Page 96 - Biorefinery 2030 Future Prospects for the Bioeconomy (2015)

64 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

This departure takes nothing away from the results achieved by ARD. Its aim, to
develop commercially viable technology to produce bio-based succinic acid, has
been achieved. It does represent a loss for the local area: reputation, employment,
prospects etc. However, the environment in Ontario is much more attractive and
favourable to the development of BIOAMBER Inc. (funding conditions, operating
costs etc.)
This disappointment needs to be qualified however by the fact that the industrial
symbioses offered by the Bazancourt biorefinery’s ecosystem are a major asset in
its competitive advantage, which counterbalances such threats.
The synergies developed as the industrial site grew initially focussed on what are
known as “good sense” synergies, such as joint management of waste, sharing
water and steam, industrial maintenance etc. This cooperation was essentially
57
between two actors: CRISTAL UNION and CHAMTOR.
Since the beginning of the 2000s, this dynamic has accelerated and intensified
thanks to ARD working on the innovative use of agricultural products, the products
and by-products of firms on the site, and on processes unique to the biorefinery.
ARD thus created a favourable context for more mutualisation, optimisation and
synergy. At the same time, the creation of CRISTANOL, led to the development not
only of traditional exchanges (water and steam) but also of product exchange, since
CRISTANOL processes products from the sugar factory and CHAMTOR and the
CO 2 produced by the Air Liquide liquefaction unit.

Conclusion
In view of what we have described, we can assert that the Bazancourt-Pomacle
Biorefinery is an excellent subject for a study insofar as it is a concrete illustration
of what is often still considered just as a concept: the integrated biorefinery.
The site is unique in that it is an “ecosystem,” in which exchange and interaction
have boosted the production of the firms present on the platform. The unity of the site
is based on research, which provides fertile ground for mutualisation and synergy.
Whilst it is often suggested that the common good, good sense and a spirit of
cooperation were behind the development of the site and its uniqueness, this study
has shed light on other factors that came into play. The Bazancourt-Pomacle
Biorefinery is also the result of the cooperatives adapting to changes in their
competitive, industrial and regulatory environment: WTO regulations, CAP and
unstable raw material prices. It is also the consequence of the fact that the actors
involved with the site were able to learn from their mistakes; the opportunities
offered by the cooperative model; and the quality of the bank partnership that they
enjoyed until the 2008 financial crisis.
The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery is a good lesson in adaptability, reactivity
and anticipation.
Managerially and organisationally, this study provides several lessons.
The firms on the site were able to reduce their dependence on subsidies by early
diversification to develop non-food outlets for agro-resources, but the fact remains

57
It should be noted that water is also exchanged between the sugar factory and Cristanol.