France has opened consultation on the transposition of part of the recast renewable energy directive (RED III) into national law, which would replace the current system with a new one called "incentive for the reduction of the carbon intensity of fuels" (IRICC).
The proposal introduces two separate sets of requirements for transport fuels. The first is for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, broken down by transport sectors — road, aviation, maritime, LPG and natural gas for vehicles, which could be CNG or LNG (see table).
In the current draft, the GHG reduction target for the road sector will start at 5.9pc in 2026, rising to 10.6pc in 2030 and 18.7pc in 2035. For aviation, the target starts at 2.5pc in 2026, rising to 5.8pc in 2030 and 18.8pc in 2035.
The GHG mandate levels include a gradual phasing-in of new fuel sectors – river and maritime fuels, fuel gasses, and aviation.
To meet the overall RED III target of 14.5pc emissions reduction by 2030, the national French target includes the biofuels mandates, a share for rail transport, and a share or private vehicle charging.
The second set of requirements is a renewable fuel requirement by energy content, which is broken down by fuel type — diesel, gasoline, LPG and natural gas fuels and marine fuel (see table). The blending requirements for diesel start at 9pc in 2026, rising to 11.4pc in 2030 and 16pc in 2035. For gasoline, the mandates start at 9.5pc in 2026, rising to 10.5pc in 2030 and 14.5pc in 2035.
Finally, the proposal includes a set of sub-mandates for advanced fuels and renewable hydrogen. The advanced biofuels mandate would start at 0.7pc in 2026, rising to 1.95pc in 2030 and 2.6pc in 2035. Users of renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) would not be subject to the advanced sub-mandate.
In feedstock restrictions, the crop cap will rise to 7pc from 6.2pc in 2030 and 2035, while the limit for fuels made from feedstocks found in Annex IX-B of RED will be at 0.6pc in 2026, 0.7pc in 2030 and 1pc in 2035 for diesel and petrol. Aviation fuel will not have a IX-B cap until 2030, and from then it will be 6pc.
Mandate compliance would be managed by a certificate system through the CarbuRe registry, with a compliance deadline of 1 March the following year. Public electric vehicle charging would also generate tickets, although the amount of tickets generated by charging light passenger vehicles would be reduced from 2031 to reach 50pc in 2035.
Renewable hydrogen used in transport would also generate tickets counting towards the hydrogen sub-quota and reduce the overall GHG savings requirement.
Public charging stations will start generating fewer tickets for electric passenger vehicles from 2031 to 50pc by 2035.
France is also considering steep penalties for non-compliance, at €700/t CO2 not avoided for the GHG reduction requirement and at €40/GJ for the fuel targets. The penalty for not meeting hydrogen and advanced fuel sub-targets would be doubled, at €80/GJ.
The consultation is open for comments until 10 June.
| Proposed GHG reduction by transport sector | % | |||||||||
| 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 | 2032 | 2033 | 2034 | 2035 | |
| Road and non-road diesel | 5.9 | 7.1 | 8.3 | 9.5 | 10.6 | 13.2 | 14.8 | 16.2 | 17.5 | 18.7 |
| Aviation | 2.5 | 3.3 | 4.1 | 4.9 | 5.8 | 8.4 | 10.8 | 13.3 | 15.9 | 18.7 |
| RFNBO sub-target (% en.) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 5.0 |
| Maritime | 2.5 | 3.25 | 4.0 | 5.0 | 6.0 | 7.0 | 8.0 | 10.0 | 12.0 | 14.5 |
| RFNBO sub-target (% en.) | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 1.2 | 2.0 | 2.0 |
| LPG and natural gas fuels | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.7 | 6.3 | 10.6 | 13.2 | 14.8 | 16.2 | 17.5 | 18.7 |
| DGEC | ||||||||||
| Proposed energy content mandate by fuel type | % (en.) | |||||||||
| 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 | 2032 | 2033 | 2034 | 2035 | |
| Diesel | 9.0 | 9.5 | 10.1 | 10.7 | 11.4 | 12.2 | 13.0 | 13.8 | 14.9 | 16.0 |
| Petrol | 9.5 | 9.7 | 10.0 | 10.2 | 10.5 | 11.1 | 11.8 | 12.6 | 13.4 | 14.5 |
| Natural gas fuels | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 12.0 | 15.0 | 16.0 | 18.0 | 19.0 | 21.0 |
| LPG | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 7.0 | 12.0 | 15.0 | 16.0 | 18.0 | 19.0 | 21.0 |
| Marine fuel | 2.9 | 3.8 | 4.7 | 5.9 | 7.1 | 8.2 | 9.4 | 11.8 | 14.1 | 17.1 |
| DGEC | ||||||||||
| Proposed caps and sub-targets | % (en.) | |||||||||
| 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 | 2030 | 2031 | 2032 | 2033 | 2034 | 2035 | |
| Feedstock caps | ||||||||||
| Crop feedstocks | 6.2 | 6.4 | 6.6 | 6.8 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 | 7.0 |
| Annex IX-B feedstocks* | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.65 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.75 | 0.8 | 0.85 | 0.9 | 1.0 |
| Cat. 3 tallow | 0.5 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.7 |
| Tall oil | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.1 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.15 | 0.2 |
| Fuel sub-targets | ||||||||||
| Advanced feedstocks | 0.7 | 0.95 | 1.25 | 1.6 | 1.95 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.25 | 2.4 | 2.6 |
| RFNBOs/Renewable hydrogen | 0.05 | 0.2 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 2.0 |
| *For diesel and petrol | ||||||||||
