Pierre-Alain Schieb

Honorine Lescieux-Katir · Maryline Thénot

Barbara Clément-Larosière

Biorefinery 2030
Future Prospects for the Bioeconomy
Biorefinery 2030
ThiS is a FM Blank Page
Pierre-Alain Schieb • Honorine Lescieux-Katir
Maryline Thénot • Barbara Clément-Larosière

Biorefinery 2030
Future Prospects for the Bioeconomy
Pierre-Alain Schieb Honorine Lescieux-Katir
NEOMA Business School NEOMA Business School
Reims Cedex, France Reims Cedex, France

Maryline Thénot Barbara Clément-Larosière

NEOMA Business School NEOMA Business School
Reims Cedex, France Reims Cedex, France

Translation from the French language edition : Bioraffinerie 2030, Une question d’avenir,
Paris : L’Harmattan 2014.

ISBN 978-3-662-47373-3 ISBN 978-3-662-47374-0 (eBook)

DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-47374-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015942635

Springer Heidelberg New York Dordrecht London

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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 (Pôle IAR)
Laon, France

v
ThiS is a FM Blank Page
Acknowledgements

This study would not have been possible without the support of NEOMA Business
School (formerly Reims Management School), which hosts the Chair in Industrial
Bioeconomy, the public authorities that contribute financially to its work
(Champagne-Ardenne Regional Council, General Council Marne Département,
Reims Metropolitan Area) and the industrial organisations that were willing for
the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery to be the subject of this study.
We would like to thank the members of the Chair’s strategy committee for their
encouragement and enthusiasm: Mme Catherine Quintallet and M. Richard Lubin,
M. Edouard Kson and Mme Alexa Wadlow, M. Bertrand Rigal and Mme Sophie
Dewaleyne, M. Dominique Dutartre, M. Yvon Le Hénaff and M. Jean-Marie
Chauvet.
We would particularly like to thank M. Jean-Marie Chauvet, who helped us
smooth over the occasional disturbance caused in the daily life of the companies
concerned by outside observation.
Data collection, both qualitative and quantitative, would not have been possible
without the agreement of the Presidents and Management of the two agricultural
cooperatives that founded the biorefinery, together with that of their site managers
and staff: M. Olivier de Bohan, M. Pascal Prot, M. Alain Commissaire, M. Jérôme
Bignon, M. Alain Le Floch, M. Benoı̂t Lalizel, M. Michel Mangion, M. Patrick
Piot, M. Olivier Parent, Mme Marie-Josée Attou, M. Frédéric Martel, M. Benoı̂t
Trémeau, M. Philippe Aubry, M. Christian Belloy, M. David Merlet, Mme
Frédérique Lafosse, M. Alexis Rannou, Mme Marie-Adeline Levy, M. Alexis
Karageorgis and Mme Séverine Garnier.
We would like to thank Mme Dominique Pareau, M. Bernard Mary, M. Barrie
Stevens, M. Vincent Barbin, M. Patrick Demouy and M. Frédéric Croizier whose
comments enabled us to improve the contents of this book.
We would like to thank Mark Holdsworth, our translator, for the thorough and
detailed work that he accomplished in a very short space of time.
The initiators and promoters of the Chair at the time of Reims Management
School, François Bonvalet and Svetlana Serdukov, will find in this publication the
first result of their efforts. We thank them for their foresight and their commitment
to founding this Chair.

vii
viii Acknowledgements

And finally, the study would not have been completed without the support of
Mme Valery Michaux, the contributions of Mme Bénédicte Subtil and
M. Mohamed Chelly and the other staff members at NEOMA BS who in different
ways supported the Chair in its early days and in the realisation of this study: Mmes
Anna Goychman, Elisabeth Patin, Irina Fandolea and Renée Boutet.
Executive Summary

Faisons nos affaires nous-mêmes1.

Gustave de Bohan (1849–1928)

A Pioneering Study

This study of the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery, an integrated biorefinery near

Reims, in the Champagne region of France, aims to highlight the potential of the
industrial bioeconomy to replace fossil fuel (coal, oil and natural gas) with
resources produced from more sustainable biomass (mainly agro-resources) that
perform well both economically and socially: a major challenge for the twenty-first
century.
According to a number of reports (OECD, US Presidency, European Commis-
sion), industrial bioeconomy is the most promising branch of the bioeconomy for
2030–2050: it could result in the transformation of industry via the large-scale
implementation of discoveries in natural sciences and engineering in the fields of
health, agriculture, industry and marine resources.
The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery, also known as the European Biorefinery
Institute (IEB—Institut Européen de la Bioraffinerie), the result of 70 years of
continuing initiatives, is the first operational integrated biorefinery with varied
industrial facilities and production, an innovation platform and the operation of a
genuine knowledge economy.
Today the Bazancourt-Pomacle site employs nearly 1200 people (permanent and
seasonal staff) and is responsible for 600 indirect jobs. It operates 24 h a day
transforming three million tonnes of different types of biomass (mainly sugar
beet and wheat, but also alfalfa) on a site of more than 160 ha.
Two world-scale agro-industrial cooperative groups are closely involved on the
site: Vivescia and Cristal Union (the owners of Cristanol, Chamtor, ARD, etc.).
Over time, their involvement has enabled nearly a billion euros of investment to be

1
Let’s do it ourselves.

ix
x Executive Summary

mobilised, and gives the site industrial dynamism, with more than 20 million euros
invested annually and a strategic vision that encompasses the globe.

An Exceptional Site

Of the five leading European integrated biorefineries, Bazancourt-Pomacle has the

highest capacity, from the laboratory (test-tube) to industrial-scale production
thanks to its pilots and industrial demonstrators: this process is recognised today
by most experts, industrials and investors as being essential.
We can therefore justifiably claim that this study of the historical, economic,
managerial, institutional and ecological aspects of Bazancourt-Pomacle, as well as
of its future perspectives, is a pioneering study.
The authors consider the study of Bazancourt-Pomacle to be that of a possible
“precursor” in the industrial bioeconomy although, of course, it is impossible to
predict its future, given the numerous conditions that will have to be combined and
aligned to ensure its future success. Nonetheless, it would be perfectly reasonable to
target the construction of 400 biorefineries in the United States and Europe over the
next 20–25 years (10 times current European capacity) to achieve 10 % of chemical
and petrochemical production in the form of bio-based products.

Promising Future Perspectives (Chap. 4)

Indeed, in the specific case of Bazancourt-Pomacle, the prospects until 2030 are
promising following three local but world-scale events that took place during the
first half of 2014. These events confirm the first fruits of a genuine knowledge
economy: the acquisition of SOLIANCE2 by a multinational group (GIVAUDAN),
the ability BIODEMO3 demonstrator (ARD) to attract some of the world’s most
promising start-ups (Global Bioenergies) and the success of the industrial second
generation experimental biofuel FUTUROL,4 which exceeded the initial
expectations of its major shareholders.
For this knowledge economy and this exceptional local network of competencies
to prosper, the new Centre of Excellence in White Biotechnologies, made up of
three academic chairs and the University of Reims Champagne Ardenne will have
to gain momentum, to work effectively with industrials and the schools from which
it originated, become more strongly multidisciplinary, encourage feelings of pride
in its members, and develop a suitable governance structure. The governance of the
whole group (integrated biorefinery, local players) will have to adjust to these new
dimensions by giving itself resources based on strategic foresight, investment

2
Producer of cosmetic ingredients.
3
Demonstrator.
4
Industrial second generation ethanol pilot.
Executive Summary xi

(or non-investment) decisions, the development of knowledge and competencies,

the accompaniment of start-ups, financial engineering and reputation enhancing.
More orthodox future prospects identified by the authors of the study and local
players include some very concrete possibilities both upstream and downstream of
the biorefinery. Upstream, the possibility of setting up an experimental farm nearby
(on a disused military airfield, BA 112), would provide opportunities to improve the
crop varieties needed by both the biorefinery and farmers. This farm would also
help to attract a new layer of industrial firms, suppliers, engineering and services
companies in addition to those of the IEB. Downstream, a new 60 ha industrial
estate (Sohettes Val des Bois) next to the biorefinery will enable cooperatives and
industrial firms already involved, as well as other industrials further down the value
chain, to join up with the existing biorefinery and so benefit from various synergies
and by-products.
This new phase in upstream–downstream integration is absolutely in line with
the recommendations of OECD reports that call for this “interlocking” of the green
(agricultural) and white (industrial) bioeconomies to increase their effectiveness.
An important success factor for the future will be to maintain or regenerate
certain virtues of the cooperative model (mutualising, reactivity, patience, risk-
taking).

