“We are for the energy transition and the end of fossil fuels but we believe that we do not have enough technical information on this biomass boiler room project, which is why we will demonstrate on March 9 in rue Mouly,” explains Isabelle Vedere, member of the collective of residents of La Cépière in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne).
It was she who launched the petition against the municipal project to install this boiler room in rue Charles Mouly, near the racecourse.
A similar project in Minimes had been scaled back following the demonstration by local residents.
It was supplemented by a geothermal component and voted on by Toulouse Métropole in 2023.
In January, around ten local residents formed a collective and joined the Toulouse Chauffe collective which is fighting against biomass boiler room projects in Toulouse.
This project, complementary to the new Mirail waste incineration plant, must supply heat to the public and school establishments of Cépière, Pradettes, Bagatelle, Mirail and Lardenne.
Are there any alternatives?
The town hall kept local residents well informed of this project by organizing public meetings in October and December which brought together few people.
The collective points to the sending of letters during school holidays, explaining the lack of involvement of residents.
Worried about the environmental consequences, on traffic and forests, they are now mobilizing against the project.
“Biomass is part of a global ecological transition strategy but the town hall has never presented us with a global project,” explains Isabelle Vedere, who works as a technical training content project manager.
Biomass may be suitable in certain projects but not in cities.
We wonder about the pollution of the neighborhood from the fine particles which will be emitted by this boiler room when we already have the ring road and the air corridor…” The collective also fears the passage of trucks which supply wood to this boiler room.
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In Toulouse Métropole, we are trying to reassure local residents, citing studies and figures from Ademe on emissions from a biomass boiler room.
For Pierre Trautmann, elected in charge of public procurement in Toulouse Métropole, “this boiler room emits the same quantity of fine particles as two or three wood stoves for a much greater quantity of energy.
For fine particles, there are filtration systems to avoid high levels of pollution.
For trucks transporting wood, a resource which is increasing in France according to the latest studies on forests, this only represents 6 to 7 trucks during the two to three winter months during which the boiler room operates.
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Aware of the energy issue, residents of La Cépière are demanding more technical information and are pleading for the study of geothermal energy or solar production for their neighborhood.
A new public meeting on the project is organized on March 13.