1/45 25 January 2018 Rescue workers and police officers stand near derailed trains in Pioltello, on the outskirts of Milan. Reuters
2/45 24 January 2018 Afghan police officers take position during a blast and gun fire in Jalalabad, Afghanistan. Reuters
3/45 23 January 2018 Workers clean the beach of the coastal town of Zouk Mosbeh, north of Beirut, as garbage washed up and piled along the shore after stormy weather. AFP/Getty
4/45 22 January 2018 A Free Syrian Army soldier takes a selfie as fighters join up with Turkish troops near the Syrian border at Hassa, Hatay province. Turkey shelled Kurdish militia targets in Syria and claimed progress in a cross-border offensive that has stoked concern among its allies and neighbours
5/45 21 January 2018 Palestinians take part in a protest against aid cut, outside the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) office, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters
6/45 20 January 2018 Oscar Janicki, 6, participates in the Second Annual Women's March in Philadelphia. Reuters
7/45 19 January 2018 Russian President Vladimir Putin bathes in an ice-cold water on Epiphany near St. Nilus Stolobensky Monastery on Lake Seliger in Svetlitsa village, Russia. Thousands of Russian Orthodox Church followers will plunge into icy rivers and ponds across the country to mark Epiphany, cleansing themselves with water deemed holy for the day. Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP
8/45 18 January 2018 People protest to call for a new DREAM Act to replace DACA in Los Angeles, California. Reuters
9/45 17 January 2018 Pro-democracy activists Raphael Wong and Joshua Wong arrive at Lai Chi Kok Reception Centre after they were jailed on protest related charges following their sentencing at the High Court in Hong Kong. AFP/Getty
10/45 16 January 2018 Skyscrapers Oriental Pearl Tower and Jin Mao Tower (L) are seen from the Shanghai World Financial Center on a hazy day in the financial district of Pudong in Shanghai, China. Reuters
11/45 15 January 2018 Martin Luther King III, US Secretary of the Interior and others wait to place a wreath during an event at the Martin Luther King Memorial on the National Mall. AFP/Getty
12/45 14 January 2018 A boy stands with women loyal to the Houthi movement during a gathering held to show their support to the movement in Sanaa, Yemen. Reuters
13/45 13 January 2018 Diego Martin Duplessis of Argentina drives his Honda during the 2018 Peru-Bolivia-Argentina Dakar rally, 40th edition stage seven, La Paz to Uyuni. Reuters
14/45 12 January 2018 Angela Merkel speaks during a joint press conference after exploratory talks in Berlin. According to reports, the leaders of CDU, CSU and SPD parties after night-long talks agreed on a plan for formal coalition negotiations. EPA
15/45 11 January 2018 A Pakistani girl holds a picture of Zainab Ansari, an 8-year-old girl who was raped and kidnapped in Kasur, during a protest in Karachi, Pakistan. Anees Ansari, Zainab's father, accused the police of being slow to respond when his daughter went missing in the eastern Punjab province. Two people were killed and three others were wounded in clashes between angry Kasur residents and police after protesters enraged over her death attacked a police station in the city. AP
16/45 10 January 2018 India's Border Security Force (BSF) ‘Daredevils’ women motorcycle riders perform during a rehearsal for the Republic Day parade on a cold winter morning in New Delhi. Reuters
17/45 9 January 2018 Members of the South Korea delegation (R) shake hands with members of the North Korean delegation (L) during their meeting at the border truce village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone dividing the two Koreas. North and South Korea began their first official talks in more than two years, focusing on the forthcoming Winter Olympics after months of tensions over Pyongyang's nuclear weapons programme. AFP/Getty
18/45 8 January 2018 Migrants in a dinghy are rescued by Libyan coast guards off the coast of Garabulli, east of Tripoli. Reuters
19/45 7 January 2018 French President Emmanuel Macron observes a minute of silence in front of the plaque commemorating late police officer Ahmed Merabet to mark the third anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo terrorist attack, in Paris. Rex
20/45 6 January 2018 Nicolaos Solis from Greece kisses the wooden cross which was thrown into the waters by Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, during the Epiphany ceremony to bless the waters at the Golden Horn in Istanbul. AP
21/45 5 January 2018 Women mourn the death of a family member following a landslide in Kinshasa. Thirty-seven people died overnight when torrential rain and mudslides swept though shanty homes. AFP/Getty
22/45 4 January 2018 Mourners carry the body of Palestinian Mosab al-Tamimi, 17, who was shot and killed by Israeli troops, during his funeral near the West Bank city of Ramallah . Reuters
23/45 3 January 2018 People take part in pro-government rallies, Iran. Tasnim News Agency via Reuters
24/45 2 January 2018 Indonesian bus passengers watch as Mount Sinabung spews thick smoke in Karo, North Sumatra. AFP/Getty
25/45 1 January 2018 People take part in the traditional New Year's Day swim in Scheveningen, Netherlands. Rex
26/45 31 December 2017 Fireworks explode over Sydney Harbour during New Year's Eve celebrations. EPA
27/45 30 December 2017 An Indian muslim lifts a stool with a metal rod pierced through his cheeks to commemorate the anniversary of the death of Rafai Papa Miyan Sai at the Shah-E-Alam Dargah shrine in Ahmedabad. AFP/Getty
28/45 29 December 2017 A New York apartment fire killed at least 12 people, including a baby, with four more critically injured. Mayor Bill de Blasio said at a press conference from the scene that 'it is the worst fire tragedy we have seen in this city in at least a quarter century.' Reuters
29/45 28 December 2017 Afghan women mourn inside a hospital compound after a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan. Reuters
30/45 27 December 2017 Pope Francis greets newlyweds during his weekly general audience at Aula Paolo VI in The Vatican. AFP/Getty