The Integrated Biorefinery: An Economic Model for the Future

(Chap. 2)

The biorefinery, envisaged as a single industrial entity, develops all its economic
potential when different types of company are assembled on the same site to form
an industrial ecosystem, supplying each other with intermediate products, energy
and services.
The economies of scale or diversification made possible by this geographical
proximity of the different players become key factors for competitiveness. Thus,
the biorefinery can optimise its procurement and production depending on upstream
and downstream markets. This economic optimisation can be accompanied by
environmental optimisation, when it includes reductions in waste, energy consump-
tion and other inputs.
Whilst it is often suggested that the different initiatives that led to the installation
of the site and its originality were driven by a desire for the common good, good
sense and a spirit of cooperation, other factors that came into play also need to be
highlighted. These factors are linked to the environment in which the cooperatives
were operating. These factors are both external, such as the reform of the CAP and
WTO regulations, and internal, such as increasing funding requirements and strate-
gic and industrial experiments and mistakes.
This study shows that the current situation of the Bazancourt-Pomacle integrated
biorefinery is largely the result of strategies developed in response to issues of
competition, regulations, finance and organisation. Diversification, the integration
of activities both upstream and downstream in the value chain, more and more
xii Executive Summary

complex financing arrangements, the construction of an industrial demonstrator, the

development of synergies to benefit from larger scale outputs: these are all
“response” strategies to sustain and develop their activities.
In Chap. 2, the authors ask whether the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery
possesses enough assets to continue its growth. To do so, the report proposes a
SWOT analysis with two applications: that of the threat that certain players might
leave the site and that of the strength of the circular economy that the biorefinery
makes possible.

Ecology or Industrial Symbiosis: A Key Advantage (Chap. 3)

Industrial ecology or industrial symbiosis refers to the synergies that are produced
between actors in the same integrated biorefinery. These synergies mainly take the
form of commercial exchanges of by-products within an industrial cascade phe-
nomenon, where the product of one industrial firm (an output) becomes an input for
another firm. This cascade can continue down through several levels in a vertically
integrated framework. Some exchanges can take the form of services (R&D,
maintenance, shared staff canteen, joint procurement, loans of staff, etc.).
The systematic study of industrial symbiosis is relatively recent (1989), but is
increasingly attracting interest from governments, investors and analysts because of
its advantages in terms of sustainable development and circular economies. Such
studies are however difficult to carry out due to the confidentiality that surrounds
competitive activities.
This study of the industrial symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is
the first of its kind. It shows that already at the beginning of the 1990s, with the
creation of the shared R&D firm, ARD, industrial ecology was a key element of the
biorefinery’s strategy. Initially, an “agrosystem” formed by combining the efforts
of farmers, refiners and the biorefinery developed progressively into an industrial
estate and then an innovation platform, for which symbiosis is a key element: in
both the sugar beet and cereal (wheat) sectors, exchanges of thin juice, sugar syrup,
glucose, alcohol and CO2 have been developed between the different companies.
Two support resources and a shared-use mechanism are also worthy of note:
water and energy in the form of steam, and the shared management and spraying of
waste water, are key components of the local symbiosis. With the original
CRISTAL UNION sugar plant (which was the initial driver of the site) as a base,
the development of the CHAMTOR starch and glucose plant has led to synergies
with the creation of high technology firms: SOLIANCE developing molecules
for the cosmetics industry, BIOAMBER producing succinic acid, CRISTANOL
producing bioethanol, the Air Liquide workshop for the recovery and processing
of CO2 and WHEATOLEO producing detergents. The pilot schemes and
demonstrators (BIODEMO and the FUTUROL project) also benefit from these
synergies.
This development of synergies is on-going in the sense that processes are
constantly being improved, the use of by-products is being developed and
Executive Summary xiii

increasing savings in resources is always on the agenda. The desire to consider the
plant as a whole, to minimise its harmful aspects and environmental footprint, to
return to farmers the organic elements they need, was felt on the part of all the
biorefinery actors we interviewed. We discuss possible areas for improvement in
Chap. 3, particularly concerning energy.
Finally, Chap. 3 confirms the fact that industrial ecology is not simply a passing
trend or a means of satisfying regulatory requirements: firms are also concerned
about economic logic and commercial development, about competitive strategy and
obtaining a good return on research and development investments.

The Historical Perspective: A Key to Understanding the Site’s

Development (Chap. 1)

Champagne Ardenne was originally an agricultural region, disadvantaged because

of its geological features. Today, it is considered extremely advanced, due to the
determination of men, their ability to put technological advances into practice and
to work together to adapt to changes in the environment.
The dynamic produced by agricultural cooperatives was vital to this develop-
ment, and the establishment of the Bazancourt-Pomacle site cannot be understood
without taking a historical perspective.
History allows us to highlight the different criteria that resulted in the construc-
tion of the Bazancourt-Pomacle platform as we know it today:

– The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is the result of an incremental, unplanned

process.
– The biorefinery was developed over several generations (70 years).
– The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is the result of a long-term process that
perfectly illustrates the innovation processes through which, by a combination of
different circumstances, a weakness can become a strength.
– The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is an example of a Ricardian process,
capitalising on local comparative advantage.
– The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery has grown organically, thanks to the pres-
ence of charismatic leaders.

All these elements combined have led farmers and industrial leaders to develop a
different kind of plant, and to launch innovative industrial projects, often linked to
the research of which the Bazancourt-Pomacle site is now a living example. This
type of history and these lessons can be found in other studies of industrial clusters
or districts.
xiv Executive Summary

Areas for Future Action (General Conclusion)

For industrial bioeconomy to fulfil its potential, with 400 biorefineries opening in
the United States, in Europe and on other continents, many favourable conditions
and circumstances will have to come together, and this is possible but far from
certain.
We indicate here three areas of action to promote these conditions:

• The development of research into the economic sector itself: its definition,
indicators and databases (the prerequisite for “knowing thyself”) without
which neither discussion nor analyses are possible (what, precisely, is the
industrial bioeconomy?)
• The active involvement of the private sector through public/private partnerships,
shared technology platforms, research into critical mass, the integration of
upstream and downstream structures, active discussions with society at large;
however, all this requires much more vigorous public policies.
• Governments acting as intermediaries between the stakeholders. They need to
remain neutral concerning choices of technologies, but provide a stable regu-
latory framework, and above all a level playing field in terms of competition
with existing technologies and sectors. In other words, they need to compensate
the industrial bioeconomy for the benefits (disregarded externalities) and mas-
sive direct and indirect subsidies (tax relief, favourable tax regimes) awarded to
established sectors.

