The pursuit of green and low-carbon does not install air conditioning, how to fight the high temperature in summer at the Paris Olympics

As the Paris Olympics approached, a piece of news surprised many people, that is, "the Olympic Village is not equipped with air conditioning".

There are some reasons for this concern, as a recent study said that Paris could experience weeks-long heatwaves during the Olympics, and even record-breaking extreme heat.

In this context, in what ways will Paris ensure the normal competition and life of the contestants while pursuing green and low-carbon?

Eco-friendliness and comfort, how to trade-off

French public health authorities estimate that more than 30,000 deaths have been caused by summer heat in the past decade. In July 2019, Paris set a high temperature record of 42.6 degrees Celsius.

A study published in The Lancet last March said: "Several French cities have the highest mortality rates in Europe during extreme heatwaves." "These data are shocking.

Under such circumstances, the plan that the Olympic Village of the Paris Olympics will not be equipped with air conditioning has naturally left many people feeling puzzled and dissatisfied, especially the athletes who will compete at all their strength in the hot summer of Paris.

In order to minimize the impact of extreme heat on athletes' competitive status, delegations from Greece, Australia, Ireland and other countries have expressed their plans to purchase air conditioners or provide air conditioning installation costs.

In the face of doubts from all sides, the Paris Organising Committee also announced a "remedy": if athletes feel unwell, the Olympic Village will provide powerful fans and mobile cooling units for rent.

In fact, the Olympic Village was designed with the heat in mind, such as the extensive use of wood, the reduction of direct sunlight in the floor area, the use of underground pipes to draw cold water to cool the air, and the installation of fans in the rooms.

The Olympic Village does not have air conditioning, but fans are provided, and cooling equipment can be rented.

Theoretically, from the "cardboard bed" of the Tokyo Olympics to the "non-air-conditioned room" of the Paris Olympics, the concept of "green Olympics" is being practiced, but how to balance environmental protection and athletes' welfare conditions is still a difficult problem.

In fact, the heat that Paris will face this summer will be a challenge not only for athletes, but also for all those in Paris.

According to foreign media reports, Paris will actively mobilize the Ministry of Health, the Railway Bureau, the Paris Municipal and Meteorological Bureau and other departments to work together to deal with possible extreme heat.

During the Olympic Games, the French railway authorities will build 22 spray-cooling walking trails at nine major railway stations and distribute free mineral water to tourists. The Bureau of Meteorology will issue temperature forecasts twice a day at the stadium and in the press center, and take preventive measures in a timely manner.

Aiming for the "lowest-carbon" Olympics in history

In order to make the Paris Olympics more "low-carbon", not installing air conditioning in the Olympic Village is just one of the measures.

Rambis Constantinitis, director of planning and coordination for the Paris Olympics, said that the Paris Olympics will strive to reduce carbon emissions by half compared to the 2016 Rio Olympics and the 2012 London Olympics, with an expected carbon emission of 1.58 million tons, of which 34% will be from transportation.

To achieve this, Paris announced that it would limit the number of private cars and advise visitors to give preference to public transport. During the Games, the Paris Region Transport Committee will introduce the Paris 2024 Pass, which will allow visitors to use public transport for a daily or weekly fee.

However, the price of the pass is not cheap. It is understood that the price of the pass is 16 euros (about 125 yuan) for a day and 70 euros (about 549 yuan) for a week. At the same time, between July 20 and September 8, fares for public transport in Paris will also increase, with the basic one-way fare increasing from 2.15 euros (about 17 yuan) to 4 euros (about 31 yuan).

In addition, in order to reduce carbon emissions, some venues, such as the Olympic Aquatic Center, will use eco-friendly seats made from recyclable plastic waste. These eco-friendly seats are made from hundreds of tons of renewable plastic through technologies such as thermal compression, which can reduce carbon emissions and waste in the plastic production process.

In addition to construction and transportation, the Paris Organising Committee has also worked on catering. The organizing committee will provide eco-friendly meals and can also customize vegetarian dishes to reduce the use of animal protein.

According to Sodexo Group, which is responsible for food security in the Olympic Village, about 33% of the protein in the 500 dishes they serve for the Games will come from plant-based ingredients.