I’m writing this in my office in Paris. Which energy sources are powering my laptop? On an overcast morning, solar is supplying only 15 per cent of France’s real-time energy mix, according to the grid operator RTE. Nuclear, at 67 per cent, carries most of the load. Just 1 per cent of my electricity comes from gas. Other fossil fuels contribute nothing. In short, I’m enjoying some of the greenest electricity on Earth. And prices don’t soar when Iran blocks the Strait of Hormuz.
All this is thanks to France’s decision, after the oil shock of 1973, to stop relying on expensive fossil fuels from the unreliable Gulf. Under the slogan “In France, we do not have oil, but we have ideas”, the government executed probably the fastest ever build-out of nuclear energy.
Now, especially if the current energy crisis lengthens, many other countries could follow France in turning away from fossil fuels. Even if the crisis ends now, the memory of the turmoil of recent weeks will surely hasten the green transition.