The oil boiler is resisting

The share of rapeseed in the "biofuel" currently marketed in France is still in the minority: no more than 30% for the moment. But this could quickly change and in the long term - probably not before 2030 - the F100 boiler will no longer have fuel oil in name only and will contain 100% rapeseed, the manufacturers assure.

In Cagnes-sur-mer on the Côte d'Azur, the co-owners of the Les Grillons building, let down at the start of 2023 by their old oil boiler, hesitated for a long time.

Impossible to replace her, their trustee Jean-Christophe Dor first said.

Either it was necessary to connect to the gas network, or to abandon collective heating and opt for individual convectors, which required changing the entire electrical supply of the building.

“I told them, fuel oil is dead... until they told me that it was possible by switching to a biofuel burner,” Mr. Dor told AFP, taking out the quotes. To his great surprise, the biofuel solution turned out to be less expensive than gas or convectors, it was this which won the votes and was installed in October.

Limited resource

According to the manufacturers, nearly 10.000 biofuel compatible boilers have been sold since sales began in mid-2022.

“This is not necessarily a good economic calculation,” objects Claire Tutenuit, general delegate of the Business for the Environment think tank and rapporteur of an opinion from the Economic and Social Council (CESE) on biomass.

According to her, the price of biofuel is set to rise because there will be increased competition for rapeseed oil. France produces it, notably to manufacture B7 biodiesel, but it must also import it.

In general, she points out, all agricultural biomass is coveted by many sectors looking for alternatives to use less oil.

Ademe, the agency which is the arm of the State for the ecological transition, confirms that the question of biomass resources is crucial.

“Technically, there is no brake and we can gradually increase to 100% rapeseed or another agricultural resource (in the boiler), the difficulty is not there”, admits Jérôme Mousset, director of Bioeconomy and Renewable Energies at Ademe.

"The question is that of the biomass resource. It is certainly renewable but limited to agricultural and forestry production capacities. From there, we are obliged not to waste it, to put it where it is essential and to give priority to sectors which have no alternatives,” he adds to AFP.

Ademe's prospective scenario, "Transition 2050", does not mention the word "biofuel": "We have reserved biofuels strictly for transport needs and we make the hypothesis that, for residential use, there are other solutions to replace fuel oil,” he continues.

"Swear word"

Ademe and the public authorities prefer to focus on sobriety efforts (heat less), the renovation of buildings (heat better), heat networks, heat pumps, wood, biogas.

“If we want to make biofuel, it’s not magic, we have to sacrifice something else,” he warns while recognizing that the changes linked to the energy transition “are complicated for everyone, users, producers, etc. ".

“Fuel oil has become a dirty word,” concedes Eric Layly, president of the French Federation of Combustibles, Fuels and Heating (FF3C), which brings together small and medium-sized companies in the independent distribution of off-grid energy, delivering fuel oil, wood, pellets or pellets.

The profession is also seriously considering changing its name when the threshold of 55% rapeseed in fuel is crossed. A step expected for 2025-2026.

“Certainly, the fossil fuel oil boiler is doomed, but it can be replaced by a biofuel boiler,” insists Mr. Layly and this perspective is according to him underestimated in government ecological planning which predicts the virtual disappearance of the fossil fuel boiler. fuel oil from 2035.

“There is a gap between the government’s wishes and reality,” sighs Mr. Layly. “Oil heating is very well established in rural areas, which is why our analysis is that approximately half of the current stock will remain in 2035” or 1,5 million boilers compared to 2,8 million today.

Illustrative image of the article via Depositphotos.com.