In France, the French Ministry for Energy and the French Ministry of Agriculture presented a draft decree during a National Biogas Group meeting that extends and expands the national Biogas Production Certificate (CPB) scheme through 2041. The regulatory proposal opens the country’s primary long-term off-take mechanism for renewable gas to pyrolysisPyrolysis is a thermochemical process that converts waste biomass into bio-char, bio-oil, and pyro-gas. It offers significant advantages in waste valorization, turning low-value materials into economically valuable resources. Its versatility allows for tailored products based on operational conditions, presenting itself as a cost-effective and efficient More and gasificationGasification is a high-temperature, thermochemical process that converts carbon-based materials into a gaseous fuel called syngas and solid by-products. It takes place in an oxygen-deficient environment at temperatures typically above 750°C. Unlike combustion, which fully burns material to produce heat and carbon dioxide (CO2​), gasification More pathways alongside traditional anaerobic digestion. This regulatory advance was formally welcomed by Canadian cleantech firm CHAR Technologies Ltd. and its French project partner GazoTech SAS, as it expands the addressable market for High-Temperature Pyrolysis (HTP) infrastructure within one of Europe’s largest natural gas markets.

The core challenge addressed by this policy revision is the structural limitation of France’s legacy renewable gas support framework, which previously excluded thermochemical conversion pathways. Emerging high-temperature pyrolysis technologies faced significant barriers to securing long-term off-take visibility and project financing because subsidy mechanisms catered exclusively to anaerobic digestion and landfill gas capture. Without equal access to national production certificate schemes and guaranteed long-term demand obligations from natural gas suppliers, large-scale thermochemical bioenergy and biocarbon facilities struggled to reach final investment decisions.

To overcome these market restrictions, the draft decree incorporates generic pyrolysis and gasification processes into the CPB framework as eligible production routes, supporting national targets to achieve 44 TWh of grid-injected biomethane by 2030. This policy adjustment enables GazoTech SAS to advance its flagship Bio-Méthane Provence (BMP) project in Gardanne, situated on the site of a former 600 MW coal-fired power plant. The planned industrial facility utilizes CHAR Tech’s proprietary HTP platform to process 115,000 metric tons per annum of recovered wood feedstockFeedstock refers to the raw organic material used to produce biochar. This can include a wide range of materials, such as wood chips, agricultural residues, and animal manure. More into grid-ready renewable natural gas and solid biocarbon.

The primary outcome of this legislative update is the creation of a durable, bankable pathway for pyrolysis-based renewable natural gas and biocarbon production in France. Upon final adoption and commercial deployment targeted for the second half of 2029, the Bio-Méthane Provence project is projected to deliver 230 GWh (828,000 GJ) of renewable natural gas and 12,000 metric tons of biocarbon annually. Ultimately, integrating thermochemical pathways into the CPB scheme provides the policy certainty required for CHAR Tech and GazoTech to scale HTP infrastructure, support heavy industry decarbonization, and accelerate circular bioeconomy initiatives across Europe.