Nation Reduces Energy Consumption, Maintains Wine Production at Full Capacity, Considers Baguette Ovens Non-Negotiable
Reported by Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat.
PARIS, France — The French government announced a package of energy austerity measures this week in response to elevated fuel prices and supply uncertainty caused by disruptions to Strait of Hormuz oil transit, asking citizens to reduce heating, limit non-essential car journeys, and adjust commercial energy use — a request that France is approaching with the characteristic nuance of a nation that is willing to discuss sacrifice in considerable detail before making it.
The measures include a 2-degree reduction in thermostat settings for public buildings, incentives for remote work to reduce commute fuel consumption, and a public campaign called “EcoGestes” (Eco-Gestures) that encourages citizens to adopt energy-saving habits through a combination of informational pamphlets, digital tools, and the kind of civic communication that the French government produces with great elegance and that French citizens receive with great skepticism and moderate compliance.
The Exceptions, Which Are Extensive
The austerity measures include several categories of activities exempted from the reduction requirements. Bakeries, which operate wood-fired or gas ovens at high temperatures for extended hours and which are, per French law, a cultural institution rather than an industrial enterprise, are exempt. Wine production facilities, operating at harvest-season intensity across Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Champagne, are exempt. The hospitality sector, which the government notes is “essential to French economic activity and cultural identity,” receives a modified standard that amounts to “reduce if convenient.”
Restaurant kitchens are encouraged to “optimize” their energy use, a word that leaves considerable room for interpretation and that French chefs have interpreted as: continue cooking French food at the temperatures French food requires, which are the temperatures they were already using. The government has accepted this interpretation without comment, possibly because the alternative — a ministerial dispute with French chefs about kitchen temperatures — is a political fight that no French government has survived and that this one has correctly identified as optional.
The French Energy Position
France is in a relatively advantaged position among European nations in the current energy crisis because approximately 70 percent of its electricity comes from nuclear power, a domestic source unaffected by Middle Eastern petroleum disruptions. This is the result of decisions made after the 1973 oil crisis that France, unlike some of its neighbors, has largely maintained through subsequent decades of energy policy debate that produced considerably more debate than policy change.
The vulnerability that remains is in liquid fuels: transportation, heating oil in regions without heat pump conversions, and industrial processes that cannot run on electricity. These are real vulnerabilities and the austerity measures address them. The nuclear advantage means France’s electricity price exposure is lower than Germany, which shuttered its nuclear plants, or Italy, which relies on imported gas. French officials have not said “we told you so” about nuclear power this week. They have said it in previous weeks at considerable length. This week they are focused on the EcoGestes pamphlet.
The International Energy Agency’s France data provides the full picture of French energy supply, consumption, and vulnerability in a format that is useful for anyone who wants to understand why France is affected by the Hormuz disruption but not as severely as its oil-dependent peers, and why the austerity measures are real but calibrated for a country that retains significant domestic electricity generation.
Public Response
French public response to the austerity measures has followed the pattern that French public response generally follows: strong opinions expressed with precision, compliance that is partial but not entirely absent, and a media debate that covers both the necessity of the measures and the philosophical implications of the state regulating private consumption, a debate that France has been conducting since at least the 18th century and that shows no signs of resolving.
A poll by OpinionWay found that 67 percent of French citizens support the austerity measures “in principle,” 43 percent have made at least one change in their behavior since the measures were announced, and 34 percent said the thermostat reduction does not apply to their situation for reasons they described as “specific,” which OpinionWay’s researchers noted is “a French word for ‘I would prefer not to.’”
The wine production facilities, exempt from the measures, are operating at full capacity. The baguette ovens are at temperature. The nuclear plants are generating. France is managing, which is what France does in crises: manage, debate the management, improve the management slightly, debate the improvement, and produce excellent baked goods throughout.
For energy policy with flavour, see The Daily Mash.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
