What if the explosion in prices at the pump was an opportunity to rethink the place of the car in our lives? Under the effect of the war in Ukraine, the main fuels in France exceeded the symbolic bar of 2 euros per liter during the second week of March. What encourage some motorists to review their habits with, sometimes, the concern to reduce their carbon footprint. The development of more ecological transport is one of the twelve priorities of the French, according to a citizen consultation “Ma France 2022” by France Bleu and France 3 Regions, unveiled on Sunday March 13.
While this theme is struggling to impose itself in the presidential campaign, franceinfo has chosen to integrate it into a series of “focus”, inaugurated a few weeks before the ballot. Four files, made up of reports and analyses, on subjects sometimes overshadowed by public debate. In addition to the carbon footprint of transport, the crisis of the public hospital, the taboo of mental health and the cost of housing are part of this series.
Why franceinfo talks about it
Today, France is not meeting the climate objectives that it has set itself to respect the Paris agreement. Transport (goods and people) on our territory is at the heart of the problem. According to the High Council for the Climate (PDF), they represent the main source of greenhouse gases, with 31% of emissions in France (136 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year). They are also the only sector whose emissions have increased since 1990. Without even taking into account international transport linked to France (+24 million tonnes per year), transport ranks far ahead of industry (19%). agriculture (19%), buildings (17%), energy transformation (10%) or waste (4%).
By zooming in, we see that the private car is responsible for the majority of these emissions, ahead of heavy goods vehicles and domestic flights. An observation to qualify by the fact that this mode of transport is used by a large majority of French people while the plane, more polluting, is the prerogative only of a wealthy minority.
France has 33 million private cars, according to the Ecological Transition Agency (Ademe). “Whatever the criterion used – number of journeys, kilometers traveled, duration – the car represents two thirds of the journeys”, notes Aurélien Bigo, researcher on the energy transition of transport. A piece of the cake “relatively stable” since the 1990s, despite policies promoting soft mobility, which is less polluting, in major French cities. “Use is falling in the center of large cities, but it is increasing in the number of km traveled in the less dense areas”, observes the researcher. According to INSEE, the percentage of journeys by car was 62.8% in 2019, compared to 64.8% in 2008. Reducing the carbon footprint of transport in France therefore necessarily involves reducing car use. and the development of alternative modes of transport. The national low-carbon strategy, France’s official roadmap against global warming, relies on a strong electrification of the park, but also on a drop in traffic, of around 2%.
“A lot of people think ‘why bother motorists?’ But because we won’t be able to travel by car forever because of all the nuisance it causes and the waste of resources.”
Frédéric Héran, transport economist at the University of Lilleat franceinfo
The electrification of vehicles, which has progressed in recent years, will make it possible to respond to part of the problem. “It won’t be enoughanalyzes Aurélien Bigo. Today, the electric car represents barely 1% of the vehicle fleetits effect on CO2 emissions is very small”. This electrification is all the more insufficient as producing an electric battery pollutes and some of the beneficial effects are partly erased by the attraction of increasingly heavy vehicles such as SUVs.
The figure: 60% of car journeys are less than 10 km
The car is mainly used to travel short distances. According to the latest data from INSEE and the Statistical Data and Studies Service (SDES), 60.9% of car journeys are less than 10 km. A figure that takes into account trips of less than 80 km (local mobility) and trips above this limit, weekdays and weekends combined, synonymous with travel or leisure. “The car is the Swiss army knife of mobility. You can do everything with it, but most of the time it is underused. When you are alone in a 1.3 tonne car, it does not matter. no Sens”believes Frédéric Héran.
The question to ask: how do I know the carbon footprint of my journey?
Identifying the least polluting mode of transport for a journey is not always easy. Fortunately, the Agency for Ecological Transition has put a comparator online that allows you to do this in a few clicks. It makes it possible to realize that the plane and the car are much more polluting than the train or the coaches.
For example, for a 10 km trip, if you opt for an electric bike, you will emit 20 grams of CO2, compared to 200 grams for an electric car, 1.03 kg for the thermal bus and 1.93 kg for the classic car. .
What are the presidential candidates saying?
The carbon footprint of transport is not at the heart of the presidential debates, but each candidate nevertheless makes proposals.
The plane. Few candidates provide measures to reduce the carbon footprint of this means of transport, less used but very polluting. Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Yannick Jadot take up the proposal of the Citizen’s Convention for the Climate to close domestic air links when the journey is feasible in less than 4 hours by train. The environmentalist candidate also proposes to tax international flights.
The train. Many candidates, such as Fabien Roussel, Anne Hidalgo, Yannick Jadot and Nicolas Dupont-Aignan defend the maintenance or development of small railway lines. Marine Le Pen proposes to make the train free at off-peak hours for 18-25 year olds, while Jean-Luc Mélenchon plans to renationalise the SNCF to create “a public transport and mobility hub”. Major TGV-type railway projects oppose Yannick Jadot, who wishes to stop them in favor of daily trains, to Valérie Pécresse, who wants to simplify the law to prevent the cancellation of these projects.
The car. On this subject, most candidates hope to encourage the use of electricity, via a super conversion bonus (Fabien Roussel), a financial bonus (Nicolas Dupont-Aignan), a rental system (Anne Hidalgo) or the advancement to 2030 of the date of the end of the sale of new thermal vehicles, scheduled for 2040 (Yannick Jadot). But few are those who wish to go further: Jean-Luc Mélenchon wants to reduce the use of private cars by promoting public transport, Yannick Jadot intends to ban advertising on SUVs, which are particularly polluting. Conversely, Eric Zemmour defends the car through several measures such as the abolition of the points license or the restoration of the 90 km/h limit on national and departmental roads.
The bike. The little queen is not very present in the programs. Jean-Luc Mélenchon proposes measures to develop its use (infrastructure, parking, learning in primary school, spaces in trains) while Yannick Jadot wants to “lend” a bicycle to each young person aged 16 to 25, increase the package sustainable mobility at 1,000 euros and the “bicycle fund” at 500 million euros per year.