How the Paris Games is going for gold on sustainability

Paris 2024 set a goal of halving the carbon footprint of the Games compared with the average of London 2012 and Rio 2016 and to this end implemented a pre-Games carbon reduction strategy.

Last month the Games organisers released an update on the strategy, focusing on commitments in two key areas; reduction of Games-related emissions and support for carbon avoidance and capture projects.

To celebrate the start of the 2024 Paris Games, we put together a list of some of the key initiatives driving sustainability at this year’s Games:

• Enedis has ensured all the Games venues are connected to the electricity grid in order to limit the use of diesel generators that are usually used at such events.
• EDF will supply the grid with electricity from renewable sources (solar and wind). This model will reduce Paris 2024’s energy-related carbon emissions by 80%, according to a Paris 2024 release.
• In terms of transport, all the competition venues can be reached by public transport and those in Ile-de-France will be accessible by bike. To meet the needs of the Olympic and Paralympic family, Paris 2024 is providing a fleet of light electric, renewable hydrogen and hybrid vehicles with its partner Toyota. Paris 2024 has also chosen to reduce the number of vehicles by a third compared with the average of previous Games by optimising and pooling vehicle use.
• To limit carbon emissions linked to new construction sites, 95% of the infrastructure being used for the Games is either temporary or already in existence. Low-carbon construction techniques were used (wooden frames, low-carbon concrete and recycled materials in particular) to reduce emissions per square metre in the Athletes’ Village by 30%, for example.
• Paris 2024 made a point to call on all visitors to the Games to help it meet its climate objective by using low-carbon modes of transport to travel to France and the least carbon-intensive methods of travel once they arrive. This strategy is already bearing fruit among the delegations of neighbouring countries, with Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland announcing that their athletes will travel to France by train.
• Paris 2024 has developed a funding programme for projects aimed at avoiding and capturing carbon emissions, which will aim to offset unavoidable Games-related emissions.
• Paris 2024 will provide funding of nearly €600,000 ($651,000) to finance the sequestration of 14,500 teqCO2 in France, the equivalent of direct emissions (scopes 1 and 2) as well as those related to the activities of the Paris 2024 headquarters since 2018.

Also of interest:
How Enedis is accelerating regional development in Hauts-de-France
Paris Olympics taps AI cloud solution to measure power consumption

Tony Estanguet, Paris 2024 president commented on the initiatives: “…After years of work, we are where we wanted to be, with reduced and controlled carbon emissions across all parts of the organisation.

“We are proud to back up our commitment to the climate by supporting carbon avoidance and capture projects both in France and in the regions of the world most impacted by the effects of climate change.”

Originally published on powerengineeringint.com