• Energy Research

International audience Four public inquiries on deep geothermal projects in the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg were held in the spring of 2015 . These will be the main grounds of our investigations. What happened during these investigations and around them? How can this particular field reveal the different public perceptions on deep geothermal energy? Which spheres of representation were mobilized by the target audiences in order to understand deep geothermal energy and its issues? How are these audiences and stakeholders (associations, politics, institutions, researchers) taking up the subject? Our research is exploratory and should open up on the development of a more ambitious project on perceptions and appropriation of geothermal energy by the target audiences.

La lutte contre le changement climatique entraîne la diversification des sources d’énergie à travers le monde. Parmi elles, la géothermie semble prendre une place de plus en plus importante. Depuis 2014, une controverse existe en Alsace à la suite de l’implantation de plusieurs projets géothermiques de grande profondeur. Plusieurs arènes ont été mises en place par les pouvoirs publics afin de faire comprendre ces projets à la population. À côté de ces lieux de consultation, un nouveau type d’arène émerge au cours de la controverse, nourrissant l’imaginaire de la liberté d’expression directe sans médiation : les réseaux socionumériques. L’objectif de cet article est de comprendre comment ces nouvelles arènes permettent le partage de l’information par la population dans le cas local de la géothermie en Alsace. Nous explorons l’hypothèse qui voudrait que les règles d’utilisation et d’interaction propre de ces réseaux socionumériques aient fait émerger un nouveau discours autour de cette controverse. Notre travail base son approche sur le suivi de l’activité des utilisateurs en lien avec cette controverse environnementale. Une analyse des commentaires laissés par les utilisateurs sera réalisée afin de faire ressortir les arguments mis en avant par ces derniers. The fight against climate change is leading to a diversification of energy sources around the world. Among these, geothermal energy seems to be playing an increasingly important role. Since 2014, there has been controversy in Alsace (France) over the implementation of several geothermal projects. Several arenas have been set up by the public authorities to help people understand these projects. Alongside these consultation forums, a new type of arena is emerging during the controversy, feeding the imagination of direct freedom of expression without mediation: socionumeric networks. The aim of this article is to understand how these new arenas were used by the public, in the local case of geothermal energy in Alsace. Our working hypothesis is that the rules of use and interaction specific to these social networking sites have given rise to a new discourse around this controversy. Our work is based on monitoring user activity in relation to this environmental controversy. We then analyzed the comments left by users to highlight their arguments.

Abstract: While the economic and political climate seems to be favourable for setting up geothermal projects in Alsace, a controversy breaks out in 2014. The consequences are important: out of the six projects envisaged, only two will lead to drilling work. How has deep geothermal energy been transformed from an iconic technology into a public problem for which the Prefecture and the Strasbourg Eurométropole must provide solutions? This article looks back at the different moments in this controversy with a focus on the different arenas of debate (within politics, associations, media and legal public enquiries). In particular, we follow the trajectory of two groups of arguments: those concerning the environmental impacts of the projects, on the one hand, and those criticising the lack of involvement of the Strasbourg Eurométropole in the management of the projects, on the other hand. Finally, we examine the mechanisms of appropriation and transformation of the arguments of local residents that led to the new governance of projects, set up in 2016/2017. Alors que le climat politique et économique semble favorable à la mise en place de projets de forages géothermiques en Alsace, une controverse éclate en 2014. Les conséquences sont importantes : sur les six projets envisagés, seuls deux débouchent sur des travaux de forage. Comment, de technologie adulée, la géothermie profonde s’est-elle transformée en problème public auquel la préfecture du Bas-Rhin et l’Eurométropole de Strasbourg doivent apporter des solutions ? Cet article revient sur les moments de la controverse en portant la focale sur les différentes arènes de débat (associatives, politiques, médias et enquêtes publiques). Il se propose notamment de suivre la trajectoire de deux groupes d’arguments : concernant les impacts environnementaux des projets, d’une part, et dénonçant le manque d’engagement de l’Eurométropole de Strasbourg dans la gestion du dossier, d’autre part. Il examine enfin les mécanismes d’appropriation et de transformation des arguments des riverains par une nouvelle gouvernance des projets qui se met en place en 2016-2017.

International audience; Deep geothermal energy was first exploited in France in the 1980s in the Paris region. In the 2010s, several high-temperature geothermal projects were launched in Alsace (eastern France) to produce electricity and/or heat. Some of the projects faced opposition from local residents. In this paper, we analyse the rhetoric of geothermal energy published by the French press between 2002 and 2018. This work is part of a more global study on the circulation and appropriation of public representations of deep geothermal energy (European Union’s Horizon 2020 DESTRESS project, grant agreement 691728). Our analysis was based on a corpus of 3 219 articles published by national and Alsatian daily newspapers.We examine the importance given to certain topics regarding geothermal energy and discuss how this “press agenda” (McCombs and Shaw, 1972; Scheufele and Tewksbury, 2007) has helped construct a particular representation of geothermal energy. First, using a quantitative approach, we describe the geothermal events that have attracted media attention, at what moment in time and at what scale. Second, we describe our qualitative analysis of the journalistic discourse by examining to what extent newspapers reporting on geothermal energy and geothermal projects lump together different types of geothermal energy and associated risks. Our conclusions focus on the way the press may facilitate and/or accompany public discussion, and even socio-technical controversies around geothermal projects which have taken place within the Strasbourg Eurometropolis in Alsace since 2014.