Reims Cedex, France Pierre-Alain Schieb

Honorine Lescieux-Katir
Maryline Thénot
Barbara Clément-Larosière
Abbreviations and Acronyms

ADEME Agence De l’Environnement et de la Maı̂trise de l’Energie (Environ-

ment and Energy-Saving Agency)
ARD Agro-industries Recherches et Développements (Agro-Industry
Research and Development
BIC Bio-based Industries Consortium
BIOPOL Assessment of BIOrefinery concepts and the implications for agricul-
tural and forestry POlicy
BRI Bioraffinerie Recherche et Innovation (Biorefinery Research and
Innovation)
#
Photo credits
CANE CREDIT AGRICOLE DU NORD EST (Northeast Division of the
Crédit Agricole Bank)
CAP Common Agricultural Policy
CAPEX Capital Expenditure
CARB Coopérative agricole de la région de Brienne (Brienne Region Agricul-
tural Cooperative)
CATEI Comité d’Animation Territoire Durable et Ecologie Industrielle (Com-
mittee for Local Sustainable Development and Industrial Ecology)
CCI Chamber of Commerce and Industry
CDJA Young Farmers’ Club
CEBB Centre d’Excellence en Biotechnologies Blanches (Centre of Excel-
lence for White Biotechnology)
Cf. see also
CIMV La Compagnie Industrielle de la Matière Végétale (Industrial Plant
Matter Company)
CNES Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales (National Centre for Space Studies)
CO2 Carbon Dioxide
CRCA Caisse Régionale de CREDIT AGRICOLE de Reims (Reims Area
Division of the Crédit Agricole Bank)
DHA Dihydroxyacetone
DOE American Department of Energy
EIG Economic Interest Group

xv
xvi Abbreviations and Acronyms

€m Million Euros
ERDF European Regional Development Fund
etc. et cetera
FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations
FDSEA Fédération Départementale des Syndicats d’Exploitants Agricoles
(Departmental Federation of Farmers’ Unions)
GATT General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade
GDP Gross Domestic Product
HA Hyaluronic Acid
Hl hectolitre
HRD Human Resources Director
IAR Industry and Agro-resources
ICA International Cooperative Alliance
ICT Information and Communication Technologies
IEA International Energy Agency
IEB Institut Européen de la Bioraffinerie (European Biorefinery Institute)
ISTV Institut des Sciences et Techniques du Vivant (Institute of Life Sciences
and Techniques)
JAC Jeunesse Agricole Catholique (Young Catholic Farmers)
Khl Thousands of hectolitres
Km Kilometres
LBO Leveraged Buy-Out
LCA Lifecycle Analysis
m Metre
MW Megawatt
MWth Thermal Megawatt
NISP National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (United Kingdom)
NPV Net Present Value
NREL National Renewable Energy Laboratory (USA)
OECD Organisation for Economic Cooperation
P2G Procéthol 2ème Génération- FUTUROL (Second-generation ethanol
project)
pH Level of acidity/alkalinity
R&D Research and Development
SAU Surface Agricole Utile (Usable Agricultural land)
SCARM Romilly-Méry Area Agricultural Cooperative Society
SICA Syndicat d’Intérêt Commun Agricole (Farmers Union)
SWOT Strengths–Weaknesses–Opportunities–Threats
t Tonne
TRL Technology Readiness Level
WCR Working Capital Requirement and Development
WTO World Trade Organisation
Contents

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

Planning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
1 Particular Features of the Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.1 Geological History of Champagne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Visual Appearance of the Chalk Champagne Region . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 The Champagne Climate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Agricultural Properties of Chalk Soil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
1.5 Methods of Increasing Fertility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2 History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
2.1 From the Eighteenth Century Until the 1950s . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2 Farmers’ Unions in Champagne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
2.3 From Farmers’ Unions to Cooperatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
2.4 Agricultural Cooperatives and Cereal Processing . . . . . . . . . . 16
3 First Steps in the Development of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Site . . . . 19
3.1 Towards Collaborative Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
3.2 From ISTV to the Involvement of Academic Research . . . . . . 21
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery . . . . . . . . . 25
1 The Concept of Biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.1 Definitions, Technical Status and Typology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
1.2 The Viability of the Biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
1.3 The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
2 Changes in the Environment that made the Bazancourt-Pomacle
Biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.1 Exogenous Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
2.2 Endogenous Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
2.3 The Strategies and Solutions that Have made the Biorefinery
What It Is Today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
3 The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery: An On-Going
Success Story? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
3.1 Technological Readiness Levels: TRL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

xvii
xviii Contents

3.2What Are the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats

for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
3.3 BIOAMBER: A Locally Unrecognised Success Story . . . . . . . 62
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
3 Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery . . . . . . 67
1 What Is Industrial Symbiosis? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
2 Different Aspects of Industrial Symbiosis at the
Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
2.1 The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery and Its Local
Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
2.2 The Firms Making Up the Biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
2.3 The Biorefinery and Water Symbiosis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
2.4 Possible Improvements to the System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
4 Prospects for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery Between
Now and 2030 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
1 Challenges for the White Biotechnology Centre
of Excellence (CEBB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
1.1 Multidisciplinarity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
1.2 The Public-Private Partnership . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
1.3 Governance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
2 Recent Developments: 2014, a Turning Point? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
2.1 The Sale by ARD of Its Subsidiary SOLIANCE
to the GIVAUDAN Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
2.2 ARD’s BIODEMO Demonstrator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
2.3 The FUTUROL Industrial Pilot Scheme . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
3 Potential for Integration of the Upstream Value Chain . . . . . . . . . . 89
3.1 The Idea of an Experimental Farm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
3.2 Upstream Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
3.3 Cumulative Effects? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
4 Potential for Integration with the Downstream Value Chain . . . . . . . 92
4.1 Land Available for New Manufacturing Facilities
or Biorefineries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.2 Downstream Industry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
4.3 The Move Downstream by Industrials and Cooperatives . . . . . 94
5 Maintaining or Renewing the Virtues of the Cooperative Model . . . . 95
5.1 The Period 2015–2030–2040 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
5.2 The Basis of the Cooperative Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
5.3 Is It Possible to Benefit from Cooperative Values Without
Cooperatives? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
6 Does the IEB Need a More Formal Governance Structure? . . . . . . . 97
6.1 Networking, Strategic Monitoring and Strategic
Decision-Making Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
Contents xix

6.2Technology Transfer and Exploitation of Knowledge

and Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
6.3 Financial Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
5 General Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
1 What Is the True Nature of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Integrated
Biorefinery? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
1.1 Integrated Biorefinery and Industrial District . . . . . . . . . . . . . 101
1.2 Biorefinery and Economic Rationale . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
1.3 Biorefinery and Ecosystem: An Unplanned Process,
but One that Did not Occur by Chance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103
2 What Next? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
2.1 A Future Research Agenda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105
2.2 Will the Private Sector Continue Its Initial Efforts? . . . . . . . . 106
2.3 The Role of Public Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
Annexes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Glossary of Selected Scientific and Technical Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Glossary References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
ThiS is a FM Blank Page
List of Tables

Table 2.1 Synopsis of firms present on the Bazancourt-Pomacle site

(2011 data) . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . 38
Table 2.2 Distribution of CHAMTOR and CRISTANOL production . . . . . . 40
Table 2.3 Benefits of the biorefinery for the company CHAMTOR
between 2006 and 2011 (period of development
of CRISTANOL) . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 57
Table 3.1 Gains in water use productivity at the Bazancourt
sugar factory . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . 75

xxi
ThiS is a FM Blank Page
List of Figures

Fig. 1.1 Geology of France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Fig. 1.2 The sedimentary basins of Northern France . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
Fig. 1.3 Map of the chalk champagne region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Fig. 1.4 Chalk champagne landscape . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . 6
Fig. 1.5 Organisation of rural land in champagne in the eighteenth
century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
Fig. 1.6 Steam tractor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Fig. 1.7 Mechanised harvesting at the beginning of the 1960s . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Fig. 1.8 Léon Harmel (1829–1915) . . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . .. . . . .. . . . . .. . . . . 12
Fig. 1.9 Medal with the effigy of Gustave de Bohan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
Fig. 1.10 Entrance doors to La PROVIDENCE AGRICOLE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Fig. 1.11 The development of research at the Bazancourt-Pomacle site . . . 21
Fig. 1.12 The research structures making up Europol’Agro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
Fig. 2.1 Inputs and outputs of a traditional sugar factory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Fig. 2.2 Inputs and outputs of a sugar factory that is part of
a biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Fig. 2.3 The refinery and the biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
Fig. 2.4 The different components of the primary and secondary refining
in biorefinery concept. (IEA Task 42 Biorefinery
systemics, 2009; adapted and modified by the FNR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Fig. 2.5 The different components of the overall biorefinery concept
(IEA Task 42 Biorefinery systemics, 2009; adapted
and modified by the FNR) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Fig. 2.6 Overall view of the Bazancourt-Pomacle platform . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
Fig. 2.7 Evolution of the Bazancourt-Pomacle platform between
1980 and 2012 in 10-year periods . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . .. . . 36
Fig. 2.8 Phases in the development of the Bazancourt-Pomacle
Biorefinery from 1953 to 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Fig. 2.9 Interaction and cohesion between players on the
Bazancourt-Pomacle site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Fig. 2.10 Inputs and outputs of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery . . . . . . 40
Fig. 2.11 Comparison of wheat and sugar price trends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Fig. 2.12 World cereal production and consumption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

