“To continue to develop biomass plants that produce heat and electricity from wood is an aberration.
The doctor Thomas Bourdrel, at the head of the collective "Strasbourg Respire" brought together some forty Alsatian colleagues to launch an appeal demanding the shutdown of two (private) sites in the Alsatian capital located in the Port du Rhin and Wacken.
According to a study recently published in the reference journal "Nature", the combustion of wood is more toxic than diesel in terms of emissions of particles which contain polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs).
"PAHs are extremely dangerous and would increase the risk of lung cancer by 20%," warns Thomas Bourdrel.
Efforts to reduce pollution come to naught
A warning supported by the results of urine analyzes of 300 Strasbourg minors conducted by Belgian professor Tim Nawrot.
"In the urine of children who live near biomass power plants, we find a lot of nanoparticles from the combustion of wood", laments the Strasbourg doctor.
A stone in the garden of the town hall of Strasbourg, which wants to make the Grand-Est metropolis a Low Emission Zone (ZFE) in 2022 by targeting diesel in particular.
The head of the “Strasbourg Respire” collective sounded the alarm: “Continuing to develop biomass power plants heated by wood combustion would destroy efforts to reduce pollution.
Contrary to popular belief, this could increase CO2 emissions by 30% over the next ten years ”.
"Strasbourg Respire" has just published on its Internet a national petition that health professionals can sign by sending their support to: strasbourgrespire@gmail.com