J’avais signalé sur ce carnet les travaux de master de mes étudiants Elvan Arik, Jimmy Markoum et Hugo Bolzon, sur les enjeux du développement de réseaux de gaz dans les villes d’Istanbul, du Caire et de Sfax, ainsi que sur les conflits qui en résultent. Un article synthétique reprenant ces résultats a été récemment publié dans la revue Energy Policy. Il est accessible via Hal. Il s’agit d’un dossier thématique reprenant les principales conclusions d’une vaste et ambitieuse recherche collective pilotée par Jonathan Rutherford et Sylvy Jaglin, sous les noms de TERMOS et GOUVENUS (respectivement ANR Suds et projet soutenu par l’Université Paris-Est). Un autre volet de cette recherche avait été publié dans FLux en 2013 sous le titre Villes et énergies en pays émergents.

Verdeil, Éric, Elvan Arik, Hugo Bolzon, et Jimmy Markoum. 2015. « Governing the transition to natural gas in Mediteranean Metropolis: The case of Cairo, Istanbul and Sfax (Tunisia) ». Energy Policy, 78 (3), pp.235-245.

Voici le résumé:

Recent scholarship on urban energy governance has focused on low carbon energy strategies seen as a response to climate change and energy pressure threats. But such approaches tend to overlook the situations of cities from the Global South and emerging countries concerned with strong energy demand growth. The development of urban natural gas networks is an understudied response to such a challenge. Focusing on three cities, Istanbul, Cairo and Sfax (Tunisia), the article analyses the factors and the governance of these energy transitions. It uses a geographical approach to such processes that highlight the mutual influence of the territory in its material and political dimensions and of the policy goals and tools in the implementation. The development of urban gas networks rests upon the proximity of gas deposits. It is determined by metropolitan strategies for economic development as well as by programs aiming to cut energy subsidies. Though urban gas networks have a strong potential for restructuring the physical and social landscapes in cities, the dominant commercial approach taken by energy utilities and morphological constraints in the urban fabric limit their universalization. Natural gas is part of a mix of energies at the urban level and often competes with other energy forms, specifically renewables (like solar water heaters). Lastly, the development of urban natural gas networks sparks heated politics in relation to unfulfilled energy demand and affordability.

Eric Verdeil

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