Biogas units in France: typologies and future scenarios for the sector [Les formes d'unités de méthanisation en France : typologies et scénarios d'avenir de la filière]

With more than 700 biogas production units (BU), the biogas production sector has been structuring in France for the past ten years or so, thanks to the support of public policies, relying on a growing diversity of biogas production models. The article provides a literature review of existing BU classifications, showing that it is mainly based on technical and legal criteria. To go further, the article is based on 53 semi-directive interviews conducted with farmers in the Grand-Est, Ile-de-France and New Aquitaine regions and 40 interviews conducted with institutional stakeholders. It presents new classifications based on the strategies and motivations of the actors, more qualitative and subjective knowledge, allowing a better understanding of the evolution of the sector. The article then ends with a discussion on the future of the various BU models in the context of the current reconfiguration of the sector.