How would the adoption of French energy technology reduce German and Japanese CO2 emissions?

Abstract

The phasing out of nuclear power in Germany and Japan has been a political topic since the 1980s. This was mainly due to the fear of nuclear power meltdowns, and more generally the risks involved with nuclear power production, driven by the Fukushima nuclear power plant disaster. In stark contrast, France as a nation has wholeheartedly embraced nuclear power. In the discussion of cutting greenhouse gas emissions, it would be a logical move, as nuclear power has no direct greenhouse gas emissions. However, indirect emissions of nuclear power are unclear and, therefore, the nuclear power’s greenhouse gas footprint better be determined. We map these footprint reductions and calculate by how much German and Japanese emissions would be reduced following the French example. We find that there would be a 42% total reduction to the German footprint and a 45% reduction to the Japanese footprint, if French energy technology were adopted. We provide a decomposition analysis of footprint changes in emission and technology effects. We find that the technology effects dominate.