The first Council of Ministers of the "back to school 2022" promises to raise the problem of climate change.
It must be said that the subject is hot, the recent droughts in Europe having had an impact on all areas, from food to transport and the environment.
Dry hydroelectric reservoirs
Energy production in Europe is also affected.
As our chart shows, hydropower generation between January and July 2022 decreased by around 20% compared to the same period in 2021.
This is partly due to the drying up of hydroelectric reservoirs in countries such as Italy, Serbia and Montenegro.
According to
Bloomberg
, Norway, which is generally a large producer of hydroelectricity, has even taken steps to reduce exports so that it can fill low-water reservoirs as a priority to maintain its domestic production.
Waters too hot to cool nuclear reactors
Nuclear energy production has also decreased since 2021. This drop is notably caused by the closure of several French nuclear power plants due to the temperatures of the Rhône and the Garonne, which are too high to cool the reactors.
France is 70% dependent on nuclear energy being a major exporter of electricity, which generally supplies electricity to Italy, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Our "DROUGHT" file
It should be clarified here that French nuclear power plants also face other obstacles: a considerable number of the country's plants have had to be shut down recently due to breakdowns and maintenance problems delayed by the pandemic.
These reasons combined imply, according to
Wired
, that the country's hydroelectric power has shrunk by almost 50%.
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