Will Elon Musk build a ski resort in the desert? Do you risk a fine of 1,500 euros by heating your interior above the regulatory 19 degrees? Will we be handing out sweaters at schools this winter? The students of the Georges-Brassens college in Taverny (Val-d’Oise) question us and we answer them.
Liam wonders if it’s true “that Elon Musk is going to build a ski resort in the desert”. “No it’s wrong” replies Olivier Lascar, editor-in-chief of the digital department of Science and future and author ofInvestigating Elon Musk, the man who defies science. According to him, Elon Musk does not have the project to build a ski resort in the middle of the desert, but others have this project, such as “Saudi Arabia, which wants to build a huge complex for skiing in the desert, in a mountainous area at 2000 meters, a place where it does not snow today and where the Asian Winter Games are supposed to take place in 2029.”
Skiing in a country without snow is already possible, recalls Olivier Lascar in the United Arab Emirates with “A ski resort called Ski Dubai, in a shopping center and inside the temperature is around -2°C, while outside it averages 40°C.” Olivier Lascar indicates that the ski slopes are artificially maintained and “the powder that covers the five ski runs is kept in the snow thanks to a fluid circulating in an underground pipe, under the slopes, called glycol.” Only, all this costs a lot of energy and is very polluting because “To keep the glycol cold, you need a lot of electricity, which is mainly produced by power plants that burn hydrocarbons that generate greenhouse gases.”
Maimouna wonders if it’s true”that in winter we will be fined if we raise the temperature of our heating to more than 19 degrees?“On social networks, some people claim that you risk a fine of 1,500 euros by exceeding the legal 19°C at home. This is incorrect.
As a reminder, since the beginning of October, the government has announced in its energy sobriety plan a whole series of measures and recommendations to reduce our energy consumption by 10% by 2024. One of these measures is to ask people not to exceed 19°C indoors and so respect the law.
Indeed, one of the articles of the 1974 energy code already says that we are entering the 19°C . should not exceed “spaces for living, education, office and open to the public”. It is also stated that in the event of non-compliance with this limit, there is a risk of a fine, which corresponds to approximately 1,500 euros. Except that this 19°C rule, very old and hitherto never applied, is mainly being recalled by the government to “to encourage people to respect this limitat home. As confirmed by the Ministry of Ecological Transition, “There is no question of installing a temperature police“.
Timéo wonders if it’s true “that sweaters are being handed out in schools this winter because it’s getting too cold?” No, not all schools in France are planning to hand out sweaters this winter to cope with the cold in the classrooms, which also includes the 19-degree rule.
On the other hand, yes, there is at least one municipality in France that is planning this. The municipality of Périers (Manche) will buy polar fur for its 350 primary and primary school children. The town hall of Périers specifies that “the fleeces are coming and should be handed out to the students within a monthThey will come from local production and will have various certifications, especially those for recycled materials.
The mayor of the city, Gabriel Daube, explains that he had this idea “in May, after we asked that the heating be turned off in the municipal buildings, especially in the schools. Unfortunately it started to get to 12°C that week and the children and teachers were very cold, to the point that they heating had to be turned on again.” The mayor of Périers says: “I said to myself: it’s not okay! I told them: okay, I’ll turn the heating back on, but next winter I won’t turn it on again. On the other hand, we’re going to buy you sweaters! That’s how the idea was born .”
The mayor’s aim is that the students can work in good conditions this winter, without getting cold, despite the 19°C limit.
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