Presentation
Biomethane, produced primarily from agricultural biomass, is a low-carbon renewable gas. In France, biomethane policies aim to increase its production by nearly fourfold by 2030 and more than twelvefold by 2050, thus contributing to the energy transition. These policies also aim to reduce production costs and reward agricultural practices that support the agroecological transition.
This Issue Brief is drawn from a Study analysing the tensions and synergies between these three objectives in the implementation of biomethane policies.
Read the Study and its key messages (in French)
Key Messages
- France’s biomethane production targets rest on: (1) energy-climate scenarios requiring at least 95 TWh of biomethane to achieve climate neutrality, alongside a 50% reduction in final energy demand and substantial electrification; (2) biomass resource assessments showing an available potential of 100-170 TWh of biomethane.
- Since 2010, production growth has aligned with targets. However, agri-environmental benefits have been limited and mixed, including some negative impacts. Production costs have not decreased significantly, while fossil gas prices have remained stable. As a result, public spending for biomethane stands at approximately €1 billion per year.
Achieving the volumes projected for 2030 would theoretically be possible given biomass resources, but would compromise other objectives:
• Production costs would remain stable due to (1) existing difficulties in obtaining biomass, and (2) limited reductions in investment costs. At current levels of public support, total costs would reach €2-3 billion per year.
• Agri-environmental benefits would remain modest, while anaerobic digestion could reinforce the lock-in of production methods into unsustainable trajectories, particularly if demand for animal feed and pressure to reduce production costs persist.Moreover, the sector’s economic viability may be threatened by yield variability and declining trends, exacerbated by (1) pressure on agroecosystems from increased biomass demand and (2) climate change effects.
- Three priority areas for change towards more sustainable production emerge:
• Renewed local governance to strengthen: (1) monitoring of biomethane production projects; (2) implementation resources to redirect or halt failing projects; (3) spatial planning of biomass uses to reduce usage conflicts.
• A demand policy based on prioritizing uses to (1) reduce methane use in sectors with decarbonized alternatives; (2) encourage sectors without alternatives to support more sustainable production through appropriate financing mechanisms.
• Regular reassessment of the role of gas in energy scenarios and the agri-environmental impacts of anaerobic digestion, to clarify (1) systemic trade-offs associated with reduced production targets, and (2) economic and political conditions for minimizing anaerobic digestion’s negative impacts while promoting certain dimensions of the agroecological transition where possible.
