Energy policy: Coénove speaks on the prospects for the gas sector in the building sector

As new structuring laws and regulations approach, Coénove reaffirms its ambition and its proposals as part of the reflections on the French Energy Climate Strategy and the future Multi-annual Energy Program.

2023: a pivotal year for the recognition of renewable gases and their role in buildings

In 2023, a possible plan to ban gas boilers has fueled numerous debates. A crucial subject, for households and for the country, on which Coénove has particularly mobilized, highlighting in particular the massive impact of such a measure on purchasing power, public finances and security of supply, even though the gas is greening and other solutions exist.

In fact, gas today supplies a third of houses and half of apartments, or 11 million households. The cost of a Heat Pump (PAC) is between 12.000 and 15.000 euros, compared to 4.000 to 6.000 euros for a gas boiler. In addition to the purchase prices, the annual upkeep/maintenance costs of heat pumps are almost twice as high, according to the SYNASAV observatory launched in November 2023 (€257,35 including tax for upkeep, repairs, parts and labor for a boiler vs €401,31 including tax for a heat pump).

The challenge also concerns securing the energy system by limiting power demands during winter, particularly in the highly temperature-sensitive building sector.

On January 10, 2024, France reached a peak in electricity consumption requiring a power demand of 83,5 GW which forced the country to run its coal-fired power plants. At the same time, France was able to count on the storage capacity and power of the gas network which will, ultimately, be 100% renewable.

For Jean-Charles Colas-Roy, Chairman of Coénove: “It is not the uses of gas that must be excluded, but rather the uses of gas that must be decarbonized, while reducing consumption. Let us trust the energy efficiency professionals in the building sector who have enthusiastically engaged in the “green gas mention” approach launched in September 2022, in order to raise awareness and support the renewable gas sector, a virtuous alternative. . »

Green gas development perspective

The development of green gases and their local and direct use by end consumers is a more optimal path to decarbonization than excessive electrification, in particular for heat production in buildings.

France has a significant mobilizable potential for renewable gas production, of the order of 320 TWh by 2050. Renewable gas production fields will therefore be able to guarantee quantities of green gas greater than total gas consumption. planned for 2050 (240 TWh) and will ensure the energy independence of our country, while decarbonizing all sectors, including the building sector.

For Jean-Charles Colas-Roy, Chairman of Coénove: “Green gases represent the emblematic energy of the territories. From farm to fork then from plate to boiler, biogas from the methanization of agricultural waste is at the heart of a virtuous logic of circular economy. And at this stage, there is no problem of closing the biomass by 2030! Let us encourage even more strongly the development of green gases which constitute a major asset for our country because it is a local, storable and renewable energy. »

2024, a structuring year for the sector

2024 will be a structuring year given the “energy sovereignty” bill and the future Multi-Annual Energy Program.

Coénove shares the concerns of many players in the sector following the disappearance of the programmatic objectives of the “energy sovereignty” law.

For Jean-Charles Colas-Roy: “Referring to a decree rather than enshrining it in the law, “tending towards a reduction” rather than “reducing”, relegating renewable energies to the rank of simple adjustment variables of a strategy centered on all nuclear power, … all of this constitutes an unraveling of the Multi-annual Energy Programming (PPE) which must nevertheless be discussed every 5 years, before Parliament, according to the will expressed by the legislator in the energy climate law of November 2019. Reduction of consumption, development of green energies, reduction of CO2 emissions, ... let's not avoid the democratic debate on the Multi-annual Energy Program because, to gain credibility, the great ambitions of the speeches must necessarily translate into clear, concerted objectives included in the law. »

Coénove’s proposals to decarbonize buildings

For Coénove, the most virtuous solution lies in the complementarity of energies and the maintenance of a plurality of solutions with in particular the THPE (Very High Energy Performance) gas boiler and the hybridization of systems.

According to a study entrusted to the Artelys firm, the results of which were published in September 2023, a more “balanced” scenario, without massive disincentives for the boiler and focused on the greening of gas, indeed proves more interesting from the point of view of community with:

• lower overall cost (impact on public finances and household purchasing power),
• better robustness in the face of hazards (prolonged cold spell, less energy renovation, systemic problems in a production method, etc.),
• and equivalent greenhouse gas emissions on a European scale.

In 2024, Coénove will make the following proposals:

• an increase in green gas production targets for 2030 with the inclusion in law of ambitious targets for the development of renewable energies and increased support for methanization (70 TWh of green gas production in 2030 and more than 100 TWh in 2035 ),
• support for new low-carbon gas technologies (pyrogasification, hydrothermal gasification, methanation, etc.),
• a reduction in VAT on the purchase of a biogas supply contract of more than 50%,
• the recognition of biomethane in buildings, in particular in the Energy Performance Diagnosis (DPE),
• support for the hybridization of systems and “remuneration” for services provided to the energy system,
• and strengthening the fight against eco-delinquents, particularly in the construction sector.

For Jean-Charles Colas-Roy: “Reducing consumption, promoting hybrid solutions and a more diversified energy mix, combining the potential of green gases (local, storable and renewable energy) associated with carbon-free electrons (ENR and nuclear), would allow us to best reconcile the two compelling objectives of our country which are the gradual exit from fossil fuels and security of supply for the French. »