‘Let’s bring France to a halt’: Oil refineries blocked and trains halted by pension reform protests
Empty forecourts and platforms at the Gare de l’Est railway station in Paris, on March 7, 2023, as fresh strikes and protests are planned against the government’s controversial pensions reform.
Christophe Archambault | Afp | Getty Images
Strike action over plans to raise the pension age in France caused widespread disruption on Tuesday, as trains came to a near-standstill, many schools were shut and fuel deliveries were blocked from refineries.
State railway operator SNCF warned passengers to cancel or postpone trips, if possible, while Eurostar advised ticket holders to check whether their train is running. Most metro services are also canceled, as are some flights from Paris’s Charles de Gaulle and Orly airports.
Unions are calling on French President Emmanuel Macron to scrap his plan to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64 and require workers to contribute into France’s shared pension fund for 43 years before receiving a full pension.
Macron has for years been looking to reform the pension system, which has a projected annual deficit of 10 billion euros ($10.73 billion) each year between 2022 and 2032, according to France’s Pensions Advisory Council. The move is fiercely opposed by much of the public.
More than a million people marched across the country in late January to oppose the plans. Union reps aim to get two million people onto the streets on Tuesday.
Unionists gather ahead of a strike vote at the Exxon-Mobil Port Jerome Gravenchon refinery, in Port-Jerome-sur-Seine, near Le Havre, northwestern France, on March 7, 2023.
Lou Benoist | Afp | Getty Images
Eric Sellini, a representative from the CGT union at TotalEnergies, told Reuters that a strike blocking the Gonfreville refinery in Normandy would run until Thursday. Another at the Donges refinery in western France is set to run until Friday, he added.
The blockages could cause a petrol shortage by the end of the week, head of French supermarket group Les Mousquetaires Thierry Cotillard said, according to BBC.
“Let’s bring France to a halt!” a coalition of unions said in a statement, branding the reforms “unacceptable and useless.”
Police protest outside the police station of Roubaix, northern France on March 7, 2023, on the sixth day of nationwide rallies organized since the start of the year.
Sameer Al-doumy | Afp | Getty Images
The strikes come as French workers grapple with red-hot inflation, which accelerated unexpectedly in February to hit 6.2% year-on-year.
Around two thirds of the public support protests against the pension reforms, according to an Elabe survey.
But with the number of people taking to the streets dipping in February, several unions have called for rolling, open-ended strikes to voice their opposition.
Macron will seek to pass his plan in parliament by the end of next month, but could also resort to using special constitutional powers to push them through. The latter move would risk triggering a vote of no confidence and new parliamentary elections, which he may gamble he can avoid.
Macron’s Renaissance party — formerly La République En Marche! — does not have an absolute majority in parliament, but is supported in the reforms by some members of the conservative Les Republicains.
Renaud Foucart, senior lecturer in Economics at Lancaster University, told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” that he believed Macron had a much better chance of passing the law then he did when he suggested a more complex set of reforms four years ago.
“This reform is essential,” Alexandre Holroyd of the Renaissance political party told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” last month, citing the extent of the projected deficit and the rise in life expectancy.
“It’s a difficult reform. Listen, we’re asking people to work more. We understand that this is difficult, but the responsible thing to do here is balance the books and make sure this great pension system that we have can survive for the next 40 years like it has for the last 40 years.”
A new whitepaper by heavy truck makers PACCAR and Dragonfly Energy that incorporates real-world fleet trial data and Environmental Chamber Testing conducted at the PACCAR Technical Center seems to indicate that over-the-road truck drivers are ready to embrace battery power and reduce emissions – just not while they’re driving.
The whitepaper, titled Reducing Idle Time & Fuel Costs: Lithium Powered Solutions for Commercial Fleets, looked at different ways to reduce harmful diesel emissions across the duty cycles of a number of different fleet operations, and what they found was that powering a truck’s auxiliary and cabin systems with a high-voltage lithium-ion battery dramatically reduced engine idle time even under worst-case operating scenarios.
Another report by a group called the Clean Air Task Force showed that idling heavy-duty diesel engines while drivers are “hoteling” in their trucks (they’re parked, but running the engine to power the sleeper cab’s climate controls, kitchens, or electronics) exacts a heavy toll on both drivers and shipping fleets.
