France green energy goals off target

A national court in France has found that the government’s green energy policies are weighed down by massive inconsistencies, Press TV reports.

France’s National Audit Court recently released a report stating that the country has lagged behind in its green energy goals, missing opportunities to replace nuclear energy with renewable sources by 2020.

“The goals which were initially fixed in 2011 show that France had aimed at 13.5 percent of green energy; but in reality, managed to reach only 13.1 percent. French efforts seem to be weak when compared with other countries like which has started working late on their green energy goals,” said Didier Migaud, chairman of the National Audit Court.

For example, France faces a wait-time of up to 7 years to set up a windmill, compared to 2 years in Germany, the report stated.

Experts said the primary reason is not a lack of information but a set of legal barriers, proving to be a source of financial loss for the country.

“When faced with inconsistent sources of energy like solar energy or wind energy, France invests just 300 million euros in research and development of the means of storing such energy. This is much lower than the amount spent in Germany, Japan and the United States,” said Migaud.

The court warned that France may not meet its green energy targets in the coming years.

“France has fixed ambitious goals. We want to make sure that by 2020, 23 percent of the total energy used in this country will come from green sources. French goals are similar to plans in Ireland, Britain and Denmark but we think it may be difficult for France to meet her goals,” said Migaud.