New French Law Requires Parking Lots to Be Covered With Solar Panels
Parking lots are bad for the environment for a bunch of reasons, but a new French law aims to curb some of the negative impacts. Starting in July 2023, owners of lots with between 80 and 400 spaces will have five years to cover them with solar panels.
The law states that half of the lot must be covered with solar panels, and the government believes its new plan could generate up to 11 gigawatts of electricity, which, as Engadget points out, is near the output of 10 nuclear power plants. Though lots with up to 400 spaces have five years to comply, larger areas will have three.
Regardless of their size, all lots must cover at least half of their area with panels. The government built in exceptions to the law, however, so there will be some that get by without the effort. If a lot has “technical, safety, architectural, heritage, and environmental constraints,” they may qualify for an exemption. The law also offers exemptions for lots covered at least halfway by trees, lots for which compliance “cannot be met under economically acceptable conditions,” and dedicated truck parking lots. The government is also exploring the possibility of building solar farms on vacant lots and near highways or railroad tracks.
We don’t know if the French government will offer financial assistance to parking lot owners, nor has it stated how it would pay for installing the solar panels. Even so, some industries in France are already working toward a solar-powered future. Disneyland Paris is building its own solar parking lot, and one of the country’s national railway operators has promised to install over a million square meters of panels by 2030.
[Image: Seo Byeong Gon via Shutterstock]
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Chris grew up in, under, and around cars, but took the long way around to becoming an automotive writer. After a career in technology consulting and a trip through business school, Chris began writing about the automotive industry as a way to reconnect with his passion and get behind the wheel of a new car every week. He focuses on taking complex industry stories and making them digestible by any reader. Just don’t expect him to stay away from high-mileage Porsches.
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Lou_BC--That is precisely the point. The oil companies are going to provide more product in places where they make the most profit. Corporate oil answers to the stockholders and much of the CEO and other top officers pay is based on earnings per share. As you said any global stressor even if it is perceived will cause oil prices to go up. Limited refinery capacity also creates higher prices. Short of nationalizing oil, regulating the price of oil and its products, and or requiring so much oil and product stay within the country for domestic use there is not much that can be done. I doubt any of the previous will happen regardless of promises from either political party. Political campaigns are funded by lobbyists and special interest groups and regardless of what politicians promise they are not going to go against those interests that fund their campaigns. I am not making this up I worked in the oil industry years ago and one of my assignments was tracking corporate campaign funds. I am not bashing politicians or corporations I am just telling it like it is.
Lou_BC--Here is a link to an article on the untold story behind Saudi Arabia's 41 Year US debt secret. How a legendary bond trader from Salomon Brothers brokered a do-or-die deal that reshaped U.S.-Saudi relations for generations. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2016-05-30/the-untold-story-behind-saudi-arabia-s-41-year-u-s-debt-secret?leadSource=uverify%20wall
I just happened to find this article today and even though it is from 2016 it still is relevant to the US and Saudi Arabia relationship. I didn't realize this before but it is not that easy for the US to stop buying Saudi oil because they are a major holder of US Treasury debt.