.svg)
Launched in 2010 by the law known as the "Grenelle II Law" and truly introduced in 2011 by decree n°2011-829 of July 11, 2011, the carrying out of greenhouse gas assessments has just been amended by regulation (decree of December 24, 2015 and orders of January 25, 2016). This is therefore an opportunity to take stock of theenergy audit and the applicable regulations.
A new update for 2019 is available in the article: Bilan d'émissions GES, audit énergétique : mise à jour
Organizations concerned by the GHG assessment
The greenhouse gas balance sheet covers :
- Companies(1) with over 500 employees(2) in mainland France (250 employees in French overseas departments and territories),
- Local authorities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, as well as other legal entities under public law employing more than 250 people.
(1) Notion of company
The text explicitly refers to legal entities. This means that if a company has several establishments, it will have to add up the headcount of the various establishments located in France.
(2) Notion of group of companies
Since January 1, 2016 (amendment made by Decree no. 2015-1738 of December 24, 2015), the option has been available for groups of companies to draw up a consolidated GHG balance sheet.
Article R. 229-46 of the Environment Code now specifies that group committees (= a group formed by a company called the dominant company, whose head office is located on French territory, and the companies it controls), whose companies have the same level 2 NAF code, can produce the same consolidated GHG balance sheet.
Greenhouse gases covered by the energy audit
As of February 5, 2016, the gases concerned are as follows:
- carbon dioxide (CO2) ;
- methane (CH4) ;
- nitrous oxide (N2O) ;
- hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) ;
- perfluorocarbons (PFCs) ;
- sulfur hexafluoride (SF6);
- nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).
This list was created by the Order of August 24, 2011. However, nitrogen trifluoride (NF3) is newly included in the list of gases to be taken into account in the energy audit (Arrêté du 25 janvier 2016 relatif aux gaz à effet de serre couverts par les bilans d'émission de gaz à effet de serre, which came into force on February 5, 2016).
Note: GHG emission reports due on or after July 1, 2016 must include nitrogen trifluoride (NF3).