France confirmed on Tuesday it intends to remain among the top European biofuel producers as Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin announced he will launch a new tender to raise the country's use of "green fuels".
Soaring oil prices have encouraged major consumers world-wide to sharply increase their use of biofuels, made from sugar cane, vegetable oils or grain and widely seen in the European Union as a way to reduce emitted gases that heat the earth.
The EU has encouraged a rise in biofuel production in the bloc, setting ambitious but non-binding targets for incorporation into conventional fuels. This is seen as a new opportunity for farmers to promote their image as guardians of the environment and a way to bolster farm prices.
Villepin said at the Paris farm show that France would launch a new tender for 1.1 million tonnes of biofuel capacity by the end of the year. The tender would be for ethanol and biodiesel production, but the proportions will be announced later.
Biofuels are split between biodiesel, largely made from rapeseed and then blended with diesel, and ethanol, made from sugar beet or cereals and then blended with conventional fuel.
The new tender follows an existing tender for 1.8 million tonnes launched last year aimed at meeting France's target that green fuels account for 5.75 percent of all fuels by 2008, bringing forward an EU target date of 2010. This 2008 quota attracted heavy bidding and has now been fully granted, Villepin said. It will lead to the construction of 10 new plants with an investment of one billion euros ($1.19 billion).
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