Toulouse: a boiler room in the middle of the district warms the spirits
The City plans to install a biomass boiler in the heart of the Negreneys district. Voices are raised against the choice of site.
A shopping center, a house of associations, a kindergarten, a school complex, the Toulouse-Lautrec sports facilities…. It is in this heart of the Negreneys district, where the 3rd metro line is due to arrive, that the City has chosen to set up a biomass (wood) boiler room to produce heat and geothermal energy for cold. A network to supply part of the northern districts of Toulouse, including the ZAC Grand Matabiau. “It was the location of the skatepark and the BMX playground (3,000 m2) that was chosen,” observes Serge Baggi, president of the Paris Minimes-Barrière neighborhood committee. Shouldn’t such an important subject have been the subject of consultation with residents, associations and the neighborhood committee? “. According to him, the invitations arrived in the boxes, the day before the public meeting of October 11 and 20, too late to attract a large participation. “Our committee and associations have therefore requested a new date for the public meeting”.
The collective details the many black points of this boiler room
And the committee detailed the many black points of this establishment: “the deliveries of chips by semi-trailers of 38 tons in a zone classified soon as low emission (ZFE) and close to dwellings”. A 12 m high boiler room equipped with an 18 m chimney for the evacuation of fumes with discharges and dust. Finally, a set of heat production at a time when we are talking about cooling the city. Conclusion: we ask the City to re-examine the file. By succeeding in another site, far from dwellings, near the ring road for example”. In the meantime, the committee will tow to continue to inform local residents, a petition should also be made and a request for an appointment with officials from ADEME (ecological transition agency) is planned.
An installation that is not exceptional in Toulouse
Deputy mayor and delegate for public procurement, Pierre Trautmann wants to be reassuring: “For this biomass boiler room, we had to favor a site near the railway line. That’s what we did “. Truck traffic will, according to the elected official, be reduced with adapted timetables, “this point has been checked by the traffic service”. Pierre Trautmann, a little surprised by the reactions, reminds us: “this installation is not exceptional in the Metropolis. The Purpan, Rangueil, Paul Sabatier and Blagnac hospital sites near the airport have an identical installation”.
The City also recalls that this objective of developing heating networks has been included in the Climate Air Energy Plan and in the major energy plan for Toulouse Métropole. After the study of several scenarios for the installation of a heat network supplied with more than 70% by renewable energies or of recovery, this solution appeared the most adapted technically and economically.