Page 6 - Biorefinery 2030

Foreword

At a time when the world is facing simultaneous challenges posed by hunger, climate
and energy, the bioeconomy is gradually emerging as a possible, global solution.
Doubtless, such a transition will take time, just as the transition from coal to
petrochemicals took time. However, the genuine revolution that we are urged to take
part in is not simply industrial as in the past; it is also socio-economic and
environmental.
For these reasons, numerous questions have been raised, such as, for example,
will the massive use of biomass lead to conflict in land use? Are agricultural
production methods sustainable enough?
The ideological battle has begun, both between food and energy production and
between inland biorefineries and those near seaports. At times, the healthy confron-
tation of ideas is infiltrated by ideological and militant dimensions.
The bioeconomy needs to be explained and sometimes defended, and a book
such as this one is an exceptional way of promoting it. The bioeconomy based on
biorefineries is not just a theoretical concept; this book produced by the NEOMA
Business School Chair in Industrial Bioeconomy bears witness to this and explains
how the initiatives and synergy developed on the Bazancourt-Pomacle site. How-
ever, highlighting the role of people in shaping their future and the ability to draw
up long-term strategies made possible by the stability of the cooperative system is
not the least of the merits of the book’s authors.
It was therefore a pleasure and a delight for me as president of the Industry and
Agro-Resources Competitive Cluster to be invited to write the preface for this brilliant
socio-economic and environmental summary of the Bazancourt-Pomacle territorial
biorefinery.
I have been fortunate to be the first to discover this brilliant study; now I hope to
share it with many other readers and acknowledge the talent and ability of the NEOMA
Business School Bioeconomy Chair under the “firm guidance” of Pierre-Alain Schieb.

Dominique Dutartre
President of the Industry and
Agro-Resources Competitive Cluster (Po ˆle IAR)
Laon, France

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