French oil major, Toital, has confirmed it will be participating in the Futurol project, a second-generation bioethanol research and development project. Bringing together top-tier French research organizations, manufacturers and financial institutions involved in this sector of activity, Futurol is designed to develop a process to produce bioethanol by fermenting non-food lignocellulosic biomass and verify its industrial viability.

The estimated budget for this project is around €74 million and should last 8 years.

In addition to providing Futurol with technical expertise and financing, Total brings to the table its industrial expertise in blending biocomponents with existing automotive fuels. Futurol supplements Total’s effort in the field of bio-dimethyl ether (bio-DME) conducted at the European Union level with Volvo, as well as Group research and development to develop thermochemical production—involving conversion by heating and chemical reaction—of second-generation biofuels.