French industry has also been able to decarbonize its production by relying on a better energy mix using less and less oil and coal, a more positive signal. It has also benefited from breakthrough innovations, particularly in the chemical industry, which has radically reduced nitrous oxide emissions in the manufacture of adipic acid, nitric acid and glyoxylic acid. Such pleasant surprises are rare, however, and the next breakthrough innovations that could bring about such reductions are not yet known.
Priority to large sites? Yes, but…
To support the decarbonization effort, the European Union has launched the fit for 55 package. French public policy, on the other hand, focuses mainly on the 50 highest-emitting sites, the famous top 50. The objective set by the French President on November 8, 2022 is to halve French industrial emissions from the fifty most polluting sites over the next decade, with 54 billion euros on the table to support the movement. At the end of January, French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal announced a similar initiative aimed at the 50 sites that put the most plastic packaging on the market.
Admittedly, these sites alone account for almost 60% of industrial emissions and are undeniably a prime target for decarbonization. What’s more, they are mainly active in the metallurgy, building materials and chemicals sectors. These sites produce the “simple” goods needed to manufacture more complex industrial goods. Decarbonizing these sites will therefore have a direct impact on their emissions, but also an indirect impact on other sectors. Supporting the efforts of these sites also helps to keep them in the area, which is a question of sovereignty that also legitimizes such intervention.
The focus on the 50 highest-emitting sites should not, however, cause the rest of industry to fly under the radar, even though it accounts for 40% of industrial emissions, the bulk of employment in the sector and the keystone of the country’s potential green reindustrialization. Unlike the 50 highest-emitting sites, this diffuse industry extends over a large number of sectors and across the whole country. Given the sheer number of companies involved, it’s hard to imagine engaging in a one-to-one dialogue with each and every one of them: the public authorities don’t seem to be able to use the same recipe as the 50 sites.
So how do we go about it?
What needs to be decarbonized?
To grasp the problem of decarbonizing diffuse industry, it’s important to remember that there are two types of emissions: “process” emissions and “combustion” emissions. Process” emissions are inherent to the chemical reaction required for production. For example, cement production involves heating a mixture of limestone, clay and sand to very high temperatures, releasing greenhouse gases. Combustion” emissions, on the other hand, come from the energy used to enable combustion. For example, blast furnaces in the steel industry use coal, which emits greenhouse gases as it burns.
Decarbonizing “processes” is above all a problem of innovation. To reduce these emissions, we need to invent a new way of producing, or use a different chemical reaction that emits fewer greenhouse gases. Solutions have already been discovered, such as cement without clinker, which is produced cold and consumes less energy, while others are under development.
