Page 35 - Biorefinery 2030

2 1 Unique, Multi-generational Development: A Lesson in Forward Planning

Abstract The purpose of this chapter is to retrace the historical roots of the
Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery: its geological, morphological, climatic origins
and their implications; but also its cultural, religious, political, economic and
technological roots, particularly over the last two centuries.
The chapter is divided into three sections to explain the interactions between the
intrinsic and human or contextual factors: the Champagne-Ardenne terroir, recent
history and the first stages of the biorefinery.

1 Particular Features of the Region

At around 150 km from Paris, the great chalk plains of Champagne cover an area of
more than 900,000 ha between the Paris region in the west, Lorraine in the east, the
Ardennes in the north and the Morvan mountains in the south. This natural region is
much larger therefore than the purely administrative region of Champagne-
Ardenne, which includes the de ´partements of the Aube, the Marne, the Haute-
Marne and the Ardennes.
Today Champagne Ardenne is a region of arable farming, and one of the most
productive in Europe. The development of the region’s farming was however slow
and chaotic, partly because of its distinctive natural features. For this reason, it is
important to study the region’s soil quality and climate.

1.1 Geological History of Champagne

‘Champagne crayeuse’ (Chalk area of Champagne) is part of the Paris Basin, which
features the presence of different sedimentary strata of different geological ages,
piled one on top of the other. They appear on the geological map (c.f. Fig. 1.1) in the
form of a succession of concentric circles, going from the most ancient terrain on
the outside to the most recent in the centre. This ensemble, known as the ‘pays de la
craie’ (chalk lands) surrounds the tertiary heart of the Paris Basin with an almost
perfect crown. However, everywhere except in Champagne, the chalk substratum is
covered with sediment, the diversity of which (from clay to flint to quaternary silt)
creates regional differentiations. The chalk area of Champagne is different from the
rest of the basin by including land where chalk appears at the surface, with hardly
any surface sediment. This chalk was formed at the end of the secondary era (upper
cretaceous) from maritime deposits originating from calcareous nannoplankton
which were part of cretaceous warm sea, their small plates (coccoliths) that
armoured the cells accumulated in huge volumes as fine-grained limestone named
chalk.
Experts believe that geological evolution continued after the cretaceous era, but
the tertiary cover that was the result of this has completely disappeared and the silt
deposited during the cold periods of the quaternary era, making the neighbouring