German industry emits proportionally fewer greenhouse gases than its French competitor, but France has a clear lead in terms of electrification of processes, according to a study on Thursday which gauges the environmental performance of the two industrial powers.
Direct emissions from French industry (known as “scope 1” in climate jargon) amounted to 380 grams of CO2 or equivalent per euro of added value in 2021, making it a more carbon-intensive sector than German industry, which emitted 290 grams of CO2 on the same basis, underlines the study published by the think tank La Fabrique de l’Industrie and the consulting firm McKinsey.
Explanation of the difference: French industry is more represented in basic sectors such as metallurgy, chemistry, the manufacture of non-metallic mineral products, paper and cardboard or coking and refining – which are also the most polluting – than German industry, which is more focused on less polluting sectors, such as the automobile industry.
Furthermore, “considering the electricity mix of the two countries, the gap between France and Germany is cancelled out, or even reversed in certain sectors” due to the predominantly nuclear and low-carbon electricity supply, underlines David Mollo, economist at Fabrique de l’Industrie, author of the study.
By only taking into account emissions from energy used in industry (“scope 2”), the comparison comes out “systematically to the advantage of France”, with electricity in France from nuclear power emitting “six times less CO2” than energy in Germany, which still depends on fossil coal, the study notes.
– “We don’t have the brains” –
France and Germany thus find themselves “in an inverted position”: “France is proportionally more emitting in scope 1 than its neighbor, while Germany is less virtuous in scope 2,” summarizes McKinsey.
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Combining the two scopes, the emissions of French industry amount to 371 grams of CO2 per euro of added value, and those of Germany to 359 grams, a very comparable intensity, calculates Mr. Mollo.
Germany is ahead in “alternative fuels” and “probably also in the circular economy and the reuse of certain industrial inputs,” he says.
The study does not analyse indirect emissions from the industry, known as “scope 3”, from customers, because they are too “complex to quantify” for the moment, according to the study.
For Matthieu Dussud, associate director of McKinsey, industrial decarbonization in both France and Germany must be thought of on the scale of “large basins” by pooling investments in transport infrastructure or electricity generation.
He cites in particular the “heat highway” project near Lille, and the “D’artagnan” infrastructure project in Dunkirk to capture, collect, store or export industrial CO2.
– Electricity too expensive –
But “manufacturers need assurance on the profitability of their investments before committing to them” warns Vincent Charlet, general delegate of the Fabrique de l’Industrie.
An observation shared by the president of France Industrie Alexandre Saubot, interviewed by AFP: “there are sectors that have been weakened by the explosion in energy prices and by the intensification of Chinese competition and which no longer have the means that they imagined a few years ago to assume their share of financing a heavy transition,” he said.
Today, the automotive sector “is weakened by uncertainties about Chinese competition, and fears about the speed of deployment and demand for electric vehicles. The chemical sector is significantly impacted by the rise in energy prices compared to what can be done in America and China,” he adds.
Appealing to the State, Mr. Dussud underlines the need to train “many more engineers”: “We don’t have the brains, it’s a major issue.”
Another major obstacle to decarbonization, according to the study, is the cost of electricity in France.
“The electrification of industry will come up against the hypothesis of a megawatt at 70 euros”, the price offered by EDF to its industrial customers for their long-term contracts, underlines Mr. Charlet.
As long as the megawatt from gas is much cheaper, “it is not possible to wait for industrialists to electrify massively,” adds Mr. Dussud.
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