xxiii
xxiv List of Figures

Fig. 2.13 Structural needs and new challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Fig. 2.14 Challenges and opportunities generated by the singularity
of the cooperative business model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Fig. 2.15 Increase in total investment needs on the Bazancourt-Pomacle
site between 2000 and 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Fig. 2.16 Summary of the value chain upstream and downstream
of processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
Fig. 2.17 Initial investment for the creation of CRISTANOL in 2006 . . . . . 51
Fig. 2.18 Changing structure of the cooperatives and joint subsidiaries . . . 52
Fig. 2.19 Financial structure of the Bazancourt-Pomacle site in 2012 . . . . . 53
Fig. 2.20 Increased diversification of the companies on the
Bazancourt-Pomacle site in the agro-food industry
value chain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
Fig. 2.21 Development strategy upstream of processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Fig. 2.22 Turnover on the Bazancourt-Pomacle site, 2000–2011 . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Fig. 2.23 Application of TRL to the Bazancourt-Pomacle site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Fig. 2.24 BIOAMBER: challenge, obstacle and solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Fig. 3.1 Relations between the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery and its
environment. The interaction between the biorefinery and
the member-farmers of the cooperatives is called an
“agro-system” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Fig. 3.2 Flows of products, by-products and services between firms
(It should be noted that the dehydration unit backs onto the sugar
factory and operates outside the sugar production period)
at the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery, Champagne-Ardenne . . . 73
Fig. 3.3 Water flows (borehole water and processed water, steam
and water originating in biomass) between the firms of the
Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery, Champagne-Ardenne.
The percentages indicated represent the proportion of each
flow in comparison with all the water entering the system . . . . . . . 76
Fig. 3.4 Waste flows at the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery,
Champagne-Ardenne. The percentages indicated represented
the proportion of each flow in comparison with all the water
entering the system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Fig. 4.1 BA 112: 160 ha of land usable for an experimental farm . . . . . . . . 90
Fig. 4.2 Overall view of the Sohettes-Val des Bois business park on
completion (#CCI Reims-Epernay – 4 vents – agency no. 3,
adapted by the authors) with its location in relation to the
existing biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
Fig. 4.3 Representation of prospects for extending activities around
the biorefinery .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . . . 95
List of Boxes

Box 2.1 Examples of Definitions of the Biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

Box 2.2 Levels of Integration and Multi-functionality Already
Achieved by Biorefineries . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Box 2.3 Presentation of VIVESCIA and CRISTAL UNION,
2013 Figures . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . 33
Box 2.4 Key Stages in the Development of the Bazancourt-Pomacle
Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Box 2.5 Cooperative Values and Principles According to the
ICA (1995) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
Box 2.6 Presentation of Siclaé, VIVESCIA Holding Group and
Player in the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
Box 2.7 The Nine Levels of Technological Maturity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Box 2.8 SWOT Analysis of the Biorefinery in 2011 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Box 2.9 BIOAMBER Funding . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Box 3.1 Economic and Environmental Impact of the Installation of
Two Biomass Boilers on the CRISTANOL Site . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

xxv
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About the Authors

Barbara Clément-Larosière Until recently, Barbara Clément-

Larosière was a research engineer at the NEOMA Business
School Chair in Industrial Bioeconomy. She currently works as
a research and development engineer in the food industry. She
has a Ph.D. in Engineering Science from the Ecole Centrale
Paris. She specialises in biotechnology and especially in
microalgae applications.

Honorine Lescieux-Katir Honorine Lescieux-Katir is a

research engineer at the NEOMA Business School Chair in
Industrial Bioeconomy. She has a Ph.D. in Economics from the
University of Paris 2. Her research areas include political eco-
nomics, governance and the bioeconomy. Her interests include
the biorefinery concept and its business and economic models.

xxvii
xxviii About the Authors

Pierre-Alain Schieb Pierre-Alain Schieb is an expert in the

field of strategic prospects, new technologies and innovation. He
has held different managerial positions such as Director of Sup
de Co Rouen, Director of International Affairs for a retail group
and OECD Future Projects Leader.

Maryline Thénot Maryline Thénot has extensive experience

in consulting for international companies and also as a profes-
sor. She has a Ph.D. in Management Science from the Univer-
sity of Reims Champage-Ardenne. She is Head of the Finance
Department at NEOMA Business School. Her research areas
include institutional change, the cooperative model and the
governance, and more particularly industrial strategy, of major
agricultural cooperative groups.
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 Département,
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:

xxix
xxx Introduction

• Industrial bioeconomy is interested in the conversion of biomass into products

that will fulfil human need by replacing raw materials of fossil origin with
renewable raw materials. In practical terms, this takes place via the construction
of biorefineries instead of oil refineries. The biorefinery is therefore the keystone
of the industrial bioeconomy that needs to be studied.
• The fact that stakeholders and actors are more and more concerned about the
great societal challenges that planet earth faces (demography, the depletion of
certain fossil resources, pollution, greenhouse gases, climate change, food secu-
rity) has led governmental organisations, governments, industry and citizens to
express their desire to move the production of goods and services towards a
phase of transition from an oil-sourced world to a bio-sourced one.5
• The fact that the stakeholder community needs to take industrial decisions within
an appropriate timescale explains why we chose a timescale of 15 years (2030).
It must be remembered that, assuming a series of studies of biorefineries and
their context demonstrates that biorefineries are a suitable response to our
problems, the construction from scratch of a biorefinery (from design/drawings
to operation) takes between 4 and 5 years, and that it will take at least 10 more
years to obtain a return on the initial investment.
• This study of the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery, the first of its kind, will
perhaps help to develop the momentum for a series of case studies to be carried
out all over the world. It might become a model for this type of study, be the
starting point for comparisons between different types of biorefineries and be the
basis for the development of research hypotheses.

How was the study realised?

Four aspects explain how the study was carried out:

• The issue of confidentiality is the main obstacle to such a study, insofar as, apart
from a few exceptional cases, the world’s biorefineries are all operated by
private companies. Due to this fact, only data that has to be published because
of company law or the requirements of transparency associated with regulatory
measures is available to researchers: however, establishments that are members
of groups are not identified in the group’s consolidated accounts. One of the only
ways to obtain access to data is thus to sign confidentiality agreements with the
operators of the biorefineries under examination. For this study, the authors were

5
In the years 2010–2012, major decisions, either managerial or in principle, were taken to foster an
industrial economy in the United States and in Europe, and also in certain nation states. Others may
well be taken in the near future (United Nations Conference, COP 21, December 2015, Paris).
Studies of biorefineries to better understand their form, their history, their strengths and
weaknesses, the conditions for their success and their future prospects are thus extremely appro-
priate in 2013–2014.
Introduction xxxi

able to obtain some information from published financial databases and the
annual reports of the companies or groups under study.
• Face-to-face interviews with heads of industrial sites, research centres or dem-
onstration centres on the site were therefore the primary method used—on
condition, of course, that they welcomed the study. An interview guide was
used for each interview. Only one of the industrial firms on the site, belonging to
a French multinational group, did not manage to obtain authorisation from its
head office for visits from researchers or to communicate data. The researchers
undertook not to name the interviewees or to use data from the interviews
without prior authorisation.
• A postal questionnaire was also sent out to the three largest industrial firms
represented on the site to obtain standardised numerical data on economic
factors, investment and industrial symbiosis. The authors would like to express
their thanks to the directors and management of these three firms (in fact
belonging to two cooperatives) for having agreed to our requests for information,
without however giving them the right to publish these figures. The final text was
therefore proofread by the stakeholders before publication.
• The aim was not only to obtain as much information as possible by negotiating
confidentiality agreements with the different levels of management in each
company but also to produce a text that could be understood by
non-specialists. Therefore, the research team had to devote a certain amount of
time and energy to these “collateral” aspects of the research. It is probable that
researchers who wish to make a similar study will have to include these
constraints in their work plan. This is one of the reasons why we have included
a model case study in Appendix 1 that could serve as a reference for subsequent
studies.

