Page 30 - Biorefinery 2030

Introduction

The subject of this study is the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery, located 15 km
from the city of Reims in the Champagne region of France. It is a biorefinery
covering 160 ha of land, which currently processes every year one million tonnes of
wheat and two million tonnes of sugar beet and dehydrates 110,000 tonnes of pulp
and alfalfa. It has been built in stages since 1948 and represents more than
11 different players in the field of industrial production (sugar, starch, biofuel),
research and development, academic research and also experimental equipment and
demonstration.
This is the first economic, social and environmental study of an operational
biorefinery. It was carried by the staff of the NEOMA Business School Chair in
Industrial Bioeconomy, Reims Campus (formerly Reims Management School).
The study was approved on principle by the Chair’s Strategic Orientation Commit-
tee in February 2013. This committee is made up of representatives of the local
authorities that have financed a significant part of the Chair’s first work (Cham-
pagne Ardenne Regional Council, General Council of the Marne De ´partement,
Reims Metropolitan Area), together with representatives of the Industry and Agro-
Resources International Competitive Cluster (IAR), the private research centre
Agro-industry Research and Development (ARD), the Jacques de Bohan Founda-
tion and the NEOMA Business School management committee.
The publication of this study aims to inform those interested in the development
of industrial bioeconomy, of which biorefineries are a key component:
governments, international organisations, industrial players, investors,
non-governmental organisations, analysts and researchers. As such, the authors
have endeavoured to use a minimum of technical terms and to make the text
understandable for non-specialists, without compromising its scientific and techni-
cal rigor.
The study is therefore not directly aimed at industrials or operators directly
involved in the biorefinery sector.
In terms of dates, the study includes data published up to 2012, but includes in its
discussion of future prospects the latest developments in 2014, up to 30 June 2014.
Why is such a study necessary in 2013–2014?
This study was launched for four main reasons:

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