Polluting outdoor heaters may soon be banned in France
Outdoor heaters used by restaurants to heat terraces may soon be banned in France due to their high levels of pollution - with the city of Rennes having banned them already.
The mayor of Rennes (Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany) from January 1, 2020, deeming them to be too polluting. Other smaller towns, such as Thonon-les-Bains (Haute-Savoie, Auvergne-Rh么ne-Alpes), have also outlawed them.
Four exterior gas-powered heaters running at full power for eight hours produce the equivalent carbon emissions of an average car travelling for a distance of 350km, according to .
One Rennes restaurateur, Thomas Ruellan, that the city鈥檚 heater ban would probably not make much difference to business.
: 鈥淲e always know that winter activity is less strong, and it shouldn鈥檛 change much. It may even push customers inside and make it more inviting inside.鈥�
But one client admitted: 鈥淚 will go to bars less鈥�, and another said: 鈥淚t will affect the cool, terrace atmosphere, with your friends outside. People will have to go inside, and it鈥檚 less fun.鈥�
Yet, another client said they would just put on an extra jumper and continue to sit outside.
A heater ban in Paris?
Jacques Boutault, mayor of the second arrondissement in Paris, is arguing that a similar ban should be applied in the capital and beyond. For the moment, there is no ban in place.
: 鈥淚t鈥檚 as if you had the heating on at home, with the windows wide open. It鈥檚 illogical. We would like to ban these heaters [which operate] for a small amount of tables that are kept warm for people who would like to be outside.鈥�
But Romain Deconquand, a brasserie manager in Paris with a significant 40m2 of outside, heated terrace, said he would not be in favour of a ban.
He said: 鈥淚 would have one fewer room. If I didn鈥檛 have [this space], I would have half the seats. Half the numbers. Half the returns. Half the staff.鈥�
