At a time when France has set itself the target of becoming fossil natural gas-free by 2050, biogas represents a major lever for this transition. What's more, the crisis in energy prices between 2021 and 2023 has highlighted the benefits of biogas for the security of energy supply. Biogas is a gaseous mixture composed essentially of methane and carbon dioxide produced through methanisation (fermentation of organic matter and waste). It is used to produce electricity, heat and, when cleaned, biomethane, which is injected into the natural gas network. Finally, in addition to biogas, methanisation produces a material, the digestate, which can be used as an agricultural fertiliser and replace mineral fertilisers produced using fossil fuels. The public policies pursued to date have enabled the development of this renewable energy, with the help of substantial public funding. At the end of 2023, France had 1,911 methanisation units, mainly small or medium-sized and agricultural, delivering a total energy output of almost 12 TWh of gas and electricity (excluding heat production).
France has set itself the target of quadrupling biogas production by 2030 (50 TWh), according to the forthcoming multiannual energy planning programme. In view of this ambition, public policy to support biogas now faces a number of challenges: controlling public spending and
consumer prices, guaranteeing the availability of the biomass needed to produce biogas and ensuring that the value generated by production is shared in a balanced way with the agricultural sector.
