Gas independence for France
In line with its mission statement “Together, enable a safe, affordable energy future that is carbon neutral”, GRTgaz, France’s leading gas distributor, is launching an ad campaign promoting the development of renewable and low-carbon gas and hydrogen. Entitled “gas independence for France”, it will be rolled out from 1 June on TV and on social media.
In a period of high geopolitical tensions, the subject of energy independence has become an important topic for France. While France is less exposed to Russian gas supply issues than its neighbours (accounting for 17% of gas consumed), the need for gas autonomy has become critical.
Renewable and low-carbon gas provides solutions for recovering agricultural residues and solid or wet waste and converting them into gas. These forms of gas can be produced in France, are storable and yield benefits for the country’s farming industry and regions. They have the potential to cover 20% of France’s gas consumption by 2030 and, with the use of hydrogen and the implementation of energy efficiency improvements, all of France’s needs by 2050.
It is this huge and little-known potential that GRTgaz has chosen to shine a light on to promote the development of local and national initiatives for producing gas and hydrogen that are renewable and low-carbon.
“We want everyone to know that France’s energy independence is possible, we have the technologies, and the potential is there, in our cowsheds, in our factories, in our waste disposal sites. Beyond the environmental benefits, renewable gas creates local jobs and is a pillar of the circular economy,”Thierry Trouvé
CEO of GRTgaz
About the campaign
The new campaign will be deployed from 1 June through to late June/early July. To stick in people’s minds, GRTgaz and communications agency Okó opted for a humorous, playful tone.
- A 30-second TV advertisement is to be broadcast on various channels including France 5, BFM and LCI. Hundreds of spots are planned to get the attention of French opinion leaders and decision-makers.
- On social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube), nine visuals (shown below) explain the benefits of low-carbon or renewable gas and hydrogen and the technologies to produce them (methanisation1, pyro-gasification2 and hydrothermal gasification3).
1 Methanisation: a process for producing renewable gas from organic waste (biowaste, crop waste, cattle manure, etc).
2 Pyro-gasification: a process whereby solid waste and biomass is converted into renewable gas.
3 Hydrothermal gasification: technology converting wet biomass into renewable gas and treating organic waste.