This is one of the main themes of the campaign. The question of energy is addressed by all the candidates, sometimes with certain approximations. The True of False Unit sifts through three statements.
Shale gas, “banned in Europe”
Because of the war in Ukraine, Europe will buy more gas from the Americans and in particular shale gas, but the candidate of the National Rally, Marine le Pen, denounced this choice. “VSgas is a gas which ecologically is so catastrophic that we are going to import gas which is in fact prohibited in the European Union”, she assured.
It is however false to affirm that this gas is prohibited in Europe. First you have to understand that, even in France, it is not shale gas as such that is prohibited, but the technique used to extract this gas, which is called “hydraulic fracturing”. In France this technique has been banned since 2013, but this is not the case everywhere in Europe.
There is no common legislation in the EU on this issue, each country does what it wants. In 2014, the European Commission had given up regulating this practice, issuing only “recommendations”. It is true, however, that to date in Europe no country has really embarked on the exploitation of this gas. There have been drilling attempts in Poland in particular, but the country finally had to give up in the face of rather disappointing results.
Wind turbines “emit lightning waves”
The candidate of the Résistons! party, Jean Lassalle, is opposed to the installation of wind turbines. He does not find them aesthetic, but above all, denounces their dangerousness. “They emit lightning electromagnetic waves, and it is now established, the herds are impacted, and the human being certainly too” he asserted.
But what Jean Lassalle says is false, there is nothing“established” today on the possible harmfulness of wind turbines, on livestock or on men. Studies have been conducted but have not come to these conclusions. The Academy of Medicine in particular, in 2017 affirmed that “the wind farm does not seem to directly induce pathologies”. The study only acknowledges that onshore wind “affects through its noise and especially visual nuisances the quality of life of some of the residents and therefore their “state of complete physical, mental and social well-being”. On the Nantes side, breeders have indeed reported a mysterious mortality of their cows, but the experts have not succeeded in establishing a direct link with the neighboring wind farm. Studies are still in progress on this case. It is therefore impossible to draw any conclusions on this subject at this time.
100% recyclable solar panels
The EELV candidate, Yannick Jadot, pleads for the development of renewable energies, and in particular solar energy. In particular, he assured that the photovoltaic panels were now recyclable “100%”.
Yannick Jadot is quite right. According to a specialist in energy saving, technical progress has made it possible to develop panels that are now highly recyclable. This however depends on the panel type and it never seems to be actually “100%”. However, according to specialists, some panels can actually be more than 90% recycled.