recovering biodiversity, that must be carried out. The indicators of the better health of fauna that followed the recent period of confinement caused by the COVID-19 health crisis have shown something important: the reduction of the disturbance induced by humans towards the animal populations during their period of reproduction has already shown very positive effects… However, the stakes of the fight against the reduction of biodiversity are not only patrimonial but also economic. The crucial importance of pollinating insects is enough to remind us of this.
In addition, there is a divide between scientific and technological research that is moving forward and an ecology that can easily be derided as a movement promoting a return to the past. It is only a softened form of the parable in which he who wants to get rid of his dog cries out that he has rabies… It is true that the indistinguishability in terms between a militant and political ecology and scientific ecology does not make things easier. But this dichotomy between research that is synonymous with progress and an ecology that would be a brake on it can be found right up to the ministerial level in the main European countries. It is even the main obstacle to the development of expertise on biodiversity, as we noted with Julien Boucher, Maître des requêtes1 at the Conseil d’État (Council of State), in a report we wrote commissioned by the then Minister of the Environment, Jean-Louis Borloo, and the Secretary of State, Chantal Jouanno, a report that we submitted to Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, who succeeded Borloo as Minister of Ecology.
It is therefore in more than one way that the book by Claude Grison and her colleagues meets a real need. As these authors clearly show, scientific and technological developments and advances in engineering must not be carried out separately to meet the challenges of climate and biodiversity. Optimization must be sought through an approach that can only be multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary in order to reconcile the development of photovoltaics with the need to save water reserves and halt the decline in animal and plant biodiversity. In order to promote this multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach, the authors of this book obviously had many assets at their disposal. They are breaking down the barriers of science at the interface between chemistry and ecology, an approach that they consider indispensable to the ecological transition. Claude Grison serves as a Director of Research at the CNRS (French National Center for Scientific Research) and leads the Bio-inspired Chemistry and Ecological Innovations Laboratory, a laboratory that brings together chemists and ecologists around common themes. She has associated two students from the laboratory, Lucie Cases and Mailys Le Moigne, who share her passion for the search for ecological and innovative solutions in the production of new energy. Through her expertise in chemical ecology, Martine Hossaert-McKey, Emeritus Director of Research at the CNRS in charge of biodiversity, makes the link between the plant and insect worlds by studying how chemical language shapes these interactions and structures ecosystems. The authors of this book have taken great care to show not only the advantages but also the limitations of the different techniques implemented in agrivoltaics and ecovoltaics. The aim of this book is therefore not to dangle unrealistic objectives but, by showing the avenues currently being explored around photovoltaics, to encourage the reader to reflect on the even more general prospects offered by multidisciplinary engineering that could respond to both climate and biodiversity issues.
Yvon LE MAHO
CNRS Emeritus Research Director
Institut pluridisciplinaire Hubert-Curien University of Strasbourg and Scientific Center of Monaco Member of the Académie des sciences Associate Member of the Académie nationale de pharmacie
1 1 Master of Requests, i.e. a high judicial officer of administrative law in France.
Foreword by Thomas Lesueur
In response to the two major contemporary challenges of combating climate change and preserving biodiversity, this book sheds light on two innovative and promising solutions: agrivoltaics and ecovoltaics, that is, the combination, on the same soil, of crops for food or ecological purposes and photovoltaic panels in conditions that are sustainable and even regenerative for the planet.
The following pages provide benchmarks, lessons from experience and perspectives on these techniques, which are still in the making, combining local solar electricity production and biodiversity-friendly agronomic practices on a single plot of land.
The main studies and summaries presented here on the subject – notably those carried out by ADEME (French Environment and Energy Management Agency) – remind us that the photovoltaic industry can still make progress in reducing its ecological footprint. Three particularly sensitive points are brought to the reader’s attention: the conditions for extracting, processing and transporting silicon, the materials needed to build the installations and the recyclability of the material at the end of its life.
Second, lessons from experience: agrivoltaics and ecovoltaics have been tested in recent years on very different scales and in very different ways. The overview of initiatives carried out in France and abroad integrating these agro- and eco-energy approaches shows one of the major difficulties hindering their deployment: the lack of natural light for the crops protected by the photovoltaic panels.
Lastly, and most importantly, in response to these difficulties, solutions are outlined and tested in the field, in particular the cultivation of plants chosen specifically for their tolerance of low soil moisture and their food, medicinal, phytosanitary and ecological value. The first results obtained for these crops are encouraging; they are intended to provide food for thought on the future of our agricultural models.
Thomas LESUEUR
General Commissioner for Sustainable Development
Ministry of Ecological Transition, France
Introduction
The worrying figures are multiplying, and many indicators are in the red.
Figure I.1. Some numerical data illustrating global warming
The multiplication of extreme climatic phenomena and anomalies (drought, intense heat waves, heavy rains, floods, etc.) is now recognized by all.
The growing consumption of and demand for energy has generated greenhouse gas waste with very noticeable consequences. According to Jancovici and Grandjean (2006), 80% of the energy consumed in the world contributes to global warming.
Faced with the climate emergency, new political decisions are gradually emerging.
The French law of August 17, 2015, on the energy transition for green growth was put in place to:
establish a robust and sustainable energy model in the face of energy supply challenges, price trends, resource depletion and environmental protection imperatives (Legifrance, law no. 2015-992).
Specific targets have been proposed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce energy consumption and promote renewable energy.
