Macron Wants to Accelerate Clean Energy

France is famous for many things: food, language, culture and strikes. Unfortunately, it also is notorious for its dependece on nuclear energy. Sixty-seven percent of the electricity generated in France comes from nulcear power plants, more than any other country. President Macron wants that to change, His initiative comes at a time of energy crisis, as Russia's weaponization of gas supplies takes effect. Eventhough he has announced plans to extend the life of exisitng reactors and build six new ones, he says that expanding France's renewable energy infrastructure is the way forward. 

Despite extensive coastlines, only the Saint Nazaire offshore wind farm with its eighty turbines is producing energy  Macron wants to build fifty similar installations by 2050. He has acclerated ambitions for solar power too. He wants to reduce the delays in building larger solar farms from six to three years, but also keeping them relatively small and building on vacant land along highways,railways and car parks. to preserve valuable and increasingly scarce agricutural land in France. 

About half of France's 56 nuclear reactors are off-line for maitenance and to repair corrosion problems from water and high levels of radiation that plague nuclear plants France's nuclear safety records has been good, but utility EDF has to deal with exporting radioactive waste abroad for disposal and importing uraniaum for nuclear fuel. Energy officals want to see 10% reduction in France's electricty consumption by 2024.