What is the structure of the study?

Four remarks deserve mentioning concerning the structure:

• One of the principal topics of this study is that of time. To put the biorefinery in
context, the study goes back a century to describe certain historical roots and
nearly 70 years to its industrial starting point (1953). The Bazancourt-Pomacle
biorefinery cannot be understood without this long historical perspective, which
is not the case for biorefineries planned and setup recently.
• In terms of the present and the future, as explained above, the timescale used is
15 years (2015–2030). This timescale is one of the most difficult to deal with
methodologically. It stretches beyond the usual limits of forecasting in industrial
economics (3–5 years) since the decisions have already been taken by the actors,
and well within the 30–50 year strategic prospects, where uncertainty is very
great, leading to the use of scenario methods.
xxxii Introduction

In terms of strategic decision making by industrials, financiers, governments and

other actors, the study follows a method that has been very well described by Curry
and Hodgson (2008). Indeed, we might consider that the first 5-year period
(2015–2020) is both conditioned by the past (dependent on its previous direction)
and therefore relatively easy to forecast, but also corresponds to the time when the
first initiatives, trials and errors, tests, industrial and commercial pilot schemes will
act as signs foretelling what is to come. The second period (2020–2030) is when the
stakeholders of the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery and other biorefineries will
have to put into action on a large scale what has been prepared in the preceding
period and will face a great deal of uncertainty over the success of their strategy.6
The third period (2030–2050) should, in theory, be when the initial vision will be
fulfilled (energy transition, sustainable development, the circular economy). For
reasons of mandate and of resources, this study will be limited to the first two
phases, but in terms of methodology will follow this chronological order.

• Insofar as we cannot understand economic, societal and environmental aspects

without understanding the interactions between the biorefinery’s actors them-
selves, and between the biorefinery and its environment (in the sense of actors
external to the biorefinery as well as in the generic sense), one chapter is devoted
to the notion of industrial ecology. The study and the report are therefore divided
into four main chapters: history, the business model, industrial symbiosis and
future prospects.

Reims Cedex, France Pierre-Alain Schieb

Honorine Lescieux-Katir
Maryline Thénot
Barbara Clément-Larosière

References

Curry A, Hodgson A (2008) Seeing in multiple horizons: connecting futures to strategy. J Futures
Stud 13(1):1–20
OCDE (2009) La bioéconomie à l’horizon 2030: quel programme d’action ? OCDE, Paris
OECD (2011) Future prospects for industrial biotechnology. OECD

6
It is indeed during this period that the tension between present and future forces is strongest.
Unique, Multi-generational Development:
A Lesson in Forward Planning 1

Summary
The Champagne Ardenne region was originally an agricultural area heavily
disadvantaged by its geological features. Today it is considered very produc-
tive thanks to the determination of its farmers, their ability to take advantage
of technical advances, to join together to adapt to economic, social and
environmental changes. The dynamism of the agricultural cooperative has
been a key factor for these advances and the development of the Bazancourt-
Pomacle site cannot be understood without looking back at its history.
This historical review will highlight the different factors that have led to the
construction of the Bazancourt-Pomacle site as we know it today:

– The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is the result of an incremental pro-

cess that was not pre-planned.
– The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is the fulfilment of an intergenera-
tional process.
– The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is the result of a long process that
perfectly illustrates the processes of innovation through which a weakness
can become a strength when circumstances are favourable.
– The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is an example of the Ricardian pro-
cess of capitalising on local comparative advantage.
– The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery has grown organically thanks to the
presence of leaders, both of opinions and of men.

All these factors together have led both farmers and biorefinery managers to
think of new uses for plants and to launch new industrial projects, often
related to research, of which the Bazancourt-Pomacle site is a vivid
illustration.

# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 1

P.-A. Schieb et al., Biorefinery 2030, DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-47374-0_1
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 départements 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
1 Particular Features of the Region 3

Sedimentary Basins
Quaternary and Terary
Terary trench
Upper Cretaceous
Lower Cretaceous
Jurassic
Triassic and Permian

Mountains Ranges
Pre-triassic primary base
Granite and metamorphic rock
Volcanoes

Fig. 1.1 Geology of France (Source: Sciences Po Cartographie)

Fig. 1.2 The sedimentary basins of Northern France (Source: Sciences Po Cartographie)

Picardy region extremely fertile, never reached Champagne, except in the extreme
north of the region (Cf. Fig. 1.2).
Apart from the large Chalk Champagne, four small areas cover 20 % of the
Champagne Region. They are the Pays Rémois (Reims country), the Valley of the
4 1 Unique, Multi-generational Development: A Lesson in Forward Planning

Marne, the Chalk Champagne Valley and the Plain of Troyes. They are all located
near one of the four rivers that cross the region (the Aisne, the Marne, the Aube and
the Seine). The soil in these areas is covered in rich, fertile, alluvial deposits,
geologically very different from the soil in Chalk Champagne region.
The region is bordered in the west by the hills of the Greater Paris region, which
overlook the chalk plain, and on the slopes of which the Champagne vineyards are
situated. In the east, on the other hand, the Côte Champenoise, known as the Upper
cretaceous hills, is quite low (180–220 m at the most in the hills of Champagne). In
the north, between the Pays Rémois and the Valley of the Aisne, the Champagne
countryside gradually becomes that of Picardy. In the south, beyond the Seine, the
Champagne countryside progressively merges into the Pays d’Othe and the Valley
of the Yonne (Cf. Fig. 1.3).

1.2 Visual Appearance of the Chalk Champagne Region

Chalk is sedimentary rock formed by the accumulation of the calcareous deposits of

marine nanoplankton (algal group: Coccolithophores). It is white, porous, soft and
crumbly. It can hold large amounts of water and is thus susceptible to frost-
cracking.
This crumbly nature of the rock is responsible for the “soft” Champagne-
Ardenne topography, made up of low hills separated by small river valleys or dry
valleys.
The apparent uniformity of the vast chalk plain (Cf. Fig. 1.4) contrasts visually
with the cooler, more varied semi-wooded areas of the ‘Wet’ Champagne area,
surrounding the plain continuously from the northeast to the southeast and the Ile-
de-France Cuesta in the west.

1.3 The Champagne Climate

The climate in Champagne is mild and oceanic, although the winters are harsher
and the summers hotter than in the centre of the Parisian Basin. The rainfall is
spread throughout the year, which is an asset, avoiding the need for costly crop
irrigation. There are, however, significant differences in temperature and sunshine
between the north and the south of the region, which have an impact on the earliness
of plant life development. However, whilst overall the regional climate is consid-
ered favourable for agriculture, we should not forget that, despite technological
advances, agriculture is still subject to the vagaries of the weather; sometimes
rainfall is inadequate and late frosts are quite frequent.
1 Particular Features of the Region 5

Fig. 1.3 Map of the chalk champagne region (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_

pouilleuse)
6 1 Unique, Multi-generational Development: A Lesson in Forward Planning

Fig. 1.4 Chalk champagne landscape

1.4 Agricultural Properties of Chalk Soil

In general, chalk soil is known to be a good support for plants and a good supplier of
nutrients. It has the following physical properties:

– It is light, and can be worked on quickly without risk of breaking equipment and
using less energy
– It is healthy and permeable, which reduces drainage time, an important factor in
regions with high rainfall
– It retains water extremely well, which supplies deeply-rooted plants with the
moisture necessary for their growth even in dry periods
– When roots and tubers (sugar beet and potatoes) are harvested, they are rela-
tively clean, which simplifies their transport and processing, and provides
significant savings of water.

