Firewood, “sacrificed” in government projections, estimates the industry

“We insist on this because it corresponds to reality as soon as we leave the big cities. Wood is a historical source of energy which can be mobilized by efficient devices and at lower cost, in areas where it is not. there are not necessarily any alternatives", underlined the president of the Renewable Energies Union (SER) Jules Nyssen, during a press conference on the sidelines of these meetings with local elected officials.

On November 22, the government put out for consultation an energy planning document, the French Energy-Climate Strategy (SFEC) for 2024-2035.

One of the levers chosen to move away from fossil fuels, responsible for greenhouse gases, is to accelerate the production of heat from renewable sources used for heating, knowing that heating represents 43% of energy consumption. final in France.

Government projections place the consumption of heat from renewable sources and recovery at 297 terawatt hours (TWh) in 2030, then at 330 or even 419 TWh in 2035, compared to 183 TWh in 2021.

“The most significant increase is due to the deployment of electric heat pumps,” the document projects.

“Behind the big figures, which we share, we see a divergence on how to get there (...) What seems a little sacrificed in government strategies is the biggest part, wood heating domestic", contests Mr. Nyssen. “There’s more to life than electricity!”

According to him, "wood suffers from a prejudice" and from the desire to preserve the forest and maximize its carbon sink function in the context of global warming (when it is doing well, it absorbs carbon, the main gas Greenhouse).

As for air pollution, it is mainly due to old and inefficient wood heating appliances.

“Reduction” of electricity consumption

The industry did not hide its relief on Friday when it learned that the government had finally decided to maintain MaPrimeRénov aid for the purchase of new wood heating appliances (boilers, stoves, inserts).

“We obviously regret that its amount is reduced by 30%, but we note with satisfaction that this reduction will only be applicable from April 1, 2024, which allows us to continue to equip ourselves at current financial conditions throughout the heating season 2023-2024", commented the SER.

Stoves, inserts, log or pellet boilers: some 7,3 million French households today heat with wood. This is more than in 2013 (6,6 million households) and with improved energy efficiency thanks to efforts on the quality of appliances and fuels, indicated by the Flamme verte label.

The energy consumption of domestic wood fell to 76 TWh this year compared to 90 TWh in 2013, proof that we can heat more people with fewer resources, underline Mr. Nyssen and his colleague at the SER, Aymeric de Galembert (Seguin-Group). Duteriez), co-chairman of the Wood Heating Commission.

For the RES, energy consumption from domestic wood could therefore easily follow an upward curve, climbing to 80 TWh in 2030 then 82 TWh in 2035. Unlike the government which sees it falling to 60 TWh in 2030, then between 51 and 80 TWh in 2035 depending on the scenarios.

“To develop, we do not need to draw more on the resource,” assured Mr. de Galembert during a round table. Wood “plays a role in the fight against energy poverty and alleviating the winter peak” of electricity consumption, he said.

In addition to wood, the Heat Club, which unites the Amorce community association and seven renewable energy federations (AFPG, ATEE, Cibe, Enerplan, Fedene, SER and Via Sèva) believes that the government also underestimates the energy potential to be removed from household waste.

According to Nicolas Garnier, general delegate of Amorce, the tragedy today is that local authorities find themselves with still high tonnages of trash and some are negotiating the export of this deposit to neighboring countries which use it. to heat up. An “absurd” situation, he denounces. Because “it’s an energy potential that we’re losing.”