Idling not only burns fuel and increases operating costs at 0 MPG, it also emits a dangerous cocktail of harmul pollutants that pose direct health risks to drivers, rest stop employees, and nearby communities. Diesel exhaust contains fine particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NOₓ), and numerous airborne toxins that are known carcinogens, making them a serious problem even to those who think climate change is a global conspiracy from “Big Science” to keep those plucky young oil billionaires in the place.
From a mechanical standpoint, extended idling also accelerates engine wear, degrades emission-control systems, increases maintenance, and shortens engine life.
Battle Born semi batteries
By adding a relatively high capacity hybrid battery (like Dragonfly Energy’s Battle Born brand batteries) to the something like a PACCAR Kenworth T680 (at top), drivers can stay parked for several hours, operating their sleepers’ refrigerators, ACs, or heaters without the noise and emissions and costs of diesel – and they probably sleep better too, without the drone of neighboring diesels cranking on around them all night.
“We believe idle reduction remains one of the most immediate and cost-effective ways fleets can reduce fuel consumption and emissions while improving driver comfort. But just as important, the industry is increasingly focused on operational efficiency and maximizing asset utilization,” explains Wade Seaburg, chief commercial officer at Dragonfly Energy. “We believe our collaboration with PACCAR not only validates the performance of our LiFePO₄-powered solutions, but also highlights how they help fleets maximize uptime, extend equipment life and get more out of their assets.”
The electrification of the auxiliary systems also reduces engine hours, stretching out the time between scheduled maintenance and reducing operational downtime.
In other words, the hybridization of OTR trucks is a win-win-win. The full whitepaper is available for download at BattleBornBatteries.com/Lithium-Powered-Idle-Reduction. Take a look at it yourself, then let us know what you think of the idea in the comments.
SOURCE | IMAGES: PACCAR, Dragonfly Energy; via AP Newswire.
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French car brand Renault believes they’ve got the key to more affordable EV batteries, and their new LFP tech promises to slash the costs of production by 40%. The result? New, desirable EVs with a sub-20K price tag that aren’t made in China.
Spanish news site Motorpasión is reporting that Renault, like Ford, is embracing a more affordable lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) battery chemistries that are safer, cheaper, and less dependent on rare mineral mining than conventional li-ion batteries.
That’s a big change from the recent past. Because they’re less energy dense and weigh a bit more than comparably-sized lithium-ion NMC (nickel-manganese-cobalt) batteries, European automakers looked down on LFPs. But with Chinese automakers like BYD, MG, and Leapmotor flooding Europe with affordable LFP-powered EVs, that stigma is fading fast.
Fun, affordable LFP vehicles
The stability, battery life, and cost advantages of LFP have become too compelling to ignore — especially as global lithium and nickel prices continue to fluctuate, making long-term business projections difficult. Renault’s decision to embrace LFPs then, is less about catching up on the Chinese’ technology than it is about catching up catching up on the Chinese’ economics, and acknowledging that affordability is the real barrier to mass adoption.
That was the thinking behind Renault’s relaunch of the R5 E-TECH (sold as the Le Car in the US) and the announcement that a new Twingo would be coming soon.
It was also the thinking behind the French carmaker’s decision to launch the new Ampere vehicle software development sub-brand back in 2023. At the time, the stated goals were to improve (what are now called) Renault’s software-defined vehicles and, separately, to reduce manufacturing costs of new EVs by 40% – which, if you’ll notice, is just about what the switch to LFP chemistries will enable them to do.
“Creating a new model of company specializing in electric vehicles and software running as of today: How better to illustrate our revolution and the boldness of our teams?” asked Luca de Meo, Renault Group CEO, at Ampere’s launch. He answered his own question, saying, “Instill a sustainable corporate vision and ensure it is reflected in each and every process and product. Build on the Group’s strengths and review the way we do everything. Form a tight-knit team and work for the collective. Harness our French roots and become the leader in Europe. Assert our commitment to our customers, our planet and those living on it.”
Renault is set to launch an all-new, all-electric version of its iconic Twingo minicar from the 1990s in the next few months (at top). The car is targeted straight at the BYD Dolphin and is expected to have a starting price of about €17,000 (just under $20,000 US).
SOURCE: Motorpasión; images via Renault.
If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. More.
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