GuyGadebois wrote:The Chinese government continues to withdraw from financial support for renewable energy.
It may be Chinese realism.
In France, what is the balance sheet of solar panels that provide intermittent low-carbon, "fatal" energy, replacing low-carbon nuclear energy? What is the effect on global warming? No !
But it gets even worse: since these panels do not save CO2 in France, they cannot repay their debts. However, they have at least the CO2 debt of their manufacture. This is particularly significant when a photovoltaic panel is made in China, with Chinese kWh heavy with CO2 from coal, and then used in France. What is the use of burning coal in China, to manufacture panels that will come to France to replace the low-carbon energy of nuclear power stations (other than satisfying fantasies)? To nothing !
This is the case of the Cestas photovoltaic power plant, "the largest photovoltaic park in Europe", inaugurated in 2015 in France, whose panels were manufactured in China. The overall result of this "green" plant will be an increase in CO2 emissions on the planet!
Not to mention the extinct forest whose powerhouse has taken the place.
Chinese blue signs are not Green.
Even if technology advances, even if the ecological cost of manufacturing the panels decreases, a panel manufactured in China, transported and installed in France, will be always globally CO2 emitter.
The ideal would be for the panels to be manufactured in France with light CO2 electricity thanks to French nuclear power, then exported to China to save Chinese coal.
But do not dream ...