Xavier Blot

Program Director of Management of Energy Transitions

Clean power is a superpower.

Clean power has a superpower.

Let’s rewind.

1970s — France. The country bets big on nuclear power. 63 GW built in less than two decades. It’s called the Messmer Plan. By 1990, nuclear supplies more than 75% of France’s electricity and turns it into one of the cleanest energy producers in the world.

Early 2000s — China. Beijing picks its champions: solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles. Between 2005 and 2020, hundreds of billions pour into R&D, factories, and infrastructure. Today, China builds over 80% of the world’s solar panels and dominates battery production. The first ElectroState is born with global manufacturing leadership.

2022 — The United States. The Biden administration passes the Inflation Reduction Act, a misleading name for the biggest clean-energy plan in the U.S. history. $370 billion to reboot domestic manufacturing and cut carbon to get back U.S. in the industrial race.

Three countries. Three decades. One pattern.

None of these moves were driven by idealism or by saving the planet. They were about building energy independence and the economic power that comes with it.

At first glance, there’s a simple logic behind these choices — two forces that explain why clean power and security move together.

The cost shift

Phasing out fossil fuels isn’t just about cutting emissions. It’s about moving value from a consumable commodity to a permanent technological asset.

In fossil systems, the meter keeps running: you pay for fuel, again and again. In clean systems, the costs are upfront: you buy the machine once, and it delivers for decades.

That changes everything.

Fuel is single-use. Technology endures. Once installed, solar panels, turbines, or reactors keep producing predictable, inflation-proof energy. Even when supply chains wobble, the electrons still flow. Clean power replaces dependency with durability.

The trade trap

According to IRENA, about 80 % of humanity lives in countries that import fossil fuels. Every barrel and every cargo ship create imbalances and deep vulnerabilities.

Meanwhile, most of the world’s population lives in regions with technically large renewable-energy potential. And while a few players dominate key technologies, their innovations and cost reductions cascade globally, improving access everywhere. Solar deployment in Africa is especially promising in this regard.

Oil and gas are commodities traded internationally. In fact, modern trade was built around them, making them the world’s most traded commodity.If oil and gas trade is disrupted, the impact is immediate (or at least within about three months, the time it takes to consume our strategic stocks) and the result is a severe inflation exposure.

Renewables don’t operate on the same cycles. What matters is long-term control of technologies, not short-term fuel supply.

Crisis as acceleration

When trade flows smoothly, the technical and economic advantages of clean technologies seem less visible.However, during crises such as Europe’s energy shock following the invasion of Ukraine, their value becomes more apparent.This value compounds, reinforcing their own momentum and accelerating investment while lowering costs and strengthening technological dominance.

In other words, crisis can trigger clean power adoption, which in turn drives further security in a positive feedback loop given their advantages.

But clean production alone isn’t enough. Electrified consumption and greater system efficiency are multiplying factors reinforcing the feedback loop that powers the transition itself.

Of course, the story isn’t that simple. Clean energy doesn’t erase geopolitics — it rewrites it. Beyond electricity, the transition must include low-carbon fuels, heat, and other forms of energy — as well as the social dimensions that determine whether change is fair and lasting.What matters now is how nations choose to navigate this new landscape: whether they see clean power as an end in itself, or as the beginning of a more stable, self-sustaining world.