Agro-industrial group Avril will shift its strategy away from car-specific biodiesel-mixed fuel, and towards heavy goods vehicles.
The refocus comes as the French group, owner of rapeseed-based goods vehicle fuel manufacturer Oleo100 , announced a 45% leap in net profits.
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The plan will mean that, of the firm’s average 1 million tonne annual biofuel output, Olio100’s share will double to 200,000 tonnes.
Of the plan, Avril chief executive Jean-Phillipe Puig said: “If we can do a little more we will, and this will mean even less for the standard diester [biodiesel] that goes into diesel available at petrol stations”.
The French firm posted record profits in 2022 as prices, including that of produced rapeseed, rose. Much of these profits came from Avril’s rapeseed-focused subsidiaries. Saipol, which produces the Oleo100 biodiesel among other rapeseed products, and Expur, which focuses on the farming and processing of rapeseed, were amongst the biggest contributors.
Puig, though, was nonetheless wary of the future. He stated: “While 2022 will remain an excellent year for Avril, 2023 already promises to be full of political, economic and financial uncertainties”.
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By GlobalDataThe rapeseed biofuel future
Although the move may see reduced availability of mixed biodiesel for consumers, the environmental benefit may be larger. The type of biofuel used in Avril’s haulage fleet is 100% biological rapeseed. Increasing its use could mean a reduction in overall net emissions, even if fewer cars have access to mixed fuel.
The company previously announced the result of an 18-month trial of usage of Oleo100 biofuel on the Paris-Granville train line. The results found that 11,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions had been avoided as a result of Olio100’s usage. The 100% rapeseed biofuel was trialled on trains that travelled a combined 3.5 million km during the period. This equated to a 62% drop in greenhouse gas emissions on the trains compared to the previous fossil fuel usage.