L’Alsace du nord constitue un terrain géologiquement et économiquement propice à l’implantation de la géothermie profonde, une technologie permettant d’exploiter des gites jusqu’à 6 000 m en vue de produire eau chaude et électricité. Cependant il s’agit également d’un territoire marqué par des significations historiques, humaines, sociologiques, écologiques et juridiques. Cette communication examine la manière dont l’implantation de la géothermie profonde est envisagée dans les communes de l’Eurométropole de Strasbourg et comment elle est mise en sens, négociée ou rejetée par les populations concernées.L’hypothèse que nous examinerons prend en compte la nature essentiellement locale de la géothermie : elle ne concerne qu’un territoire exploitable très délimité. La définition de ce territoire est au cœur des préoccupations des habitants et échappe en grande partie aux politiques énergétiques nationales. Comment des solutions – en faveur ou à l’encontre de la géothermie – sont-elles envisagées ? Nous mettrons à profit un matériel divers (interviews, articles de presse et de blogs, observations), pour analyser les étapes qui ont conduit à la controverse : de la formalisation des projets, qui s’est élaborée loin des citoyens, à la phase de consultation via la réalisation des cinq enquêtes publiques en 2015. Quelles sont dans ce cadre les propositions des commissaires enquêteurs, de la préfecture, des opérateurs et des collectivités locales et en quoi permettent-elles d’instaurer ou non un dialogue ? A quelles conditions l’élaboration collective d’un projet dont les conséquences politiques et technologiques sont d’abord locales et alternatives est-elle possible ? Geologically and economically, Northern Alsace provides a favorable environment for the implantation of deep geothermal energy, a technology allowing the exploitation of geothermal fields 6 000 m deep in order to produce hot water and electricity. It is, however, also a territory marked by historical, human, sociological, ecological and legal significance. This paper examines how deep geothermal energy implantation is envisioned in the municipalities of the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg and how it is given meaning, negotiated or rejected by the concerned population.Our hypothesis takes into account the essentially local nature of deep geothermal energy: it only affects a highly delimited part of available land. The definition of this land (or territory) is at the heart of the inhabitants' concerns and isn’t usually included in national energy policies. How are the solutions – in favor or against deep geothermal energy – considered?A variety of materials (interviews, press and blog articles, observations) will be used to analyze the different stages that led to controversy: from the formalization of the projects, which was made far from public scrutiny, to the consultation phase via the implementation of five public inquiries in 2015. In this context, what are the proposals from the investigating commissioners, the prefecture, the operators and the local authorities and do they help in establishing dialogue? Under what conditions is the collective development of a project, whose political and technological consequences are primarily local and alternative, possible?

In this chapter, we will see that geothermal energy is guided by dynamics of development that are uneven depending on the region and the nature of the projects. Use of geothermal resources for heating had a major boom following the energy crises of the 1970s, particularly in the Parisian region. High-energy geothermal projects were first developed in the volcanic islands of French overseas territories in the 1980s. Its developments in mainland France are then linked to the energy transition policy implemented in the early 2010s. However, in several regions, opponents point out the risks arising from drilling techniques used to facilitate water circulation in rocks. But criticism is also focused on economic and political aspects. The first part of this chapter reports on the first developments of geothermal energy in France and its links with energy policies. The second part deals with social aspects, evoking the controversies that arose in France from 2014 onwards and the role of consultation mechanisms in these controversial situations.

Abstract This paper examines the social, cultural and political factors that favor or disrupt deep geothermal energy projects in Alsace. The research was conducted in the Risk Governance package of the H2020 DESTRESS program, aimed at comparing public perceptions of deep geothermal energy in different contexts. The French case studies focus on two different contexts: one in Northern Alsace, where geothermal energy is fairly well accepted, and another in the Eurometropolis of Strasbourg, where some projects have raised substantial controversy. Several conceptual tools are used to understand variations in the public perceptions of geothermal projects. First, the distinction between “locally anchored” projects and “unbound” or exogenous projects account for the way these projects take shape, based on dialog or facilitated by a favorable economic and national political context, ignoring local specificities. Second, the concepts of social identity and social worlds allow us to yield insights into the acceptability of a project on a more sociological and cultural level, instead of adopting a limited risk perception focus. By considering the social and cultural contexts, we can better explain the weight that opponents place in their discourses on induced risks, local politics, or environmental issues during a technoscientific controversy. This ultimately leads us to underline the limitations of the communication models for project governance that are chiefly aimed at reassuring the local population.

Alors que le climat politique et économique semble favorable à la mise en place de projets de forages géothermiques en Alsace, une controverse éclate en 2014. Les conséquences sont importantes : sur les six projets envisagés, seuls deux débouchent sur des travaux de forage. Comment, de technologie adulée, la géothermie profonde s’est-elle transformée en problème public auquel la préfecture du Bas-Rhin et l’Eurométropole de Strasbourg doivent apporter des solutions ? Cet article revient sur les moments de la controverse en portant la focale sur les différentes arènes de débat (associatives, politiques, médias et enquêtes publiques). Il se propose notamment de suivre la trajectoire de deux groupes d’arguments : concernant les impacts environnementaux des projets, d’une part, et dénonçant le manque d’engagement de l’Eurométropole de Strasbourg dans la gestion du dossier, d’autre part. Il examine enfin les mécanismes d’appropriation et de transformation des arguments des riverains par une nouvelle gouvernance des projets qui se met en place en 2016-2017.