Zero Carbon Dioxide is Goal for Narbonne Neighborhood
by Christine Lepisto, Berlin on 11.17.07
Michel Moynier, the mayor of Narbonne has vision. And his vision is becoming reality. The city recently celebrated the opening of a school that uses zero fossil fuels, relying on solar and geothermal as main sources of energy. Narbonne also boasts a biogas production facility for fueling city vehicles. Legislative commitments ensure city streets free of cars over 8 years old and free parking for clean burning or electric cars. But all this is merely a prelude.
Narbonne's full plan is music for the ears. The city will build a 650 house subdivision with the goal to create a zero CO2 community. Cogeneration will fuel and heat the sustainable subdivision. The Narbonne 'du Theater' neighborhood will benefit from a silent waste collection system to manage three streams of separated wastes.
This sustainable urban zone will mix small commercial concerns into a community of diverse social population relying on environmentally friendly modes of transportation.
Groundbreaking for the...ahem, well... groundbreaking garbage collection system has already started. Residents will drop wastes into local collection points from which it will be vacuumed into a subterranean network destined for a collection terminal. Pics of a collection point and a schematic of the system can be see at travelling spouse blog (an odd link, we'll admit, but have you tried finding english language information on French local politics?). The system is reported to add 2000-3000 euros to the cost of each residence, but is supposed to earn this investment back with decreased collection and disposal costs. Solar panels supply about a quarter of the energy for the waste management.
Read more about the plans for the Quartier Durable (French only, pdf) or the Narbonne Agenda 21 Plan (French only, pdf).
Via: Tipster E. Schick
Image via ::languedoc-roussillon
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Please note that "geothermal" is a term often misused for a ground-source heat pump, a system driven by electricity. Seldom zero-carbon, electricity is usually made by burning fossil fuels (in the US that means primarily coal).
A ground-source heat pump is an efficient system for cooling, but not so much heating. In colder climates, using electricity for heat --even accounting for the coefficient of performance of a heat pump-- uses about the same source energy as burning fossil fuels directly in a furnace or boiler.
So unless you're taking hot water or steam directly from the ground like in Iceland, please don't call it "geothermal" and please don't say it's zero carbon without explaining where the electricity comes from.
Not to rain on their parade . . . bravo Narbonne! Cogeneration (which must also mean district heating), biogas, solar, alternative transportation and garbage collection . . . these are all laudable initiatives on their own and simply magnifique when combined!
"Legislative commitments ensure city streets free of cars over 8 years old"
For some reason that seems very anti-green to me.
Sorry to be so, umm, odd! Must try harder:)
I do in fact post quite often on environmental issues, on sub-Saharan Africa, and on France. On rare occasions, all three at once.
---auth. note---
Odd link for a green site, but a fascinating blog about citizenship in a small world, where we are all odd in our own ways. I hope my link sends a few more people to enjoy your blog.