Green gas in the building industry is accelerating

The essential place of gas in the French energy mix

Maintaining gas in the French energy mix is ​​essential to ensure security of supply and continuity of supply to customers Gas is a source of flexibility and storage that cannot be achieved by electrical means alone. The temporal flexibility of the infrastructures enables the gas vector to meet the needs for weekly, monthly and seasonal modulations that the other flexibility levers do not have.

With the rise of green gases, gas will contribute to France's energy independence. The sector is aiming for a 20% share of locally produced renewable gases from 2030 to reach 100% by 2050. And there are renewable gases!

Indeed, according to Perspectives Gaz 2022*, the potential deposits are 420 TWh (including 135 TWh for methanization alone), which represents a volume higher than the gas consumption forecasts in 2050, all sectors combined.

For Coénove, renewable gases will therefore be an essential vector for the success of the energy transition, particularly in buildings where the contribution of gas to carbon neutrality is accessible if three projects are successfully completed:

• A 60% drop in the decrease in gas consumption in the building compared to 2019
• 100 TWh of renewable gas consumption allocated to the building (residential and tertiary)
• 100% renewable gas by 2050.

Green gases, a solution the French believe in!

According to a BVA study carried out in June 2022 with a representative national sample of French people aged 18 or over (2.011 respondents), awareness of green gas is increasing sharply: 84% of those questioned testify that they have heard of it.

However, knowledge of green gas remains very partial: only 24% of respondents know exactly what it is, 23% are unaware that it is a renewable energy and only 50% have understood that it is compatible with their current equipment.

Thus, green gas has become the 2nd energy preferred by the French, just behind green electricity (26% green electricity, 25% green gas). 76% of French people say they are ready to use green gas for heating if they have the possibility.

Launch of the Green Gas label

It is to respond to this concrete need that the entire sector is mobilizing and committing by launching the green gas label, initially centered on biomethane, which is already developing rapidly.

This mention will be declined in two ways: on the one hand, by the creation of a "green gas compatible" label supplied by each manufacturer and which will be affixed by the installer or the maintainer on the occasion of delivery and installation of new equipment or during maintenance. This label will remind the user that his device is compatible with biomethane.

The associated QR code will allow customers to better understand what methanization is and discover the green gas production sites near them.

Second variation: the mention “ACTEUR ENGAGE GAZ VERT” carried by each actor in the sector mobilized on the development of renewable gases in order to highlight this commitment according to his profession: Committed Installer, Committed Promoter, Committed Territory, etc.

The Coénove association, owner of the Mention and guarantor of the conditions of use, will ensure its deployment with the various actors concerned.

For Bernard AULAGNE, President of Coénove: “In view of the development of renewable gases and the potential available on our territory, green gas has its place in construction and in the zero carbon strategy. The “green gas designation” is an approach taken by an entire industry to promote the deployment of renewable gases. The objective is also to allow consumers to choose the energy they wish to consume and to reduce our country's dependence on a single type of energy by betting on more education and transparency. »

*Prospective analysis of the evolution of gas consumption and the production of renewable and low-carbon gases in France in 2030 and 2050 by the gas network operators (GRTgaz, GRDF, TEREGA and SPEGNN)