While voices are rising to denounce the boom in wind power across France, Barbara Pompili has defended this source of energy dependent on the wind.
Wind turbines "
operate 75% of the time, and operate at full power 25% of the time
", depending on the wind, said the Minister of Ecological Transition, on France Inter, on Tuesday.
“
I don't know of any energy that works 100% of the time,
” she then noted.
Read also: Opponents are slowing down the development of wind power but not stopping it
Returning to the tribune published in our columns by Stéphane Bern against the "
wind diktat which stirs the wind and anchors a real lie in our soils
", the minister considered that the journalist should concentrate his efforts on other files: "
if Stéphane Bern wants to protect our environment, there are other more priority fights
, ”she said. However, she acknowledged that the host had raised "
questions that exist, in particular on the feeling of being surrounded
" by populations surrounded by wind turbines or the "
need for more consultations
" at the local level. "
There are places where it did not go as it should have been,
" admitted the member of the government.
For the ecologist, France has "
missed the boat on renewable energies
", and a sector must develop in our territory in the years to come. "
I am fed up that we are behind on these energies
", indignant the Minister, who wishes to focus on offshore wind.
The government representative again defended the low emission zones (ZFE), put forward in the Climate Bill, currently being studied in Parliament. Criticized by motorist associations, who see it as a discriminatory measure, these areas must allow "
saving lives
", justified the minister. “
Today, 40,000 people die a year from air pollution
”, due in particular to emissions from thermal vehicles. "
In the Paris region we could save 6,600 lives per year,
" said Barbara Pompili, by way of example, citing a figure from the Public Health France agency. In addition, the drivers concerned can benefit from aid to change vehicles, she recalled.
And, if some denounce in the establishment of ZFE a risk of an accentuated cut between the city center and the periphery, as well as a stab at the attractiveness of city centers, the minister sees things differently. eye: "
what is needed is that mobility is not prevented
", for example by developing public transport and carpooling, she pleaded.
On the incident in a power plant in China, "
do not react to hot
" pleads Pompili
The minister also returned to the radioactive gas leak detected in a reactor at the Taishan power plant in China. The levels observed remain "
below the safety thresholds
," said Barbara Pompili, who refused to see this event as a warning for French energy policy. “
The EPR, tested by its functioning, its real security and democracy, is a disaster. Stop these projects!
", Ecologist MEP Yannick Jadot warned on Twitter yesterday. "
Do not react hot
", replied the minister, for whom nuclear will remain central in the tricolor energy mix for "
years
".
"
What is happening [...] has already existed in other reactors, including French
", indicated the Minister, for whom "
all energies have advantages and disadvantages
". In the longer term, nuclear will become less attractive than renewable, she said: "
new nuclear [...] would cost three to four times more expensive than renewable energies
". A point which may be felt by "
the taxpayer and the French customer
" in the future, and which justifies the development of green energies, she warned.
The case of oil pollution in Corsica was also addressed by the minister. Barbara Pompili denounced "
characterized delinquency
", as well as "
environmental bandits who degas
", off the island. Authorities are looking for the culprit boat, and the search has been narrowed down to three potential vessels. "
We know where they are
", in European ports, and controls will be carried out quickly so that the perpetrators of this act are "
severely punished
", warned the minister.
