Happy Bastille, Lille

It figures France should get a mention on its two hundred twentieth Bastille Day.  We Americans are always happy to pick on France, but in its own way, France has undergone an impressive energy revolution . . . without losing too many heads.

  France’s reliance on nuclear is the cornerstone of its energy policy.  Depending on whom you read, 72 – 79% of the country’s electricity comes from nuclear.  Its electricity cost is very low relative to other European nations, and has become the world’s largest exporter of electricity, sending anywhere from 16 – 20% of its production outside of its borders.

France’s energy record isn’t perfect:  many in the green movement blanche at France’s nuclear infrastructure, and question what will happen to its nuclear waste in the next generation or so.  Biodiesel is also becoming a huge part—and concern--of France’s renewable energy future, partly because of EU mandates, and partly because of French farmers’ political muscle and economic demands.

But I wish to focus on one particular city that shows how France—and other countries—can start to wean themselves away from fossil-based fuels.  Lille, an industrial city of 200,000 on the Belgian border, is an excellent case study in how incorporating a fleet approach into its transportation infrastructure can reduce emissions while ensuring energy independence.

Back in 1990, Lille’s transportation board realized that two pieces of a puzzle could provide the city environmental and economic benefits:  gas from its sewage treatment system and the local bus fleet.  At the time the sewage treatment plant used the gas to fuel its operations and simply burned off the excess.  But under a pilot program, the gas was compressed and then used to fuel a handful of buses.

Ten years later, this biogas fueled around 100 flex-fuel buses that could also run on compressed natural gas (CNG).  By 2015, Lille aims to have all of its buses run on biogas or CNG, and is now looking at retrofitting city-owned vans and municipal waste vehicles to run on this fuel as well.

The results:  less emissions, cleaner running vehicles, and up to a 60% reduction in noise from switching from diesel-run buses, with a fuel costs equal to, if not lower, than fossil-based diesel.  The city invested a fair amount of money into retrofitting its buses and had to rely on French and EU grants, but overall, the system has worked.  And for that, Lille residents can traipse around town on buses knowing that they are taking great steps in reducing their harm to the environment while guaranteeing their nation’s energy independence.