Environmental impact of the different subsidies used to promote renewable energy sources

Agence France Trésor commissioned Artelys to study the environmental impact of subsidised renewable energies. The scope of the analyses includes both mainland France (and therefore the impact on the European electricity system) and non-interconnected zones, both for the historical period and for the future. The main impacts (in particular greenhouse gas emissions, but also emissions of atmospheric pollutants, the use of raw materials and land use) have been quantified on the basis of modelling work carried out using Artelys Crystal Super Grid. This quantitative analysis is supplemented by qualitative elements from a literature review covering all the other environmental impacts of renewables (biodiversity, water and soil pollution, adaptation to climate change, etc.). The study shows that by 2021, almost 28 MtCO2eq of emissions have been avoided thanks to subsidised renewables, based on life cycle analysis. Modelling shows that renewable energies in metropolitan France have almost exclusively replaced thermal generation in recent years, the vast majority of it in neighbouring countries (between 75% and 86%).