Latest news France: the green agenda

French president Nicolas Sarkozy declared that by 2020, all new buildings in France should produce more energy than they consume: this energy-positive housing strategy was just one of the policies to come out of le Grenelle Environnement, an environmental round table that Sarkozy initiated within weeks of being inaugurated as president of the Republic last year. So now the dust has settled, just how much is being done to implement Sarkozy’s charter for the environment?

Certainly when it comes to housing, construction companies throughout France are already rising to the challenge. ‘We need to act now to safeguard the future,’ explains José Arguedas of Maisons de l’Avenir in Brittany. ‘We are starting to construct properties that already conform to the 2020 regulations. Our new builds are made with energy-efficient materials and equipped with solar panels on the roof to heat the water tank as well as rainwater harvesting systems; this reduces energy consumption considerably. An eco-house ticks all the boxes as our builds are not only green but also cost conscious.’
According to Arguedas, initial costs of an eco-new build can be between 15-20 per cent more than a standard new build but this is soon recouped with savings made on energy costs.

‘You can go a step further as well and install photovoltaic panels on the roof. Coupled with the fact that we build using effective insulation materials that eliminate heat loss, the energy produced from the photovoltaic panels can then be sold on to EDF [Éléctricité de France]. The income that this generates then pays for a gas heating system.’
The first of Maisons de l’Avenir’s eco-builds is due for completion next year.

However green your property is, owning a home in France, whether it is a permanent residence or a holiday home, can result in a lot of cross-Channel travelling. So just how green is it to get to France? 

France’s proximity to the UK means that rail and ferry travel are quick, convenient and low-carbon-emitting options for regular travellers. Brittany Ferries quote figures published by DEFRA for their carbon emissions: the average CO2 emission for a ferry is 0.12kg per passenger kilometre compared with 0.29kg for a short-haul flight. Stephen Tuckwell of Brittany Ferries states; ‘Shipping is already one of the most efficient forms of transport and we are taking steps to further reduce our environmental impact: we are looking at fuel alternatives and we have rescheduled most of our crossings to reduce fuel consumption.’

Rail travel too is promoting itself as the eco-option and a viable alternative to flying. Rail Europe uses figures from the Institut Français de l’Environnement that show rail travel to produce just 0.006kg of carbon per passenger kilometre. ‘For anyone concerned with flying too much, the train can reach numerous destinations throughout France in relatively short periods of time,’ explains spokesperson Amanda Monroe.

Eurotunnel has designed an emissions reduction plan and by changing their energy sourcing, plan to reduce their total emissions by 50 per cent in 2008.

For some, flying is unavoidable but airlines too are working to reduce their environmental impact. Flybe, Europe’s largest regional airline, has implemented a raft of measures to make flying a greener option. The airline is the first to introduce an eco-labelling scheme that tells passengers the fuel consumption, carbon emissions and noise patterns of the aircraft. The aim of this is to help consumers make informed decisions about how they travel.

Flybe also give their passengers access to their low-cost carbon offset programme and say they are continually working to make their fleet greener. ‘We have invested more than $2 billion in new state-of-the-art environmentally sensitive aircraft. We are well advanced in our programme to phase out all other aircraft types and when the programme is complete in 2009, we will have one of the most environmentally sensitive fleets in the world,’ explains a spokesperson for the airline.

It seems a combination of government policy and geographical proximity make France the ideal green choice – and that’s well before 2020.

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