when municipalities and companies show ingenuity

Businesses and municipalities are all called upon to lead by example and reduce their energy consumption. Some have already started. In Muttersholtz, an Alsatian village in Bas-Rhin, when the mercury rises, employees are cool, without having to use air conditioning. The exterior insulation of the walls and roofs has been redone. In the streets, all the lighting has been changed, switching to LEDs. The lights are now off from midnight to 5 a.m. So the town’s energy bill was halved, to 50,000 euros.

Companies are also hunting for savings in Lille. In Forest-sur-Marque (Nord), the boss of an envelope manufacturing plant has become “the zero fossil fuel gentleman”. Solar panels produce 45% of the factory’s energy. Rainwater is also collected and reused to clean tools. This required an investment of 10 million euros over twenty years. According to the chef, the company would have made a profit by now saving 200,000 euros per year.