French Island Sets Zero Greenhouse Gas Emissions Goal

France’s Reunion Island has set itself the goal of cutting its greenhouse gas emissions to zero.

The small island is far from being a major polluter, but nevertheless the island has been spurred by rising fuel costs and concerns about global warming’s impact on its delicate flora and fauna.

Renewable power sources will be used to produce 100 percent of its electricity by 2025, and by 2050, will be expanded to power all of its transport.

"We have water, sunshine, we even have an active volcano. We have more energy than we need for our development," Paul Verges, president of Reunion’s regional council, said after Group of Eight (G8) leaders agreed a 50 percent cut in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 2050.

"We will be fighting 100 percent against CO2 at the same date that you (the G8 rich nations) will be at 50 percent," Verges said in July on the sidelines of a biodiversity conference.

Currently, about 36 percent of the island’s electricity comes from renewable sources, such as hydroenergy and sugar cane fiber, bagasse.

"What’s possible in Reunion should also be possible in France, and should also be possible for the planet," said France’s Overseas Territories Minister Yves Jego.

Reunion is expanding its photovoltaic, hydro and wind energy projects to produce up to 750 megawatts (MW), 120 MW and 60 MW respectively, said Jules Dieudonne, head of the Regional Plan for Renewable Energies and the Rational Use of Energy (PRERURE).

"Our ambition is to have 750 hectares of (photovoltaic) panels eventually installed," he said.

"Today, we (wind energy) are at about 15 megawatts, 16 megawatts. So there are other projects, which are feasible," said Serge Borchiellini, the Reunion representative for renewable energy firm Aerowatt.

The island also plans to use biomass from sugar cane fiber and waste to produce a good deal of its power.

Scientists are also eyeing the possibility of harnessing the geothermal energy produced by La Piton de la Fournaise, one of the world’s most active volcanoes. They are also looking into ocean energy.

Dieudonne said the temperature difference between sea water at the surface and at a 1,000-meter depth is about 22 degrees Celsius (71F).

"This difference in temperature can allow us to make electric energy," he said, also citing possible kinetic energy from the ocean swell.

The island’s rapidly growing energy demands will be one barrier to achieving the ambitious goal.

Reunion’s population is set to grow more than 20 percent to more than one million people by 2030 from about 800,000 at present.

"The big problem in Reunion is the summer heat — everybody wants air conditioning," said Pierre-Yves Ezavin of Reunion’s Regional Energy Agency (ARER).

Air conditioning accounts for about 80 percent of office electricity bills, he said.

His agency is running a public information campaign to encourage the use of green technologies such as better construction methods and materials, solar water heaters — already a common sight — and bicycles. But attitudes are slow to change.

Accounting for 70 to 75 percent of Reunion’s energy use, transport is the key issue for reducing its greenhouse gases.

And seeking to counter the extra 30,000 cars — about 10 percent of existing traffic — that appear on Reunion’s congested roads every year, the island is set to complete the first 34-km (21-mile) phase of an electrically powered tram-train by 2013 at a cost of 1.4 billion euros, PREURE’s Dieudonne said.

Image Caption: View from satellite. Courtesy NASA