Two earlier studies on wind power in France paved the way for this new project on biogas, which has been at the heart of the Chair’s work in recent months. “Our investigative methods aim to test how effective new business-oriented measures or solutions can be in reconciling economic viability with genuine citizen buy-in,” explains Carine Sebi, Professor of Economics at GEM, energy-sector specialist, and head of the Energy for Society Chair. The goal? To strengthen social acceptance of biogas technologies.

A Groundbreaking Study on Biogas

“Our methodology for examining the challenges surrounding biogas turned out to be quite different from our previous projects. We adapted qualitative tools from innovation management to help identify new business models. Biogas projects are spread all across France, and they look very different from one region to another—Brittany, the Vosges, the Auvergne–Rhône-Alpes region… Each reflects a distinct ‘type of biogas production.’ It’s a sector that increasingly resembles an industrial ecosystem.

We’re standing at the crossroads of agriculture, energy, and waste management, which means dealing with different worlds, different stakeholders, and different ways of communicating.”

Strengthening Social Acceptance to Build Effective Business Models

Biogas contributes to decarbonizing France’s energy mix. Beyond that, the war in Ukraine highlighted the need to diversify energy supplies, especially gas. “In addition to its energy benefits, biogas supports a local circular economy. It can provide farmers with an additional income stream and enable the local recovery of waste that is currently transported across the country. But biogas also raises concerns and pushbacks. How do we make sure that public or private interests don’t turn into negative impacts for others?” asks Carine Sebi.

To address this challenge, Eduardo Méndez León, Anne-Lorène Vernay, and Carine Sebi—faculty members at GEM and initiators of the biogas project—interviewed the sector’s main stakeholders: local residents, NGOs, farmers, project developers, industrial players, and energy companies. By October 2023, more than thirty qualitative interviews had been conducted. “The central questions focused on understanding the different biogas processes, their advantages, and especially their drawbacks,” notes Sebi. These three elements will serve as a foundation for building social acceptance of the technology.

In practice, biogas—like many other renewable-energy solutions—relies on decentralized infrastructure rolled out across various local communities. “Because these projects are decentralized, they multiply the potential friction points between stakeholders. These tensions drive up overall development costs and timelines for the entire sector, harm society as a whole, and put additional pressure on the environment.”

What Makes a Project Succeed

Understanding both the resistance factors and the drivers of acceptance is essential to shortening development and implementation timelines for new models. The study highlights several key takeaways:

Project sponsors must demonstrate that biogas complements agricultural activity rather than replacing it, and that it does not encourage waste production. Biogas should be an outlet, not a driver.

Projects must be sized appropriately for the local context, taking into account the volume of digestate relative to available land for spreading, and the availability of local organic material to minimize transport.

Transparency toward local stakeholders is essential—even before filing for a permit.

“To ensure these conditions are met and to reconcile agricultural, energy, and industrial priorities, the State must enforce existing regulations. Locally, municipalities and regional authorities need support in carrying out their responsibilities for spatial planning, so they can align local priorities with national ambitions,” concludes Carine Sebi.