Is there a difference between green energy and renewable energy?

Renewable energies are energies produced from natural phenomena that are constantly and rapidly renewed: wind, sun, tides… In contrast to fossil energies, which are natural but sometimes require several million years to renew.

Using green or renewable energy therefore limits our impact by sparing the depletable resources of our planet.

However, green energy theoretically brings an additional concept: in addition to being sustainable, it produces a negligible amount of pollutants. This nuance has no practical impact, as EDF indicates, “the exploitation of renewable energies does not generate or generates little waste and polluting emissions.” This means that if, in the future, a renewable energy source were discovered that is also polluting, it would not be considered a green energy. But today, all renewable energies are green energies, and vice versa.

There are several types of energies classified as green or renewable. These are available in varying quantities. That is why in 2020, renewable energies still only represent 19.1% of energy consumption in France. This percentage increases year by year, as new infrastructures are created and processes are improved.

Among the methods of green energy production, we find:

Biomass: This involves the transformation of organic and plant materials into a source of energy. The most well-known and widely used example of biomass is wood energy, which involves burning wood to produce heat.

Hydropower: This energy is generated through the movement of water, which turns turbines and generates electricity. This electricity is more commonly used on the coasts, due to energy loss during transportation. Studies are ongoing to reduce this loss during energy transportation or storage.

Wind energy: Generated through the power of the wind, using turbines similar to those in hydropower.

Solar energy: Solar energy involves capturing the heat emitted by the sun using solar panels and converting it into electricity. This energy is dependent on climate, constrained by both the location of installations and seasonality.

Geothermal energy: This involves capturing heat from the ground. This method of production has the advantage of being constant throughout the year, as the temperature inside the Earth remains stable.

All the green energies mentioned above are also renewable, with the two terms being synonymous once again.

In order to encourage the creation of new renewable energy production facilities, an energy origin guarantee system has been established.

Originally, this system required the electricity transmission networks (RTE) to inject a certain amount of green electricity. This requirement was verified through certificates on the origin of electricity. However, RTE sought ways to bypass this obligation by purchasing green electricity from abroad and reintroducing it into the French grid.

As a result, there was technically more green energy in France, but very few renewable energy production systems were created, as everything was done through imports. That is why in 2021, ADEME created the VertVolt label to encourage the development of new renewable energy production infrastructures.

What changes with the VertVolt label is the addition of requirements regarding the origin of renewable energies and a two-tier system.

To achieve level 1 (the “committed” level), in addition to origin certificates, the green energy must be purchased from producers based in France.
For level 2 (the “highly committed” level), all level 1 conditions must be met, but in addition, 25% of the renewable energy must come from either:

• Facilities recently commissioned without state aid
• Facilities set up by local authorities with shared governance (meaning the project is carried out jointly with another actor, such as a citizen project or an association).

This level system is designed to encourage the creation of new infrastructures.

France has a plan on energy defining objectives over several years. This plan is called the Multi-Year Energy Program (or PPE). According to the PPE, France aimed to reach 23% of renewable energy in the energy mix by 2020. In reality, renewable energies only accounted for 14% of the energy mix in 2020, and 19.1% in 2022.

The objective by 2030 is to reach 33%, in order to outperform the European target of 32%. According to the government’s website, we should exceed this target. In fact, the government predicts that by 2030, 40% of electricity production will come from renewable energies.

Now you know that there is no difference between green energy and renewable energy. If you want assistance in negotiating your energy contract, contact Dametis to control the price and origin of your energy.