Businesses. In 2024, (the third edition of) the national low-carbon strategy, known as “SNBC-3”, should require companies to intensify the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. The objective of a 35% reduction in 2030 (compared to 2015) already set for the industry should therefore be increased to 50%…
Is this acceleration achievable with the methods used so far? A recent survey shows that the progress made is mainly based on energy efficiency efforts, while the new objectives call for more difficult innovations (Large Companies on the path to energy sobriety, by the two economists Ahmed Diop and David Lolo, Presses des Mines, “La Fabrique de l’industrie”, 2023).
In industry, around a hundred establishments represent nearly 60% of the sector’s direct greenhouse gas emissions. The survey conducted in thirty-eight of them examined the energy transition plans and the reduction paths chosen by the companies.
The results show that only 39% of sites had set a rate of reduction that would be compatible with the acceleration that will be requested. Another observation further alerts us to the challenges ahead: the paths chosen by companies could have reached their limits.
Rationalization
Indeed, unsurprisingly, companies have favored energy sobriety: that is to say the most accessible reduction methods. They have all optimized lighting and heating. A very large majority have also introduced less energy-consuming machines and improved the efficiency of equipment and installations.
At this stage, the climatic constraint has therefore revitalized and amplified the lever of energy rationalization. A prudent method, because it remains compatible with technically controlled investments, financially limited (notably through national aid) and with minimal profitability.
On the other hand, few companies have undertaken significant changes to processes and energy sources or experimented with carbon capture. However, it is difficult to see how the industry could achieve reinforced objectives in 2030, without investing in innovative solutions, which are therefore more costly or riskier. At the stage of what the automobile industry already knows, the national industrial decarbonization strategy should therefore merge with a national innovation strategy.
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