Page 143 - Biorefinery 2030

Annexes 111

operators need to be convinced that disclosure is in their individual or joint interests
if they are to agree to take part in a case study.
In this respect, the following observations can be made:

• Reluctance on the part of Biorefinery operators’ to communicate on their
activities can result in their being seen as a “black box,” which can raise all
sorts of questions. The strict minimum in terms of communication (“compli-
ance”) is often insufficient to illustrate active social responsibility.
• Partial, incomparable, one-off, non-independent case studies can only promote
confusion, conflicting assessments, unfounded interpretations and hasty
generalisations. They present non-negligible opportunity costs for industry,
investors and governments.
• As recently pointed out by a major trade association (the Confederation of
European Paper industries, CEPI), even limited case studies mapping
bio-refinery operations, physical flows, interactions with the environment and
industrial synergies, would already be a major step forward in helping external
stakeholders to understand how a biorefinery operates.

The remainder of this document will be organized as follows:

1. Definitions
2. General outline of the study
3. Methodological challenges
4. Conclusion
5. References

1. Definitions According to Task 42 of the International Energy Agency (IEA), a
Biorefinery is the site of “the sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of
marketable products and energy”.
Biorefinery systems can be classified in different types. We can distinguish
between:

– Port biorefineries, which import biomass, and rural bio-refineries, which trans-
form local biomass
– Sugar-based biorefineries (wheat, sugar beet) and “oilseed” based biorefineries
(rapeseed, sunflower and palm oil)
– First generation biorefineries and second-generation biorefineries (using ligno-
cellulose processing or urban waste for example)
– Single input/output bio-refineries and multi-input biorefineries with multiple
products
– Standalone refineries versus integrated bio-refineries.