However, chalk soil has a number of drawbacks:

– Because it is light in colour, it heats slowly in the spring

– Furthermore, chalk soil, lying on an accumulation of chalk gravel, is low in
water reserves and drought is a problem until the plants are deeply rooted.
– The chalk land of Champagne is low in minerals, which means its capacity to
feed plants and to produce crops is limited. Its natural fertility is much lower
2 History 7

than silt and, for example, during the first half of the nineteenth century, the
wheat yield in the Aisne department was 35 % higher than in the Marne.

These factors lead us to wonder how the Chalk Champagne region managed to
become exceptionally fertile.

1.5 Methods of Increasing Fertility

Three of the different agronomic practices possible were used to increase produc-
tivity in Champagne:

– Working the soil, which became increasingly efficient due to developments in

mechanisation and then motorisation, and which made it possible to plough
more deeply and thoroughly, including land far from villages.
– Mineral fertilisation, which is generally considered as the decisive factor in
developing agriculture in chalk lands. Cleared land is thus able to benefit from
potassium fertilisation, whilst most chalk land was fed by phosphates in the form
of soluble fertilisers or other substitute elements such as magnesium.
– The effect of a number of “improving crops” such as alfalfa, which captures
atmospheric nitrogen. Its cultivation is recognised as being beneficial, particu-
larly for more fragile soil; it allows the land to “rest” and to retain a good level of
fertility, which is necessary to maintain productivity.1

The mass utilisation of these methods of increasing fertility by local farmers

engendered enormous changes in Champagne in a very short time and totally
transformed the region’s former reputation. Although this phenomenon, known as
the “miracle of Champagne” was the result of intensifying or artificializing the
environment, it was only made possible by the existence of chalk soil with its great
potential, as described above.
Know we turn to the question of what contemporary agriculture in Champagne
owes to history.

2 History

Historically, as long ago as the Gallo-Roman era, the region gained a reputation as a
“good, beautiful land;” it was known as “Champagne Propre” or “Clean Cham-
pagne.” It was quite prosperous until the Middle Ages, particularly because of a
number of large, internationally recognised fairs. However, neither reputation nor
prosperity lasted later than the eighteenth century.

1
Alfalfa, because of its deep root system, creates tiny cracks in the chalk, enabling water to rise
through a capillary process during periods of drought.
8 1 Unique, Multi-generational Development: A Lesson in Forward Planning

2.1 From the Eighteenth Century Until the 1950s

During this period, the region’s economy was mostly agricultural, apart from a
small textile industry. Rural areas in Champagne are organised around closely-knit
villages, with the houses generally grouped around the church. These villages are
few in number, as the region has traditionally had a very low population, perhaps
due to the poor quality of the soil, or the ravages of the many wars that have crossed
the region, the attraction of Paris or the very loose network of parishes.
Around the village (c.f. Fig. 1.5), gardens were established to feed the local
families, and beyond these the tilled land began. These were made up of multiple
tiny plots cultivated using a 3-year rotation system, in which the land lay fallow
1 year, was planted with wheat in the second and finally spring cereals (oats, barley
and buckwheat). Because they were close to the village, this land was particularly
cared for and benefited from organic amendments. These were still only very
occasional at this time, but improved yields.
On more distant plots, the practice of crop rotation was more difficult, because
the farmers only had animals to work in the fields and transport manure. This land
was more often cultivated intermittently, depending on the weather conditions.
Finally, in the Champagne Crayeuse area, the land that was too far from the
village was known as the “saltus,” fallow land known as “savarts” (grass and
scrubland). This area was huge, and in the eighteenth century covered up to 40 %
of agricultural land. It was cultivated extensively and was never developed signifi-
cantly for breeding, even for sheep and goats.
Despite the variety of types of land, Diderot and d’Alembert described the whole
of the region in their 1753 Encyclopaedia as “Champagne pouilleuse” or “Flea-
ridden Champagne.” This bad image established itself for at least two centuries, and
was strengthened by very harsh judgments by influential characters of the time such

VILLAGE

FAMILY GARDENS

FARMLAND (wheat, oats, barley,

buckwheat, fallow land)

TRIOS (farmed intermiently depending

on the weather condions)

SALTUS (fallow land, “savart”)

Fig. 1.5 Organisation of rural land in champagne in the eighteenth century

2 History 9

as Jules Michelet, who did not hesitate to speak of the “flea-ridden desert of
Champagne” in his “History of France” published in 1879.
As a reaction to this, the people of Champagne launched initiatives to improve
the poor reputation of their region by trying to improve their traditional agriculture
that was considered second-rate. In the first of these initiatives, at the end of the
eighteenth century, they attempted to develop the chalk land spectacularly by
planting 130,000 ha of conifers, mostly Scots Pine. Forest grew to cover the vast,
traditionally open plains, but the project did not last. The Scots Pine quickly showed
itself to be ill adapted to the Champagne region and vulnerable to silk moth, and the
resulting poor productivity led to the collapse of this forestry activity at the end of
the nineteenth century.
Starting in 1950 and over the next 20 years, the deforestation of nearly
115,000 ha took place. However, what had been considered an economic failure
enabled the agriculture of Champagne to make a dramatic recovery by producing
large additional areas of arable land. The deforested areas were quickly
concentrated in large farms of 100 ha and more, whose development was facilitated
by the region’s low population density and by land prices that were well below their
capitalised income value. In 1950, Champagne Ardenne was the cheapest region in
France, with arable land prices half those of France in general or of the
neighbouring Aisne département.
The 1950s was also the end of a period in which the region’s agriculture was
principally limited to its best land, which significantly restricted its development.
The increased numbers of more modern tractors (c.f. Fig. 1.6) and in general the
development of all forms of motorised equipment, made it possible to cultivate

Fig. 1.6 Steam tractor

10 1 Unique, Multi-generational Development: A Lesson in Forward Planning

Fig. 1.7 Mechanised harvesting at the beginning of the 1960s

every part of the region to a similar extent. Farmers could plough more thoroughly
and use mineral fertilisers everywhere, which are more effective than organic
amendments for the chalk lands of Champagne.
These more modern techniques (c.f. Fig. 1.7) led to chalk land being put into use
once more. It reacted immediately to the care that was lavished on it. The cleared
land was quickly planted with rapeseed and then cereals. Sugar beet finally
appeared in central and southern Champagne. The amount of land in the region
planted with sugar beet tripled between 1945 (10,000 ha) and 1952 (30,000 ha)
thanks to its reputation for quality and high yield. In the Chalk Champagne region,
the modernisation of agriculture between 1956 and 1980 resulted in a 500 %
increase in the profitability of its farms, and three times lower labour costs.
By the middle of the 1960s, Champagne was finally equipped with an intensive
well-structured production system, identical to those in the great arable region of
the Paris basin that had always been fertile. Agricultural yields skyrocketed,
demonstrating that the farmers of Champagne had succeeded in transforming
their initial handicap, the chalk soil, into a strength, thanks to their constant search
for innovative solutions.
2 History 11

However, the region’s agriculture also owes a great deal to other initiatives
launched by various powerful local mutual organisations with charismatic leaders.

2.2 Farmers’ Unions in Champagne

The transformation of agriculture in Champagne (forestry, deforestation, develop-

ment of chalk land etc.) was above all the work of large landowners and farmers in
the region. It took place without the encouragement of directives from above.
Joseph Garnotel (1985), for example, mentions that farmers in Champagne have
always used their own initiative rather than call on state help, and that the decisions
made by local producers have mainly been driven by market conditions. This
positioning, which is synonymous with a high degree of efficiency, explains the
rapid growth of agricultural production in Champagne starting in the 1950s.
The region’s agriculture owes a great deal to its farmers’ unions and their
leaders, who developed the structures and services that were vital for the
profession’s advancement. To understand the spirit of this movement, we may
quote one of its leaders, Gérard Lapie, who stated that:
We are farmers; before harvesting you have to sow. It’s the same thing for the leaders of the
profession: you sow, in order to harvest one day, even if, maybe other people will bring in
the harvest. Because we don’t work for glory, but to prepare the future.2

Historically, the development of farmers’ unions in France began at the end of the
eighteenth century. French agriculture had to adapt to the economic and technical
changes engendered by the industrial revolution, which brought additional costs for
farmers (chemical fertilisers and the use of selected seed) that were much higher
than the value of their production. This phenomenon led to an agricultural crisis
whose effects started to be felt in 1875 and which encouraged farmers to unite,
particularly to negotiate with wholesalers who were sometimes unscrupulous with
regard to the quality and price of the products they supplied. These groups, which
were initially informal, began to be structured as farmers’ unions from 1884, the
year they were recognised as institutions in France.
However, this professional movement developed initially in a climate of intense
ideological divisions between the Christian (Social Catholicism or the Social
Doctrine of the Church) and republican movements.
The Champagne Ardenne region did not escape these divisions, and the first
farmers’ unions were made up exclusively of farmers who shared the same ideol-
ogy. It was thus quite common to have two unions in the same village, whose
members never met since they were made up, symbolically speaking, of those who
went to mass and those who did not.