31/45 26 December 2017 Rohingya refugees walk next to a pond in the early morning at the Balukhali refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh. Reuters
32/45 25 December 2017 Members of ice swimming club "Berliner Seehunde" (Berlin Seals) take a dip in the Orankesee lake in Berlin as part of their traditional Christmas ice swimming session, in Berlin, Germany. Reuters
33/45 24 December 2017 Mourners carry the body of 19-year-old Mohamed Sami al-Dahdouh, a Palestinian youth from Jabalia who was killed in clashes with Israeli forces east of Gaza City. AFP/Getty
34/45 23 December 2017 Policemen evacuate a baby after the Cagayan River swelled caused by heavy rains brought by Tropical Storm Tembin. People have died and others are missing as the storm struck the southern Philippines unleashing floods and landslides across a region of 20 million people. AFP/Getty
35/45 22 December 2017 Carles Puigdemont gives a thumbs up after the Catalonia Regional Election results. Rex
36/45 21 December 2017 A white SUV sits in the middle of the road as police and emergency personnel work at the scene of where it ran over pedestrians in Flinders Street in Melbourne. AFP/Getty
37/45 20 December 2017 This combination of pictures shows Syrians covering one eye with their hands, in the rebel-held town of Douma, as part of a campaign in solidarity with a baby boy, Karim Abdallah, who lost an eye, as well as his mother, in government shelling on the nearby town of Hammouria. AFP/Getty Images
38/45 19 December 2017 South Korean and U.S. Marines take part in a winter military drill in Pyeongchang, South Korea. REUTERS
39/45 18 December 2017 Belgian police officers stand guard outside the trial of Salah Abdeslam, one of the suspects in the 2015 Islamic State attacks in Paris, at a courthouse in Brussels, Belgium. Reuters
40/45 17 December 2017 Members of the International Space Station expedition 54/55, Roscosmos cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov (C), NASA astronaut Scott Tingle (R) and Norishige Kanai (L) of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) during the send-off ceremony after checking their space suits before the launch of the Soyuz MS-07 spacecraft at the Baikonur cosmodrome, in Kazakhstan. Reuters
41/45 16 December 2017 The former wife of the late South African President Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela (R), and the candidate for the African National Congress presidency and ex-wife of the incumbent South African president, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma greet each other as they attend the 54th ANC National Conference at the NASREC Expo Centre in Johannesburg on December 16, 2017. Thousands of delegates from South Africa's ANC party gathered on December 16, 2017 for a five-day meeting to elect their new leader in a divisive race seen as a pivotal moment in the country's post-apartheid history. he winner will be well placed to be the next president, but the ANC has lost much popularity since Nelson Mandela led it to power in the euphoric 1994 election that marked the end of white-minority rule. AFP/Getty Images
42/45 15 December 2017 Palestinian protesters wave the national flag during clashes with Israeli security forces near the border fence with Israel, east of Gaza City as demonstrations continue over US President Donald Trump's declaration of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. AFP/Getty
43/45 14 December 2017 Hamas supporters take part in a rally marking the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Islamist movement, in Gaza City. AFP/Getty Images
44/45 13 December 2017 Democratic candidate for US Senate Doug Jones thanks supporters as he holds his wife Louise's hand. AP
AbuWerda on January 25th, 2018 at 14:14 UTC »
Fun fact: if it weren’t for France’s coal industry in the 19th century, prehistoric archaeology would not have developed the way it did. French miners were the first to discover buried stone tools, extinct animals, and hominid fossils buried underground.
LeSygneNoir on January 25th, 2018 at 13:31 UTC »
So, a bit of additionnal context here. While not being groundbreaking due to our high reliance on nuclear energy, shutting down all coal plants isn't as easy as it sounds.
While they only represent 1% of total annual production, coal plants are almost exclusively used as "additionnal power reserves" during peak winter consumption of power. Think of coal as our "emergency auxiliary".
Deleting all coal plants ties up to the problem of power conservation. So far the only plants capable of "storing" power (outside of fossil fuels) are hydroelectric dams, that can simply pump water upstream with additionnal power during low-consumption times, which makes for "power reserves" in high-consumption times.
By the way, this is why Tesla's house-sized batteries are such a big deal. By allowing storage of renewable power, they take away the major inconvenient of reliance on renewable energies: low-production/high-consumption periods.
Shutting down all coal plants will probably require some sort of effort in the flexibility of our nuclear potential and our ability to efficiently transport energy across the country. If memory serves, 2021 is not some random date, but the year for which a couple of nuclear reactor refits under way in nuclear power plants will be done, guaranteeing the ability to ramp up power production as needed like coal plants can. The previous 2023 date was the same but with a security margin, so Macron is actually putting some pressure on EDF, France's national electricity company.
So obviously, shutting down coal plants isn't some major announcement in France. But neither is it completely insignificant. It sorts of signal a desire to embrace a more flexible modern energy grid, with a lesser security margin in production capacity. The kind of energy grid needed to actually rely on renewables further down the line.
thesilverpig on January 25th, 2018 at 10:21 UTC »
It's going to be tough to close the probably one coal power plant by 2021, but somehow they'll manage