Cycling

Vlib' at Place de la Bastille

There are 440 km (270 mi) of cycle paths and routes in Paris. These include piste cyclable (bike
lanes separated from other traffic by physical barriers such as a kerb) and bande cyclable (a
bicycle lane denoted by a painted path on the road). Some 29 km (18 mi) of specially marked bus
lanes are free to be used by cyclists, with a protective barrier protecting against encroachments
from vehicles.[279] Cyclists have also been given the right to ride in both directions on certain
one-way streets. Paris offers a bike sharing system called Vlib' with more than 20,000 public
bicycles distributed at 1,800 parking stations,[280] which can be rented for short and medium
distances including one way trips.
Electricity

Paris is provided in electricity through a 'periphery' grid fed by multiple sources. As of 2012,
around 50% of electricity generated in the le-de-France comes from cogeneration energy plants
located near the outer limits of the region; other energy sources include the Nogent nuclear
power plant (35%), trash incineration (9% - with cogeneration plants, these provide the city in
heat as well), methane gas (5%), hydraulics (1%), solar power (0.1%) and a negligible amount of
wind power (0.034 GWh).[281]
Water and sanitation

A view of the Seine, the le de la Cit and a Bateau Mouche

Paris in its early history had only the Seine and Bivre rivers for water. From 1809, the Canal de
l'Ourcq provided Paris with water from less-polluted rivers to the north-east of the capital.[282]
From 1857, the civil engineer Eugne Belgrand, under Napoleon III, oversaw the construction of
a series of new aqueducts that brought water from locations all around the city to several

reservoirs built atop the Capital's highest points of elevation.[283] From then on, the new reservoir
system became Paris's principal source of drinking water, and the remains of the old system,
pumped into lower levels of the same reservoirs, were from then on used for the cleaning of
Paris's streets. This system is still a major part of Paris's modern water-supply network. Today
Paris has more than 2,400 km (1,491 mi) of underground passageways[284] dedicated to the
evacuation of Paris's liquid wastes.
In 1982, Mayor Chirac introduced the motorcycle-mounted Motocrotte to remove dog faeces
from Paris streets.[285] The project was abandoned in 2002 for a new and better enforced local
law, under the terms of which dog owners can be fined up to 500 for not removing their dog
faeces.[286] The air pollution in Paris, from the point of view of particulate matter (PM10), is the
highest in France with 38 g/m.[287]