Paris bans air conditioning in premises with open doors to save energy

Paris prohibits from this Monday the use of air conditioning in shops and establishments that have open doorswith fines that could reach 150 eurosin an attempt to reduce energy waste.

The measure aims to “put an end” to this incorrect use of air conditioning “in the current context of climate emergency and energy crisis”, after similar decisions in other cities of the country such as Lyon or Besançonexplained the City Council.

The deputy mayor of Paris and responsible for Ecological Transition in the City Council, Dan Lert, He was “shocked” by this phenomenon and defined it as an “abnormal use of air conditioning”, as he said on Twitter.

During the repeated episodes of heat waves in recent weeks, it has been common to see establishments in Paris with portable air conditioners that expel hot air through an open door or window.

Nevertheless, Not all establishments met the new standard today.

“We have air conditioning here because the (coffee) machine is hot and it can reach 45 degrees in the premises. It is not a good environment to work in,” a worker at a tiny Parisian cafeteria told Efe.

On the other hand, other places have adapted: “We don’t have air conditioning precisely because it would have to be with the door closed,” said the head of a restaurant in the capital, which uses fans to cool the establishment.

This measure It would not affect those restaurants or bars that have an authorized outdoor terrace.

The French government plans to pass a decree soon to generalize this ban at the national level, the Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher, announced on Sunday.

In addition, the Executive finalizes another decree to standardize throughout the country the obligation that illuminated advertising signs and shop windows are turned off between 1:00 and 6:00 in the morning.

The objective of these measures is to cut unnecessary energy consumption while the European Union and its Member States prepare a series of actions to reduce their energy dependence on Russia for the winter in the face of a possible cut in the arrival of natural gas from that country.