When it comes to consuming greener energy, two terms are often used: green energy and renewable energy.
How do you choose between the two? We’ll make it easy for you: green energy and renewable energy are synonymous. However, you need to be careful, because not all “clean” energy offers (another synonym!) are created equal, nor do they offer the same guarantees.
Definition of green energy / renewable energy
Renewable energies are energies produced from natural phenomena that are constantly and rapidly renewed: wind, sun, tides… As opposed to fossil energies, which are natural, but sometimes require several million years to renew themselves.
Using green or renewable energy therefore limits our impact by sparing our planet’s exhaustible resources.
In theory, however, green energy brings an additional notion: in addition to being sustainable, it produces a negligible quantity of pollutants. This nuance has no impact in practice, since, as edf points out, “the use of renewable energies generates little or no waste or polluting emissions”. In other words, if, in the future, we were to discover a renewable energy source that was also polluting, it would not be considered green energy. But today, all renewable energies are green energies, and vice versa.
The different types of green/renewable energy
There are several types of energy that can be described as green or renewable. These are available in varying quantities. That’s why, in 2020, renewable energies still only account for 19.1% of France’s energy consumption. This figure is rising year on year, as new infrastructures are created and processes improved.
Green energy production methods include :
Biomass: the transformation of organic and vegetable matter into a source of energy. The best-known and most widely used example of biomass is wood energy, which involves burning wood to produce heat.
Hydropower: This energy is generated by the movement of water, which turns turbines and generates electricity. This type of electricity is more commonly used on the coast, due to the loss of energy during transport. Studies are underway to limit this loss of energy during transport and storage.
Wind power: Generated using wind energy, on the same turbine principle as hydroelectric power.
Solar energy: Solar energy consists of capturing the heat emitted by the sun using solar panels and converting it into electricity. This energy is subject to the climate, and is therefore constrained both by the location of installations and by seasonality.
Geothermal energy: This involves capturing heat from the ground. This production method has the advantage of being constant throughout the year, as the temperature inside the Earth is invariable.
All the above green energies are also renewable, the two terms being, once again, synonymous.
Energy contract guarantee levels
To encourage the creation of new renewable energy production facilities, a system of guarantees of energy origin has been introduced.
The original certificate of origin system
Originally, this system obliged electricity transmission networks (RTE) to inject a certain quantity of green electricity. This condition was verified by certificates of origin. However, RTEs have been looking for ways around this obligation, buying green electricity from abroad and injecting it back into the French grid.
So, technically, there was more green energy in France, but very few renewable energy production systems were created, as everything was done by import. That’s why, in 2021, ADEME created the VertVolt label, to encourage the creation of new renewable energy production infrastructures.
The VertVolt label, to encourage local green energy
What’s new with the VertVolt label is the addition of renewable energy sourcing requirements and a two-tier system.
To achieve level 1 (“committed” level), in addition to certificates of origin, the green energy must be purchased from producers based in France.
For level 2 (“very committed” level), all the conditions of level 1 must be met, but in addition 25% of the renewable energy must come from either :
- Plants recently commissioned without government assistance
- Facilities set up by local authorities with shared governance (i.e., the project is run jointly with another player, such as a citizens’ project or an association).
This level system is designed to encourage the creation of new infrastructures.
France’s green/renewable energy target
France has an energy plan defining objectives for several years. This plan is called the Programmation Pluriannuelle Energétique (or PPE). According to the PPE, France’s target was to have 23% renewable energy in the energy mix by 2020. In reality, renewable energies represented only 14% of the energy mix in 2020, and 19.1% in 2022.
The aim is to reach 33% by 2030, to beat the European target of 32%. According to the government website, we should exceed this target. Indeed, the government predicts that by 2030, 40% of electricity production will come from renewable energies.
Now you know that there’s no difference between green energy and renewable energy. Would you like help negotiating your energy contract? Contact Dametis, to control the price and origin of your energy.