2
Vecten et al. (2012).
12 1 Unique, Multi-generational Development: A Lesson in Forward Planning

Fig. 1.8 Léon Harmel

(1829–1915) (http://fr.
wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%
A9on_Harmel)

Fig. 1.9 Medal with the

effigy of Gustave de Bohan

The area around Reims Pays was a particular microcosm at the time, strongly
influenced by social Catholicism through the work of Léon Harmel (c.f. Fig. 1.8),
whose ideas were closely related to those of Pope Leo XIII and who was the owner
of a spinning mill in Warmeriville near Reims.
Early on, Léon Harmel set up a uniquely democratic governance structure in his
company, placing the workers at the heart of the decision-making process and
allowing them to manage their own labour associations. His actions, and his
“Corporation chrétienne du Val des Bois” (Christian Corporation of Val des
Bois) were sustained in 1891 by the publication of the papal encyclical “Rerum
novarum,” which condemned liberalism and socialism and encouraged corporatism
to give workers better social conditions. Léon Harmel then attempted to promote
the Social Doctrine of the Church among employers, but did not neglect the
surrounding countryside and it was undoubtedly here that he was most influential.
It was during an agricultural conference that the industrial leader met Gustave de
Bohan (c.f. Fig. 1.9), a farmer in Fresnes-les-Reims whose renown has spread well
2 History 13

beyond his village. He was a man of action, guided by his religious convictions, a
passionate defender of agriculture. He shared the same Christian vision of progress,
justice and action as Léon Harmel.
The two men immediately got on well together, and decided to set up a farmers’
union together with some other local farmers. Their aim was much more ambitious
than to create a “buying cooperative” responsible only for providing its members
with seed, coal, tools and technical resources. This farmers’ union aimed to make
farmers responsible for their future and to put religion into practice in their business
life. The farmers did not resort to socialism, and did not work with wholesalers
whose only aim was “to get richer by speculating.”
In 1894, at the instigation of Léon Harmel, the Syndicat Agricole de la Cham-
pagne was created, with Gustave De Bohan as its first president. Its slogan was “Let
us do our business ourselves. Let us not be administered.” Its motto was “Let us love
each other.” This union, with its head office in Reims, covered the Marne
département and the south of the Ardennes. Thus “The Reims camp, from which
the founders of CHAMPAGNE CEREALES3 originated, was made up of men who
were committed to applying the values of social Catholicism, based on the
assertions of the encyclical Rerum Novarum,4 to the organisation of business.”5
The union developed rapidly, and at the beginning of the First World War had
5000 members. It was also behind the creation of credit unions including the
regional bank ‘CREDIT AGRICOLE de la Marne, de l’Aisne et des Ardennes’ in
Reims in 1889, of mutual insurance companies, and of the agricultural cooperative
‘PROVIDENCE Agricole de la Champagne’ (c.f. Fig. 1.10).
At the same time, another radical-socialist regional union was growing in
importance. In 1888, this movement was behind the creation of the first farmers’
union in the Marne, the “Ligue agricole de la Marne,” founded by Charles Barré, a
farmer from Condé sur Marne. This secular organisation, based in Châlons, was
very active. It was supported by the radical politician Léon Bourgeois, published a
newspaper, distributed fertilizer to its members and instigated the creation of the
Crédit Agricole of Champagne in Châlons-sur-Marne6 (1905). It developed coop-
erative organisations such as the ‘Union Agricole Horticole et Viticole’ (Agricul-
tural, Horticulture and Wine-growing Union, 1908) and the ‘Coopérative des
Producteurs Réunis de la Région de Châlons’ (United Producers Cooperative of
the Châlons Region, 1922).
Over the years, these two unions competed against each other, but shared the
same objective of efficiency through modernisation. In 1938, they formed the
‘Union des organisations Agricoles de la Marne’ together (Union of Agricultural
Organisations of the Marne) and then merged in 1940 as the ‘Corporation
paysanne’ which was disbanded at the end of the war. This first successful

3
Currently VIVESCIA.
4
Encyclical by Pope Leo XIII, published in 1891 by the Vatican Publishing House.
5
Curutchet (1999).
6
Now Châlons-en-Champagne.
14 1 Unique, Multi-generational Development: A Lesson in Forward Planning

Fig. 1.10 Entrance doors to La PROVIDENCE AGRICOLE (The important role played by the
catholic religion in initiatives at this time is shown by the Latin motto “Cruce et Aratro” or “By the
cross and the plough” forged on the entrance to la PROVIDENCE)
2 History 15

partnership continued from 1945 with the creation of a single organisation, the
‘Fédération Départementale des Syndicats d’Exploitants Agricoles’ (FDSEA—
Marne Department Federation of Farmers’ Unions), presided over consecutively
by two progressive leaders who were very much in favour of modern
mechanisation. The first of these, Marcel Lemaire (1945–1949), combined his
responsibilities as President of the FDSEA with a long parliamentary career and
with other responsibilities such as the presidency of the Chamber of Agriculture, of
the Crédit Agricole of the Marne, the Aisne and the Ardennes etc. Robert Mangeart
succeeded him (1949–1965) and asserted himself as the uncontested leader of
agricultural organisation in the Reims area. Apart from the FDSEA he also presided
over the PROVIDENCE Agricole (1947–1974) and the Bazancourt cooperative
sugar factory (1953–1972) that he helped to set up. The agricultural profession
bears the imprint of this militant farmer who, in addition to the strength of his ideas,
was unshakeably pragmatic and showed great shrewdness in his decision-making.
It is an incontestable fact that the farmers’ union movement in Champagne
played a significant role, through its dynamism and continual pursuit of progress,
in the transformation of “Flea-ridden Champagne” into “Chalk Champagne,” the
national leader in terms of yield per hectare. Furthermore, movements such as the
‘Jeunesse Agricole Catholique’ (JAC – Catholic Young Farmers), which, in 1957,
became the ‘Club des Jeunes Agriculteurs’ (CDJA—Young Farmers’ Club),
contributed to train principled, often charismatic leaders, open to progress and
new ideas, such as Georges Mangeart, Gérard Lapie, Jacques de Bohan, François
Prévoteau (see below). These were the men who helped to develop the agricultural
cooperative movement in the region.

