| dc.description.abstract | The French Départements d’Outre Mer et Territoires d’Outre Mer (DOM-TOM) are not the most populous region of France. Nor are they the most
prosperous, the most important, or even centers of industrial production. Rather,
the DOM-TOM possessions have a unique value in French culture: they represent
the past glory of the state and its people, and the courage that lead French explorers
and settlers to roam the world. Unfortunately, the DOM-TOM represents an ever growing burden upon French taxpayers.
Sun-drenched and wind-kissed, the DOM-TOM possesses an enormous
potential to attain its energy needs from renewable sources. And yet, with electrical
grids based upon fossil fuels imported from great distances, the French taxpayer is
not only subsidizing an inefficient method of producing electricity, but also directly
encouraging pollution in the form of Green House Gas emissions that are changing
our environment.
In this paper I will analyze the political, economic, and environmental
benefits to replacing fossil fuel power plants with renewable sources in the DOM-TOM, and will attempt to describe and evaluate the criteria that will influence
decision-making. Finally, I will also attempt to develop recommendations and
policies to encourage and support renewable energy systems in the DOM-TOM. In
doing so I will present the potential costs and benefits of employing increased
amounts of renewable energies. While few will argue the environmental merits of
replacing fossil fuel power plants with renewable energy systems, a transition will
not be made unless employment levels are maintained or expanded, costs to the
state and its people reduced, and the long term benefits clearly explained. | en |
