Emeritus at Sorbonne Université. Jean Girardon is known for his academic work on spatial planning, for his local action as mayor of the rural community of 333 inhabitants of Mont-Saint-Vincent, in the Burgundy-Franche-Comté region and as elected board member to the Association of Mayors of France. The co-authors’ research theses on the energy transition were defended and validated, respectively, in 2016 and 2017. As the research fields are very complementary, it was decided to pool the work here.
This interdisciplinary four-chapter book is therefore not simply a compilation of scientific articles, as is most often the case in the academic world. It aims to have a certain unity of style and form to increase its impact and simply explain, in a pedagogical way, complex transitions. It gathers a wider audience than a thesis jury to address students, elected officials, professionals and an informed general public and involves citizens in debates on the energy transition, in an educational way, in the broadest possible geography.
Louis BOISGIBAULT
Fahad AL KABBANI
October 2019
Acknowledgments
The initial research results and figures have been updated for this book. The dialog was resumed with the key players of the fields studied in Riyadh, Lille, Fayence and Ouarzazate. For Bokhol and the Arabian Desert, as the projects accelerated considerably from 2016 onwards, it was necessary to conduct a press review and contact stakeholders to request additional information and photos. This information was cross-referenced to obtain the most accurate information possible, analyze the issues, make relevant comparisons of local actions and find appropriate solutions. Warm thanks are first addressed to all the key players in these six fields, who were asked right up to the last minute, for the documents they have authorized us to publish here.
The co-authors are now on postdoctoral trips together to get to know the colleague’s fields and to continue to promote their research. All this would not have been possible without the support of the professors of Sorbonne Université and in particular Dr. Jean Girardon, who agreed to write the foreword to the book, teachers from other institutions, university and municipal libraries and families.
Sincere thanks are addressed to all those relatives who cannot be named individually for fear of forgetting them.
List of Acronyms
ADAArriyadh Development AuthorityAEMEAgence pour l’économie et la maîtrise de l’énergie du Sénégal [National Energy Efficiency Agency of Senegal]AFDAgence Française de Développement [French development agency]AMEEAgence marocaine pour l’efficacité énergétique [Moroccan Agency for Energy Efficiency]ANERAgence nationale pour les énergies renouvelables du Sénégal [Sengalese National Agency for Renewable Energies]ARAMCOArabian American Oil CompanyBOADBanque Ouest Africaine de Dévelopment [West African Development Bank]BTPBâtiments et travaux publics [Buildings and public works]CH4Methane (four hydrogen atoms and one carbon atom)CIGSCopper indium gallium seleniumCNGVCompressed natural gas vehicleCOPConference of the PartiesCO2Carbon dioxideECOWASEconomic Community of West African States (15 countries)ECRAElectricity and Cogeneration Regulatory Authority (Saudi Arabia)EECEuropean Economic CommunityEMEAEurope, Middle East, AfricaENEDISRéseau public de distribution d’électricité (France) [Public electricity distribution network (France)]EPCIÉtablissement public de coopération intercommunale (France) [Public institution for intermunicipal cooperation (France)]EPDEnergy performance diagnosticsFDIForeign direct investmentGACAGeneral Authority of Civil AviationGCCGulf Cooperation CouncilGDPGross domestic productGEFGlobal Environment FacilityGHGGreenhouse gasesGNPGross national productGTGigatonGWGigawatt (1,000 MW)HDIHuman development indexHPHeat pumpHT/MTHigh voltage/medium voltageIEAInternational Energy AgencyINDCIntended Nationally Determined ContributionINSEEInstitut national de la statistique et des études économiques (France) [French National Institute for Statistics and Economic Studies]IPCCIntergovernmental Panel on Climate ChangeIRENAInternational Renewable Energy AgencyKACAREKing Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable EnergykVKilovoltkWKilowatt (1,000 watts)LEEDLeadership in Energy and Environmental DesignLNGLiquefied natural gasLPGLiquefied petroleum gasMASENMoroccan Agency for Solar EnergyMELMétropole européenne de Lille [European metropolis of Lille]MWMegawatt (1,000 KW)NBICNanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information technology, Cognitive scienceOECDOrganisation for Economic Co-operation and DevelopmentOPECOrganization of Petroleum Exporting CountriesPACARegion Sud, Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur (France)PETSPumped Energy Transfer StationsPIFPublic Investment Fund (Saudi Arabia)PLUPlan local d’urbanisme [Local urban planning]PLUIPlan local d’urbanisme intercommunal [Local intermunicipal urban planning]PPPPurchasing power parityPPPPublic–private partnershipPPMPart per millionPVDPays en voie de développement [Developing countries]REPDORenewable Energy Project Development Office (Saudi Arabia)RNEsRenewable energiesSAMASaudi Arabian Monetary AgencySARSaudi Railway CompanySCOTSchéma de cohérence territoriale [French Territorial Coherence Scheme]SECSaudi Electricity CompanySMBSmall and medium businessesSMESmall and medium-sized enterprisesSPASaudi Press AgencySPPASaudi Public Pension AgencySRADDETSchéma régional d’aménagement, de développement durable et d’égalité des territoires [Regional Plan for Spatial Planning, Sustainable Development and Equality of Territories]SROSaudi Railway OrganizationTOETon of oil equivalentTWhTerawatt hourUAEUnited Arab EmiratesUEMOAWest African Economic and Monetary Union (eight countries)WTIWest Texas IntermediateWTOWorld Trade Organization
1
Three Types of Space for Analyzing Energy Transition
1.1. From energy-to-energy transition
The word energy comes from the ancient Greek, energia, the force in action. The dictionary characterizes it as a physical system, keeping the same value during all internal transformations of the system (conservation law) and expressing its ability to modify the state of other systems with which it interacts. The units used in the international energy system are the joule (J), the Watt-hour (Wh) and the ton of oil equivalent (TOE) due to the economic and political significance of oil.
Energy sources can come from raw materials (Vidal 2017) such as hydrocarbons (crude oil, natural gas and coal), uranium or natural phenomena such as wind, sun, hot springs, organic matter fermentation, tides and marine currents. These sources can be primary, i.e. directly from nature such as wood, hydrocarbons, uranium, organic waste or secondary, i.e. from human transformation such as electricity and gasoline. The energies used by mankind have evolved over the centuries in different transitions due to the discovery of new raw materials, the domestication of natural phenomena and technological progress. The final energy is that which is delivered to and consumed and paid for by the inhabitant.
Why are these definitions already an issue? Because it is necessary to count energy to see the evolution of production and consumption in metropolitan areas, rural areas and deserts. Energy metering is always tedious, but it is essential to establish a diagnosis that then makes it possible to prepare an action plan, with more or less significant investments. We are confronted with the difficulty of knowing whether we are thinking in terms of primary energy or final energy and how to compare 1 liter of fuel oil with 1 kWh of wind energy. Statistics have been compiled in TOE since 1972. In France, for electricity, 1 MWh was equivalent to 0.222 TOE, which corresponded to an average efficiency of 38.7% for a thermal power plant (43.7% – 5% loss during distribution). This affects a primary energy conversion factor of 2.58 (1/0.387) per kWh in the energy balances.
The first problem is that thermal power plants have lost market share to nuclear and renewable energies
