De l’or noir à l’or vert : le gaz de mine, une ressource de transition dans le Nord-Pas-de-Calais ?

Abstract

Mine gas, or "firedamp", is a residue of coal extraction, responsible for fatal accidents for miners. The emissions of this gas, which do not stop when mining activities cease, generate risks of explosion and significant atmospheric pollution. In the Nord-Pas-de-Calais coalfield, mine gas, an emblematic legacy of the coal mining past, is now seen as an energy resource and a vector for the renewal of the region. Unlike shale gas, the mobilization of this territorial resource does not raise local opposition and appears relatively consensual. By tracing the history of the capture and use of this gas from the 1980s to the present, this article deciphers the successive dynamics of qualification, valorization and appropriation of this singular energy source. The analysis highlights a resource development process essentially built around private interests and points out the current limits in the distribution of benefits and risks associated with the exploitation of mine gas.

Keywords

• sustainable development
• governance
• natural resources
• energy
• mine gas
• mining basin