear energy in the upcoming green investment rules of the European Union.
“To win the climate battle, we need nuclear power,” say the EU member states led by France. NB: So says France that generates 65% of its electricty by Nuclear….
NN: As you can see the technology is not settled business. The solution varies by country and the installed energy base that has taken 50 yearsto build and trillions in investment. For example in Ameria where their is an abundance of sun solar makes sense. BUT their is the antiquated distribution system and storage problem. So that means grid and off grid (at the home solar systems) batteries. And of course readily available natural gas which already has installed distribution and storage should be used as a bridge fuel for transportation and electric generation until the infrastructure is set up for electric cars and we get a better battery. In England they have an abundance of wind most of the time and little sun shine. For them wind is doable using natural gas as a backup and transitional energy source is a no brainier. They have the installed natural gas distribution and storage systems, They have in abundance of gas if they would open up the north seal again and allow fracking. This is a bridge bride and back up till they get enough wind farms built. Strore natrual gas as a backup. France and Japan are very interesting. Wind is not viable in France and neither is solar….. Its the long cloudy winters. Japan does not have the space for solar and not enough wind. Both countries have limited fossil fuels. They both have the worlds largest installed nuclear infrastructure to the tune of trillions of dollars. For them Nuclear is their only choice and since they have an abundance of cheap electricity the hydrogen gas powered internal combustion engine car and or hydrogen fuel cell car is viable The hydrogen made by electrolysis by their installed grid producing really cheap electricity. And their storage needs are diffident just stock pile uranium. As you can see one size fits all is not going to work. And reality has a way of shattering dreams based on stupidness instead of science and economics. i was advocating solar and natural gas ever since i was a puppy.