The former nightmare of miners, firedamp, which is released naturally during coal extraction and sometimes causes terrible explosions, is transformed into a national treasure.
The town of Béthune, in the Pas-de-Calais, chose five years ago to exploit this gas, also called mine or coal gas, composed of 90% methane and, therefore, equivalent to gas natural.
The immense network of galleries of the region's former coal basins, more than 100,000 km long, contains a large quantity of firedamp.
Combined with the incineration of waste, this makes it possible to heat the majority of public buildings in Béthune and to reduce the heating bill of thousands of homes in the city by more than 40%.
See also
War in Ukraine: firedamp from Lorraine as an alternative to energy from Russia
“Mine gas is a competitive asset”
, summarizes Pierre-Emmanuel Gibson, deputy mayor of Béthune in charge of energy transition.
The city has signed a 22-year contract with Dalkia, a subsidiary of the EDF group, which is financing this 25 million euro project.
It is also Dalkia which…
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