By announcing in Béziers (Hérault) that an additional 1,9 billion euros would be devoted to this sector as part of the France 2030 investment plan, the Head of State considered that the development of hydrogen was " a battle for industry, for ecology and for sovereignty ".
Replacing petroleum or coal, hydrogen, by allowing heavy industry to reduce its CO2 emissions, will "reconcile industrial adventure, growth, with the decarbonisation of our economies. The + at the same time + is possible ", he explained during a visit to the Genvia company.
The young company, born in March 2021 and seen as a "nugget of the future", is the result of public research (Commission for Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies) and the para-oil group Schlumberger.
It is developing, with some forty patents filed, high temperature electrolysers making it possible to produce hydrogen from the water molecule (H20), but also electricity from hydrogen, with an efficiency greater than that of already existing processes.
During his visit, the President announced to employees that the company had been selected by the European Union as part of its IPCEI (Important Project of Common European Interest) programs, which will enable it to receive specific aid of 200 million. euros.
"A whole new continent is opening up before us," added Mr. Macron, who sees mid-XNUMXst century France as a country of production of carbon-free hydrogen, a new source of energy that will replace the petroleum, especially for heavy industry.
"Building energy" sovereignty
"If we know how to be leaders in the production of hydrogen, then we will build energy sovereignty," insisted the Head of State. It relies on French nuclear power, which does not emit CO2, to achieve this, unlike Germany, which bases its hydrogen plan on the import of photovoltaic electricity from hot countries.
"There is never inevitability. One never responds to the difficulties of time by nostalgia for a past that is no more, but by redoubling the capacity to resist and not to give in, to think about the future. in its new dynamics. This is exactly what France must do today, "said Emmanuel Macron.
The head of state, who has not yet announced whether or not he is a candidate for a second term in 2022, seeks to present himself as the leader of the progressive camp in the face of candidates who claim that France is a country in decline.
He also responds to certain "decreasing" who believe that the ecological crisis can only be resolved by abandoning certain activities.
For him, the society of tomorrow, "it is not less consuming, it is not giving up activities, it is not giving up things, it is through innovation to succeed in reconciling the two" , he said.
Emmanuel Macron was greeted by the far-right mayor of Béziers, Robert Ménard, who thanked him for the support given to Genvia, which is due to expand its site.
In a region particularly affected by unemployment, his speech on the industry of tomorrow also focuses on "skills", the president saying he is attached to "parents can say that their children have a future in the industry" .