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LATEST: Where in France the petrol shortage is biting

The fuel crisis in France shows no sign of easing on Wednesday with most of the country now affected by shortages. Here's a look around the country at what's going on.

LATEST: Where in France the petrol shortage is biting
Photo: Essence

When the blockades and strikes at refineries and depots began to take hold on Friday, there were only 300 petrol stations throughout the country that reported shortages.

But by Wednesday that number had jumped to 4,026, according to Pierre Auclair, the co-founder of the app “Essence” (petrol). The maps from his app have been widely used to show where in France the shortages are worse (see below).

“It’s very complicated in the west, and it’s worsening in the Paris region and all of the Rhône valley down to the Mediterranean,” said Auclair.

Petrol rationing has been imposed across much of northern France and many motorists were crossing the border to fill up in Belgium.

See an interactive version of the map above here, via Le Figaro newspaper.

Local authority chiefs in the Var département of southern France also imposed a €20 limit on the amount of fuel customers could buy from petrol stations.

The limit was set at €15 for diesel.

For heavy duty vehicles, the limit has been set at €100 of diesel. Meanwhile the distribution of fuel in portable containers, including jerrycans and tanks, is forbidden.

Other départements around France have imposed limits on the amount of fuel drivers can purchase.

In L’Ille-et-Vilaine, Eure-et-Loire, Côtes d’Armor, Loiret, Finistere, Orne and Loire-Atlantique have all imposed caps of 20 litres on most vehicles.

The practice of filling jerrycans with petrol is also banned in these départements.

In the Vendée there has been a maximum spend imposed on petrol of €30 and €20 for diesel. American Adrienne Mowery says the situation is “pretty bad” in Nantes, north western France. 

“I haven't been too affected personally as I only drive a few days a week and was lucky to fill up last week, but others are not so fortunate. When there is a station open, the lines are crazy.”
 
She added that there were “silver linings” as a result of the shortage, as there was no traffic during rush hour on the city's ring road “for the first time ever”. 
 
 
Another expat, Jeff Fountain, said all stations were closed in the Vaucluse and Bouche du Rhone area. 
 
“They open in the morning but everyone is still in a panic and rushes to fill up and they are dry again before noon,” he said.

Seven service stations in Var have also been reserved for emergency and law enforcement vehicles.

Those stations are the Total station on the A8 in in Brignoles, the Carrefour station in Draguignan, the Intermarché station in Ollioules, the Total station on the A57 in La Garde, the Total station in the Saint-Esprit area in Rians, the Total station on the Boulevard Jean Moulin in Sainte-Maxime and the Esso station on the Boulevard du General Brosset.

In the northern département of Pas-de-Calais they have also temporarily commandeered 11 service stations today for the refueling of priority vehicles.

This includes all vehicles related to public order, defense and security, transporting the wounded or sick, related to hospital practice, associated with emergency interventions for example road repairs, school buses and taxis.

On Saturday, it will be the turn of Nord département to reserve 11 service stations for the needs of emergency services.

Other areas like the centre and east of the country were spared the worst of the shortages.

 

 

Please send us in your own stories of the situation in your part of the country. Tell us how hard or indeed how easy it has been to get fuel.

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TRANSPORT

Higher fuel costs and Autobahn speed limit: How can Germany go green?

Drastic measures are needed to achieve Germany’s climate targets for transport, according to the country's Environment Agency. Will car-loving Germany take action?

Higher fuel costs and Autobahn speed limit: How can Germany go green?
Photo: DPA

An internal paper from the agency, seen by the Süddeutsche Zeitung, details what Germany would have to do in the transport sector to protect the climate.

The paper, which was drafted in June when the government was preparing its climate package but never became public, says the government would have to get rid of the commuter allowance and increase the price of fuel, among other measures.

According to the study, the tax on diesel – which has so far been tax-privileged – would have to rise by 70 cents to €1.19 per litre by 2030, while petrol should become 47 cents more expensive. 

In addition, the toll imposed on trucks (LKW Maut) would have to rise sharply – and a speed limit of 120 kilometres per hour would have to be introduced on the Autobahn, a move that would be extremely controversial in car-loving Germany.

READ ALSO: How our readers feel about imposing a speed limit on Germany's Autobahn

The newspaper said the agency wants the Transport Ministry to draw up concrete proposals. In principle, however, the measures from the report are “suitable for achieving the climate targets in the transport sector”, a spokesman from the Environment Agency said.

Worst impact on environment

Of all Germany's sectors, transport has the worst climate record. While emissions have fallen since 1990 in the industrial, agriculture and construction sectors, they have been stagnating in transport.

The number of cars has increased, while freight traffic on the roads and the number of flights have also gone up.

Photo: DPA

According to plans by the German government, climate-damaging emissions from traffic are to be reduced to 98 million tonnes of CO2 by 2030. At current rates emissions will stand at about 160 million tonnes in that year.

READ ALSO: 'The future is already here': How climate change is affecting Germany

The government wants to achieve this by promoting electric cars and alternative fuels. Rail travel is also to become cheaper, and the tax on airline tickets is to rise.

A gradual increase in the CO2 price will initially raise the price of fuel by three cents per litre. What exactly this will achieve for the climate is currently being calculated, but results are not expected until the beginning of the new year.

But according to the highest German environmental authority, this will by no means be enough.

“According to our estimates, there remains a climate protection gap of 20 to 30 million tonnes of greenhouse gases,” said Maria Krautzberger, head of the authority.

Climate package speed bumps

The government's “climate package”, a collection of four bills with policies including increases to the cost of air travel and the introduction of a carbon pricing system, was supposed to come into force at the beginning of next year.

However, it hit the rocks last week in the upper house of the German parliament, the Bundesrat, amid fears over financing and criticisms that it did not go far enough.

READ ALSO: What does Germany's planned climate protection package mean for you?

Representatives from Germany's federal states rejected proposals for a series of tax reforms, including a reduction in VAT on train tickets and temporary tax exemptions for the restoration of buildings.

Amid fears that the federal states would have to make up the lost revenues themselves, the upper house refused to pass the bill, which will now be subject to negotiations between the two chambers.

Other elements of the climate package were passed successfully on Friday.

READ ALSO: Tens of thousands of people in Germany rally against climate change

A surcharge on plane journeys of up to 2500 kilometres will be hiked by 74 percent to €13, while for longer journeys it will be raised to up to €60.

The carbon tax, which would later be incorporated into an EU emissions trading system, was also passed.

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