Minister unveils energy scheme plans

Environment Minister Nicolas Hulot has revealed a range of plans to cut the number of polluting vehicles on French roads and to boost home insulation.

Next week's budget will include a series of measures to limit climate change, reduce pollution and help low-income families, Mr Hulot told French daily Liberation.

A €500 to €1,000 incentive to switch to a less-polluting vehicle, currently available to low-income families, should be available from 2018 to all citizens who own petrol-engined cars registered before 1997 and diesels registered before 2001. The incentive will be doubled for low-income families, he said.

An estimated 3million vehicles currently on the roads in France are old enough to be part of the trade-in incentive scheme. The ministry hopes up to 100,000 of these will be replaced next year.

Meanwhile, anyone who switches to an electric vehicle will receive a €2,500 incentive on top of a €6,000 subsidy if the measure is approved.

He said he wants to extend the so-called 'energy cheque' - which is designed to help low-income families cover their energy bills and currently operates in four departments - to four million households nationwide. Under the scheme, qualifying families receive up to €227 to pay their energy bills. In 2019, Mr Hulot said, the figures will be revalued, which should mean those households will receive an average of €200 a year.

He also wants to speed up the process in which tax credits are paid out on work to improve home insulation, and introduce subsidies of up to €3,000 for low-income families who want to switch from older, polluting heating systems to renewable ones, such as heat pumps or wood-fired heating systems.