The irreversible depletion of the planet’s natural resources, climate change, increasing inequalities between countries, atmospheric pollution and public health concerns… Whether environmental, economic or social, today’s world is faced with major challenges which can only be solved by bringing about profound changes in how we produce and use energy.
The energy transition: a global challenge
Current energy generation business models reply heavily on fossil fuels. This raises two major issues:
- Oil, gas, and coal are the most frequently used fuels, but they also the most polluting, and responsible for climate change and air pollution.
- Only available in limited quantities on Earth, these fuels are becoming scarcer.
New ways of producing and consuming energy are necessary while moving away from fossil fuels. Solar, wind, hydroelectricity: the energy transition depends on clean, renewable energy sources which are able to meet our growing energy needs while reconciling several points:
- The preservation of our planet’s resources
- The reduction in CO2 emissions
- The improvement of air quality and the reduction of particle emissions
- Local energy independence reconciling short- and medium-term needs
- Local economic growth through decentralized energy production
- The creation of community projects involving all the local stakeholders
Among other international and national conventions, the Paris agreement signed at the COP21 Climate Change Conference in 2015 sets out an international action plan based on renewable energies, which aims to limit the impacts of climate change by maintaining global warming below 2°C.
The act on “energy transition for green growth” aims to decarbonize the energy mix and create new forms of value, by dramatically increasing the proportion of renewable energies used and by introducing Smart Grids.
