France Opens Second Phase of Biofuel Plan
Date: 20-May-05
Country: FRANCE
Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin, who said last year the biofuel sector was a national priority, has granted tax rebates for an extra 700,000 tonnes of biodiesel and 250,000 tonnes of ethanol output a year, the government said in a statement.
In a bid to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and cut the EU's dependence on fuel imports, the bloc has set a target that fuels should contain 5.75 percent of biofuels by 2010.
"With this new step, the biofuel programme will lead to the quadrupling of approvals within four years."
"This means the objective of having 5.75 percent of biofuels in fuel in 2010 will be reached," the government said.
France launched the first phase of its biofuel plan last year, calling for 480,000 tonnes of new biodiesel and 320,000 tonnes of new ethanol to be produced a year by the end of 2007.
Current annual production stands at 200,000 tonnes of ethanol and 500,000 tonnes of biodiesel.
France had originally intended to announce its second tranche after 2007 but producers asked for the date to be brought forward to give them time to make appropriate investments.
The government said the results of the first tender, involving three biodiesel and three ethanol plants, would be announced by the end of May. Bids totalled 2.2 million tonnes.
FUEL FROM CROPS
Ethanol is a combustible fuel that can be blended with conventional fuel and is made from sugar beet or cereals, while biodiesel is mainly produced from rapeseed.
Paris has said increased biofuel output would lead to around 6,000 new industrial and agricultural jobs and that it would consume a "very significant" part of France's farm output.
French producers say 700,000 hectares of rapeseed is needed to produce a million tonnes of biodiesel. Farmers sowed 1.2 million hectares of rapeseed in France this year.
In the ethanol sector, the new demand for grains and sugar beet will depend on which projects are accepted. One hectare of cereals can produce 2.6 tonnes of ethanol while one hectare of sugar beet produces 5.8 tonnes of ethanol.
Within the European Union, France is now the second largest biodiesel producer after Germany and the third in terms of ethanol production after Spain and Poland.
The EU is the world's largest producer of biodiesel, whereas Brazil is the world's leading producer and exporter of ethanol, followed by the United States.
If the EU meets its 2010 ethanol targets it could catch up with these two countries, producers say.
