French Minister of Ecology Nicolas Hulot closes the oil gates
A bill aims to prohibit any new exploration and exploitation permit on the national territory. The end of oil and gas production is scheduled for 2040.
It was a promise from candidate Macron that, in his presidential program, he had promised not to issue "any new hydrocarbon exploration permits". The Minister of Ecological and Solidarity Transition, Nicolas Hulot, took it over as part of his "climate plan" presented on July 6. He then put forward the goal of "ending fossil fuels and engaging in carbon neutrality". And announced the tabling of a bill to this effect in the fall.
The text, which is due to be presented to the Council of Ministers on the 6th of September, was submitted to the National Council for Ecological Transition for its opinion on Wednesday, 23th of August. First, it plans to completely ban the search for unconventional hydrocarbons, ie shale gases and oils, but also methane hydrates buried in the seas or under permafrost (permanently frozen ground) . However, hydrocarbons contained in coal layers - mine or coal gases - are exempted from this prohibition, "for safety reasons" (spontaneous fumes requiring a capture to avoid a risk of explosion) and "protection Of the environment "(methane being a powerful greenhouse gas).
The law of July 13, 2011 had already blocked shale gas and oil, prohibiting hydraulic fracturing, the only technique available today to extract these products from the bedrock, with significant environmental nuisances. But it left the way open to alternative methods. In the future, the search for unconventional hydrocarbons will be proscribed by "any technique whatsoever". At the end of January, MEPs had already passed a bill on their own initiative, but it had not passed the Senate and remained a dead letter.
