Grenoble - Metropolitan action, a driving force for transition
Assessment of the territories’ climate action
2019
Association Climate Chance (Climate Chance)
Since 2015, the Climate Chance Association has been involved in the mobilization in the fight against climate change. It is the only international association that proposes to bring together on an equal footing all the non-State actors recognized by the UN. In order to strengthen their action and to give credibility to the climate stabilization scenarios, the Climate Chance Association launched in 2018 a Global Observatory of Non-State Climate Action, which aims to explain the evolution of greenhouse gas emissions, by crossing national public policies, with sectoral dynamics, private actors’ strategies, local public policies, and actions undertaken by the actors of the territory. In 2019, in order to analyse the coherence of local public policies, Climat Chance proposes 13 new case studies of cities and regions. Here, the case of Grenoble - Alpes Métropole.
To download : climate-chance-2019.pdf (1.5 MiB)
Governance and integration of climate policies
Grenoble-Alpes Métropole, made up of 49 municipalities, was the first French local authority to adopt an Air Energy Climate Plan (PAEC) in 2005. A steering committee and a scientific council enable elected officials and stakeholders to participate in monitoring and supporting its implementation. Monitoring the impact of the CEAP is optional, however in 2004, the Metropolis set up the Air Energy Climate Plan Observatory in partnership with Air Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and the Local Energy Agency (Alec) to monitor energy production and consumption and GHG emissions. These local data are aggregated at the regional level.
The Territorial Climate-Air-Energy Plan (PCAET), adopted in 2019, provides for an investment of + 500 million euros between 2020 and 2030, and positions itself as the backbone of all policies. It is intended to be more inclusive than French legislation provides for, with a prior public consultation period of 4 months. It must take into account the National Low Carbon Strategy (SNBC), and in a more binding manner must be compatible with the Regional Plan for Planning, Sustainable Development and Equality of Territories (SRADDET) of the Auvergne-Rhône Alpes region. Finally, its objectives are designed to make the various operational and sectoral variations, such as the Local Inter-municipal Urban Development Plan (PLUi), the Urban Transport Plan (PDU) and the Energy Master Plan (SDE), coherent.
Monitoring and evaluation of the climate policy
Between 2005 and 2016, Metropolitan France reduced its emissions by 25% to 1.87 MtCO2eq/year, and its final energy consumption by 20%. Half of this reduction can be explained by the 27% drop in consumption by the 20 largest industrial companies (compared to an average 9% in other sectors), which is largely due to the reduction in activity and employment within these companies (-28%). However, according to the diagnosis prior to the PCAET, the planned measures will not be sufficient to achieve the objective of -50% of GHGs by 2030. Finally, the carbon footprint of the Metropolis, estimated at 3.67 MtCO2eq/year, shows that indirect emissions linked to consumption (Scope 3) are as significant as territorial emissions.
Habitat - a public service dedicated to energy efficiency
The energy efficiency programs designed by Metropolitan France and led by Alec, tackle the leading source of GHG emissions (39%) and final energy consumption (46%) in 2016. This lever has been little used since 2005 : emissions from the residential and tertiary sectors have fallen by only 12% and 7%, and consumption has stagnated or even increased in the tertiary sector. This is why the metropolis is seeking to implement a Public Service for Energy Efficiency (SPEE) in its services, going beyond the energy performance of buildings.
The Mur-Mur II scheme (2016-2020) enables the renovation of nearly 1,500 homes/year via aid (15 to 20,000 euros) for exterior renovation projects and depending on the income of co-owners, and a list of 75 labelled companies. Although in addition to the 4,500 homes renovated during the first phase, Mur-Mur only partially meets the SDE objectives (2,500 homes/year). A second « Métro énergie » scheme offers small and medium-sized enterprises an energy diagnosis and free advice. The 94 billion euros of works estimated by the programme represent a potential of 1,800 jobs in the territory.
Finally, the municipality of Grenoble is distinguished by several flagship projects : the « Presqu’Ile » district benefits from a system of heat pumps connected to the water table, which also enables buildings to be cooled in summer. In the « Flaubert » district, the municipality is working with social landlords to increase the use of local materials (wood, straw), which are expected to account for 25% by 2025.
Energy - Local energy companies as a lever for public action
18% of final energy consumption and 24% of electricity in 2016 was from renewable sources (2,000 GWh/year), driven by hydropower (40%), wood energy (30%) and recovered energy (28%). However, since 2013, low rainfall has led to a 30% drop in hydropower production, and solar production is still low and stagnates at around 13 GWh/year.
The strong peculiarity of the Metropolis is the presence of two local mixed-economy companies held in majority by the local authorities of the metropolis : Gaz et Electricité de Grenoble (GEG) and the Compagnie de Chauffage (CCIAG) :
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CCIAG is the second largest heating network in France after Paris, supplying 46,000 homes. Since 2018, buildings less than 150m away must be connected to it, justified by the avoided emissions linked to the use of wood instead of gas, and by the savings made by households. The « Biomax » cogeneration project should in 2020 increase the current share of recovered energy in its mix (65%) with 183 GWh of heat (equivalent to the needs of 15-20,000 homes), and 37 GWh of electricity.
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GEG is responsible for energy distribution in 12 other cities in the conurbation and represents an important lever of action for local energy policy. Its sector dedicated to renewable energies is developing hydroelectric, solar and wind power production units with the aim of reaching the equivalent of the consumption of the city of Grenoble by 2022 (400 GWh/year, compared to 147 at present).
Mobility - A basin-wide development plan
The demand for road transport (kilometres travelled) has continued to increase since 2005, and several actions of the PDU2030 adopted in 2017 are already underway to address this :
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Extension of Low Emission Zones for Heavy Goods Vehicles from 2019 to 10 municipalities, with progressive vehicle emission criteria until 2025 ;
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Restriction of car traffic on several roads on which 15,000 people currently travel every day.
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The « Chronovélo » plan of 6 million euros/year for the improvement of infrastructures. Currently 70,000 daily trips are made by bicycle, compared to a total of 1.7 million. The city of Grenoble alone is targeting 20% of the modal share by 2020 against 7% in 2016.
Journeys between the heart of the metropolis and the rest are a key issue, accounting for 60% of kilometres travelled and GHG emissions from road transport (p. 16. PDU). The plan therefore provides for a series of actions to take into account the precariousness linked to transport in the connection of peri-urban areas.
Adaptation - Collaborating with neighbouring territories
The adaptation strategy is intimately integrated with the management of the resources of the surrounding territories. Together with the regional nature parks and neighbouring municipalities, the Metropolis is planning a territorial food project to relocate the food of 800,000 people. In addition, the territorial agricultural policy provides for enhanced protection of agricultural land, which represents 15% of its territory. The Metropolis is seeking to curb artificialization by including desartificialization criteria for the evaluation of public infrastructure projects (GM, 2019 ; PLUi, 2018).
Finally, the PCAET Observatory will now be integrated with other local observatories related to biodiversity, health and well-being indicators.