Tech talk | A green Paris 2024 Olympics vision
Image: Greenly
From the outset the goal for the 2024 Paris Olympics has been to reduce its carbon footprint as much as possible with support from the country’s energy providers EDF and Enedis among others.
And it appears to have been vindicated – in some aspects at least, although of course the definitive impact will be measured only after the conclusion of the games.
With the hosting of a major event such as the Olympics as a massive and potentially costly task that requires careful planning and management over an extended period of time, added commitments about carbon emissions, particularly the hard to evaluate scope 3 (i.e. supply chain) emissions, make it even more challenging.
The target for Paris 2024 was to at least halve the emissions from the previous London 2012 and Rio 2016 games estimated around 3.3-3.6Mt CO2e, with the additional commitment that where emissions cannot be avoided, a voluntary compensation plan involving carbon capture and avoidance projects would be implemented – this also covering emissions from international spectator travel.
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In addition Paris 2024 further pledged to offset more emissions than generated through the support of additional offsetting projects throughout France.
A key action was to commit to utilising 95% existing or temporary venues in order to minimise the environmental impact and restrict the carbon footprint.
Another was to leverage efficiency and innovation, with initiatives including using 100% renewable energy during the games, clean mobility solutions for the Olympic fleet, public and environmentally friendly transport options for spectators, responsible digital technology and adopting a circular economy.
The approach also was to be solution driven, utilising the expertise of SMEs and start-ups to drive innovation and a shared ambition with state, local and regional authorities, partners, athletes and NGOs.
Delivering on the commitments
So how has Paris 2024 delivered on these commitments? In providing some preliminary answers, we draw on a new analysis from the Paris-based carbon accounting platform Greenly as well as the organisation’s own assessment.
To start, according to Greenly not only does new construction make up only 5% of the Olympic sites, but the footprint of new construction such as the Olympic Village is expected to reduce the emissions by 30%, to 0.7tCO2e/m2 as opposed to the 1tCO2e/m2 of standard modern constructions.
This is attributed to the use of low carbon timber and concrete and river transport rather than trucks for excavated rubble.
Energy and transport
For energy, renewables supplied by EDF include PV panels on key sites such as the Olympic Village and the Aquatic Centre, as well as a floating solar power plant with 720m2 of panels on the Seine.
In order to limit the use of diesel generators, typically used at such events, Enedis also has ensured that all the games venues are connected to the electricity grid.
With these measures, saving around 13,000tCO2e is expected.
In terms of transport, all the competition venues can be reached by public transport and those in Ile-de-France are accessible by bike, while a fleet of light electric, renewable hydrogen and hybrid vehicles are provided by Toyota.
With optimisation and pooling of vehicle use, the number of vehicles used should be reduced by a third compared with the previous games and as part of the strategy for visitors to use low carbon modes of transport to travel to France, delegations from Germany, Belgium, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Switzerland had announced their athletes would be travelling there by train.
Some other actions implemented to achieve carbon savings include flexitarian and sustainable catering, with a target 50% of meals served vegetarian and 80% of food waste composted and the large-scale cleanup of plastics from the Seine river, respectively expected to save 13,520tCO2e and 58-870tCO2e.
Under the sustainable purchasing strategy, actions have included the manufacture of 11,000 seats from recycled materials at venues such as the Porte de la Chapelle arena and the Saint-Denis Olympic Aquatic Centre and furniture is planned to be resold after the games.
Reduced or neutralised emissions?
Tony Estanguet, Paris 2024 president has been reported saying the organisation is where it wants 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.”
But Tommy Catherine, carbon methodology expert at Greenly, feels that while the organising committee promised to be meticulous in its choice of projects, they have been often criticised for a lack of efficiency and transparency.
“Unfortunately, it is still uncertain as to whether these projects actually neutralise or reduce emissions. A certain scepticism prevails, reinforced by the idea that some may seek to evade the issue by pursuing environmentally damaging activities under the guise of so-called ‘environmental offsetting’.
“The lack of standardisation in project assessment and potential negative impacts on local communities and ecosystems continues to fuel criticism of carbon offsetting.”
But time will tell and as and when a full post analysis becomes available we will report.
Jonathan Spencer Jones
Specialist writer
Smart Energy International
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