• On Tuesday July 26, the members of the European Union pledged to reduce, between August 2022 and March 2023, their gas consumption by at least 15% compared to the average of the last five years over the same period.

  • An achievable goal, but which must go through a general change of habit and for everyone, according to Ines Bouacida, Climate-Energy researcher, interviewed by "20 Minutes".

  • Reduction in heating and air conditioning, saving electricity in companies, alternating production in companies… We take stock of the means of achieving the European objective.

Cap or no cap?

While the threat of a complete Russian gas cut hangs over the European Union as winter approaches, the 27 are organizing the response.

The Member States have just voted by majority on a plan providing for the coordinated reduction of their gas consumption by 15% by March 2023. A very fine objective, which does not require the same efforts from everyone.

Is France able to meet this energy challenge?

20 Minutes

looked into this delicate equation.

How is gas consumption distributed in France?

In 2020, according to government figures, France consumed nearly 495 TWh PCS (1 TWh PCS = 1 billion kWh).

As the curve has been fairly stable since 2016, if it is on this amount that the 15% reduction is made, this would require a drop to around 421 TWh HCV.

This graph published by the Ministry of Ecological Transition illustrates the distribution of this gas consumption.

It can be seen that approximately 20% of consumption is attributed to the production of electricity and heat, nearly 20% is consumed by the tertiary sector (shops, for example, or non-residential buildings), some 30% by residential buildings (buildings and houses combined) and almost the same percentage by industry.

The share consumed by agriculture, transport or internal uses of the energy branch are minimal in comparison.

A reduction of 15% in 8 months, in the middle of winter, is it feasible?

For Ines Bouacida, Climate-Energy researcher at the Institute for Sustainable Development and International Relations, the answer is yes, provided that everyone does their part.

“There is no question of going back to candles, but of changing one's habits.

Every small gesture counts, because if everyone does them, it is decisive.

The expert thus takes the example of Japan which, after the Fukushima disaster in 2011, managed to reduce its electricity consumption by 15% through a series of small rationing measures.

Another point, this 15% reduction is feasible, but not mandatory, recalled the Ministry of Ecology during a press briefing on Wednesday.

Firstly because "the text voted by the Member States does not provide for sanctions", we are told, and secondly because a mandatory reduction of 15% "only applies in the event of a crisis, which is not the case at the moment”.

The ministry also explains that the text provides for derogations to which France can subscribe.

“If we demonstrate that we are capable of exporting gas to the maximum of our capacities to our neighbours, the objective is no longer 15%, but 7%”.

Anyway, it will have to be reduced.

How to reduce the consumption of heating gas?

Whether for companies, the State or individuals, well, the answer is simple, the temperature must be lowered.

Even a little bit.

Ines Bouacida recalls that for buildings heated by gas, "lowering the heating by 1 degree reduces its consumption by 7%".

We can imagine the savings by lowering the thermostat a little more.

Especially since today "in Europe, we heat ourselves on average at 22°C in winter", indicates the expert, recalling that the Ademe (Agency for the environment and energy management ) recommends heating to 19°C only.

A recommendation that the Ministry of Ecology intends to include in its energy sobriety plan, without imposing it on individuals.

The focus will first be on the administration, for the sake of “exemplarity on the part of the State”, then on industries and the private sector, the ministry said.

How to reduce electricity consumption?

Apart from “unplugging as many electrical outlets as possible”, cutting off the wifi or “turning down the air conditioning a little”, as Olivier Véran suggested last week, the French can also avoid consuming electricity during periods of tension. , by “preferring a washing machine at 10 or 11 p.m. rather than at 11 a.m.,” suggests Ines Bouacida.

For the expert, there is therefore a whole issue of communication that the State must put in place with citizens to guide them in their changes of habits.

As far as companies are concerned, on July 18, the Perifem federation, which brings together all the distribution players, already announced a series of energy measures deployed from October 15.

Large supermarkets such as E.Leclerc, Carrefour, Système U, Franprix, Monoprix, Lidl and even Picard have thus committed to extinguishing illuminated signs “as soon as the store closes” and to “systematise the reduction in light intensity”.

Emergency measures even plan to lower the temperature at points of sale to 17°C this fall and winter, in the event of a request from a regulatory authority.

They were followed in the process by hundreds of thousands of businesses, ranging from hypermarkets to small ready-to-wear retailers, who also committed to reducing their energy consumption.

For the industry sector, on the other hand, the room for maneuver is a little less wide, recognizes Ines Bouacida.

“Energy consumption is much more constrained than for buildings, for example.

With the key to reductions in industrial production.

On this aspect, the Member States of the Union are discussing measures to reduce production in exchange for compensation.

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