Club Les Echos | Debates Prospective "Low-carbon cities

On October 4, 2022, Club Les Echos Débats - Prospectives welcomed Bertrand Piccard, initiator and Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation, François Petry, Chairman of Holcim France and Laurent Bataille, Chairman of Schneider Electric France. Together, they discussed the concrete solutions that can be implemented by companies and public authorities to build a "low-carbon" city as part of the fight against global warming. Philippe Jauffret, Director of Delville Management's Lyon interim management office, reflects on these discussions.

The low-carbon city: a major challenge in the fight against global warming

Cities represent a major challenge if we are to achieve the IPCC's objective of limiting global warming to less than 2°, and meet the European Union's commitment to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 55% by 2030 compared to 1990 levels, before achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Cities account for 78% of global energy consumption and 60% of global GHG emissions. And with 68% of the world's population expected to live in cities by 2050, it's easy to see why cities are such a powerful lever for action.
To accelerate the decarbonization of cities and deploy projects with a high environmental, economic and societal impact, there are several approaches:

• The structural approach consists of rethinking city planning to create favorable frameworks for low-carbon activities, with solutions such as the quarter-hour city, where essential needs and services (work, shopping, health) are located close to residents, soft mobility, green spaces...
• The usage-based approach involves rethinking the use of existing infrastructures and equipment to achieve greater modularity, flexibility and sobriety.
• The sectoral approach is based on actions on the main sources of energy consumption and GHG emissions, namely buildings (eco-design, energy renovation, self-generation, etc.), mobility and energy (LED lighting, etc.).

Efficiency, the cornerstone of responses to the climate and energy crises

Today, public authorities are calling on the public to be sober about energy. But for Bertrand Piccard, the answers to the energy crisis and the climate crisis, if they are identical, lie not in sobriety, but in efficiency. Today, we lose three quarters of the energy we use due to the poor efficiency of our infrastructures and equipment (poorly insulated buildings, archaic heating systems, combustion engines, etc.). Yet solutions to improve our efficiency exist and are cost-effective. "Today, we have everything we need to achieve qualitative economic growth. We need to reduce the waste, inefficiency, excess and laziness that have kept us in a system that doesn't work for so long. We need to develop the solutions we have, showing that it's in the interests of companies and governments to implement them, because they create jobs and business opportunities. This is the case with renewable energies, which are four times cheaper than nuclear power, and 15 to 20 times cheaper than gas today", argues Bertrand Piccard. The Solar Impulse Foundation is also launching an initiative to accelerate the ecological transition in France. It takes the form of a book entitled "Ready to vote", submitted to the President of the Republic, ministers and members of parliament, listing 50 recommendations for legislation to protect the environment, reduce waste and improve purchasing power. Two of these, concerning floating solar panels on quarry lakes and agrivoltaics, have already been incorporated into the French Energy and Climate Law.

Companies committed to decarbonizing cities

Companies can also contribute to the fight against global warming and, in particular, provide concrete solutions for decarbonizing cities. Such is the case with Schneider Electric. The world leader in energy management has installed solar panels on all its factories for self-consumed electricity production, and its latest R&D center, built in Grenoble, consumes eight times less energy than an average European building. "It was designed to be efficient. It uses exclusively electrical energy and is equipped with a fine control system. The extra cost of an ecologically built building is currently 8%, but should rapidly fall to 3 or 4%", says Laurent Bataille, who also believes that heavy renovation is not always the best answer to decarbonizing cities. Simple, low-cost solutions (€10 to €20/m²), such as connected thermostats or programmable magnets, can deliver 20 to 30% energy savings in an apartment, with a short return on investment (one to two years).

Holcim, which has set itself the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 and will reduce its emissions by almost a quarter by 2030, has also made the fight against global warming an integral part of its business activities. This involves innovation on two levels. Firstly, the Group is working to reduce the carbon footprint of its industrial facilities. For example, Holcim has reduced the heat required to produce cement by replacing fossil fuels with waste-to-energy plants. By 2030, this substitution rate will rise from 25% to 70%. Holcim also aims to provide sustainable cities with low-carbon materials at affordable prices. With this in mind, the company has launched low-carbon concretes and cements under the global EcoPact brand, whose carbon weight per m3 is 30% to 70% lower than that of conventional concretes. They are also recyclable. By 2026, these products should account for 30% of total volumes placed on the market. "We're going to take the most polluting cements off the market. This means taking our partners (architects, developers, etc.) on board with us. RE2020 has given a boost to decarbonization. But there is still progress to be made, particularly in putting in place the right indicators to calculate the benefits of green construction, taking into account all aspects in a global vision and analyzing it over time", points out François Petry.

The final word goes to Bertrand Piccard, who believes that ecology should not be punitive. "Constraints create resistance. We need to convince the 95% of people who are not ecologists, by showing them the benefits of ecology in terms of purchasing power gains and environmental benefits. As far as businesses are concerned, we need to push for ecological and profitable solutions. What's lacking today is the market invasion of these solutions."

Watch our expert on YouTube: Le Club Les Echos Débats "Le Club Les Echos Débats Prospective en Live Mardi 4 Octobre 2022 à 18h00".