Shell has said it will be blending BTL (Biomass to Liquids) into its Shell V-Power Diesel race fuel at the Le Mans 24 Hours race, in France on June 14, 2008. According to the company this will be the first time a second-generation biofuel has been used at Le Mans.  Shell V-Power Diesel also includes synthetic GTL (Gas to Liquids) Fuel made by Shell from natural gas, which provides very clean and efficient combustion.

The company explained that a small amount of this new biofuel will be blended into the Shell V-Power Diesel race fuel together with the established GTL component, which is already being produced at a commercial scale and has been used in the Shell V-Power Diesel race fuel since 2006.

In 2006, Shell, together with the Audi R10 TDI, re-wrote motorsport history by powering the first diesel-engine car to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans race. Through its collaboration with German company CHOREN Industries GmbH, Shell is working to develop BTL. A CHOREN facility produced the BTL blended into the Shell V-Power Diesel race fuel being used at Le Mans and CHOREN's world-first demonstration commercial plant in Freiberg, Germany, is due to start producing fuel within 12 months.

Richard Karlstetter, Shell Global Technology Manager, Racing Fuels, said "It is still early commercial days for BTL but Shell sees motorsport as a technical test bed and we are excited about demonstrating the performance of Shell V-Power Diesel race fuel with both GTL and BTL."