It is an objective that has been set in stone since the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015: to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Many countries, including France, have committed to this goal (to date, the agreement resulting from COP 21 has been ratified by 183 parties). To achieve this, measures are being put in place, such as the electrification of mobility, the thermal renovation of buildings, and the development of self-production and self-consumption of energy.

What will be the consequences for the energy networks, heat and gas, in cities in particular? With more energy-efficient, more autonomous buildings, for example, the question of the network of heating and gas networks will arise: should they be maintained by increasing the price of subscriptions at the risk of subscribers leaving? Should they be reduced here in order to maintain them elsewhere, at the risk of depriving subscribers of their usual supply? What political issues are raised by these questions and what could be the paths to carbon neutrality in 2050?

These questions are particularly acute for citizens and local authorities. As owners - with limited power - of the electricity and gas networks, supervisors of the urban heating network when it exists, prescribers and sometimes financiers of the transformation of buildings, designated leaders of carbon neutrality in their territory, local authorities are at the crossroads of the tensions of the energy transition.

The Scientific Council of Grenoble, Green Capital of Europe, is organising two conferences to share knowledge on these subjects and report on the current debates:

Wednesday 9 March 2022, from 5pm to 7pm: "From the 20th century to carbon neutrality, state of play on urban energy networks".

Conference led by Anne Dalmasso, professor of contemporary history and Gilles Debizet, lecturer in Urban Planning and Development, both at the University of Grenoble-Alpes.
With :
- Christophe Bouneau, historian, Bordeaux Montaigne University
- Francois Ménard, sociologist, Plan Urbanisme Construction Architecture
- Jacques Percebois, economist, University of Montpellier
- Daniel Florentin, geographer, MinesParisTech

At the Claude Lorius Hemicycle, Grenoble-Alpes Métropole, 3 Rue Malakoff, Grenoble and online.

Tuesday 29 March 2022, from 5pm to 7pm: "Will energy networks survive carbon neutrality".

With :
- Michel Derdevet, President of the European think tank Confrontations Europe and former
secretary general of Enedis,
- Vincent Fristot, deputy mayor in charge of energy transition for the city of Grenoble
- Pierre Verri, Vice-President in charge of air, energy and climate for Grenoble-Alpes Métropole
- A personality from the associative and citizen sphere

Online and in person. Place and registration link to come.