2.3 From Farmers’ Unions to Cooperatives

It cannot be denied that the union movement was the engine behind the rapid, large-
scale development of agricultural cooperatives in Champagne. In the mid-1920s,
numerous farmers’ unions which, legally, had no right to trade, but which needed to
provide supplies for their members, were led to create cooperative structures to
carry out this task for them.
In 1922, Albert Barré, the son of Charles, created the ‘Coopérative des
producteurs réunis de la région de Châlons’ (United Producers Cooperative of the
Châlons Region), and in 1927, Gustave de Bohan set up the PROVIDENCE
Agricole cooperative, simply as an extension of the Champagne Farmers’ Union.
The agricultural crisis of the 1930s, caused by cereal overproduction, the opening
up of competitive world markets and speculation by wholesale traders, led these
cooperatives to broaden their field of action, buy obtaining the legal right to collect,
store, process and sell their members’ cereals in order to guarantee a healthier and
more profitable market.
In the 1950s and 1960s, the boom in cereal production resulting from the
modernisation of the means of production created tension between operators. The
farmer must store his produce, and it is in his economic interest to have a silo as
close as possible to his farm. For this reason, at the end of the 1960s, the
16 1 Unique, Multi-generational Development: A Lesson in Forward Planning

PROVIDENCE agricole worked with other local cooperatives to build shared silos
to reduce costs. This first inter-cooperative partnership, which was not achieved
without problems, was nonetheless the starting point for an unstoppable movement
towards mutualism, and the awareness that joint action was the only way to
continue to exist, to develop and to remain competitive. For Gérard Lapie7:
We always fought to make farmers understand that it was in their interest to remain united
and we were right: look at the progress achieved in research thanks to the involvement of
the cooperative movement; if we had allowed them to stagnate, it would have been a major
strategic error.8

Another contribution of the mutualism movement was that early on it encouraged

farmers to be open and innovative. Still today, this quality is very strong in the
farmers of Champagne; they are constantly looking for progress to adapt to new
conditions.
For Robert Mangeart (1999), “Farmers in Champagne are always looking to
progress, they react quickly; they are interested in innovations, they draw practical
conclusions from new information because they are careful observers.”

2.4 Agricultural Cooperatives and Cereal Processing

During an initial period between the end of the 1920s and the beginning of the
1960s, regional cooperatives developed with two main objectives. The first was to
provide their members with silos and supply stores as close as possible to their
farms to reduce costs. The second objective was to remain focused on, and become
more efficient in, their core responsibilities (storing cereals and other crops; sup-
plying fertilizer, pesticides and seed products).
However, from the 1960s, agricultural cooperatives became aware that they had
to go further than these core activities to provide new outlets for their members in
periods of crisis. Certain cooperatives decided to invest in processing activities,
with greater potential for the creation of added value (Thénot 2011), confirming
thus the opinion of Philippe Neeser (1998), President of the FDSEA from 1965 to
1973, that “A quality of Champagne farmers is their ability to come to terms with
change quickly.”
Because of the particular features of the local agriculture, the cooperatives
concentrated their investments in downstream processing mainly on the malt,
milling, maize processing and sugar sectors.

2.4.1 Agricultural Cooperatives and Malt Production

Early on, the cooperative “La PROVIDENCE AGRICOLE” encouraged its
members to develop a crop that was very successful in Champagne, barley, which

7
President of the FDSEA, 1986–1992.
8
Vecten et al. (2012).
2 History 17

was in regular demand from malt makers. In 1961, it decided to begin producing
malted barley, to obtain the added value for itself, and built the first malting plant in
Europe totally financed by the members of a cooperative. The project was a success,
with an expanding export market, and partnerships with other cooperatives via the
“PROVIDENCE Malt” union launched in 1977, followed by the building and
acquisition of additional plants. At the same time, another group, “Union Cham-
pagne Malt,” set up in 1970 on the initiative of a dozen or so local cooperatives,
built the huge malting plant in Vitry le François. However, in the 1980s, in a context
of overproduction and brewery takeovers, Guy Joly and Jacques de Bohan, the
heads of the two malting unions, managed to persuade the members of their
cooperatives to give up their parochial squabbling and merge in a new entity,
“Malteurop,” which is today the world leader in its sector.

2.4.2 Agricultural Cooperatives, Milling and Maize Processing

In Champagne, wheat has always been a key crop, and as long ago as the 1920s, the
cooperatives were operating large silos. Flour milling was carried out in the region
by a number of family mills, each of which had its quota of milling capacity.
However, in 1973, la PROVIDENCE Agricole decided to buy up the “Grands
Moulins de Reims” a large regional mill, which was experiencing financial
problems, to sustain the milling industry in the region, supplied by local farmers
and thus a source of significant revenue for them. This was the beginning of a
concentration movement that spread throughout the region, notably with the crea-
tion of the “Intermeunerie” cooperative in the Aube département, the result of a
partnership between two cooperatives (SCARM9 and CARB10).
At the end of the 1980s, and following these mergers and takeovers, the region
had two competing leaders in the milling sector, each of which was pursuing a
strategy of expansion. These were the Aube département firm “Moulins Soufflet,”
which in 1994, after a number of acquisitions, became the leading milling company
in Europe, and the Reims firm Euromill, set up as a partnership between the
cooperative “CHAMPAGNE CEREALES” and six other local cooperatives.
At this time, Euromill was an important player in the sector, but nonetheless it
struggled to remain profitable (CAP reform, export crisis etc.) The economic
situation of the cooperative group “Intermeunerie” was experiencing the same
difficulties, and the directors of the two firms decided on a merger. The aim was
to have enough resources to pursue their development and achieve optimal size.
This strategy took shape in 2001 with the creation of a joint venture with the
“Grands Moulins de Paris” under the name of “Intermill” (which since then has
become Nutrixo). This partnership with a leader in the milling and bakery sector,
but whose activity concentrated on the second of these (baking and pastry making,

9
Société coopérative agricole de la région de Romilly-Méry (Romilly-Méry Area Agricultural
cooperative).
10
Coopérative agricole de la région de Brienne (Brienne Area Agricultural Cooperative).
18 1 Unique, Multi-generational Development: A Lesson in Forward Planning

frozen foods, catering and branded products) enabled the group to return its milling
activity to profitability.
The maize processing sector began to develop in Champagne in 1965, but
expanded significantly in 1973 with the building of a maize plant in Pringy by
PROVIDENCE agricole. This purpose-built agro-industrial plant opened up excel-
lent outlets for the cooperative (maize grits for brewing and livestock feed). In
1982, to facilitate future developments, Jacques de Bohan formed a partnership for
maize processing with other local cooperatives known as “Champagne Maı̈s”
(which today has become Kalizea, a subsidiary of VIVESCIA and the owner of a
maize processing plant in Poland).

2.4.3 Agricultural Cooperatives and the Sugar Sector

In the 1930s, farmers in Champagne who grew sugar beet obtained high yields, but
received little support from the sugar manufacturers. They gave no contracts or
payment assurance, and commercial relations were tense, because the conditions
were often unfavourable to the farmers. Near Reims, the existing factories
(at Fismes and Attigny) had insufficient capacity for production to be developed.
In 1946, three farmers involved in the cooperative movement (Robert Mangeart,
Maurice Prévoteau and Georges Ruinart) persuaded André Ferté, a farmer and
distiller in the Aisne département, to set up a new distillery as a limited company
in Bazancourt. The distillery was converted into a sugar factory in 1950, but the cost
of the conversion led to bankruptcy for the firm. To maintain sugar production,
which was very important for local farmers, the original three farmers decided to
transform the company into a cooperative, obtained the required bank funding and
obtained the support of the growers, who decided to take financial responsibility for
the operation.
The economic situation in the 1960s was the same for sugar beet farmers in the
Châlons and Aube areas. Thanks to the initiative of an exceptional leader in the
cooperative movement, Alain Delaunoy, and to the commitment of several
100 growers, a new sugar factory was built in Arcis-sur Aube by the ‘Syndicat
d’Intérêt Commun Agricole’ union (SICA), made up of farmers and industrials.
The two sites developed significantly by increasing and diversifying their pro-
duction, and by investing heavily in research and marketing. In 2000, to survive in
the context of globalisation, the two sites merged as a new structure: CRISTAL
UNION, a cooperative agro-industrial group that today processes around 40 % of
French sugar beet production (sugar, ethanol, alcohol and natural antioxidants with
high value added). This group has a strategy of permanent growth, and is increas-
ingly establishing itself as a world player in the production of sugar, pulp, alcohol
and ethanol.
Thus, at the end of the 1980s, the Champagne Ardenne region was equipped with
two organised sectors, cereals and sugar beet. Each of these was strong enough to
implement their own development strategy, but, through a number of joint
initiatives, they led a joint strategy for the development of the region’s cooperative
movement.
3 First Steps in the Development of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Site 19

The cereals sector, following a succession of cooperative mergers11 is today

known as VIVESCIA (with an industrial holding group Siclaé). The sugar beet
sector is today placed under the umbrella of CRISTAL UNION. We will encounter
these two major cooperative players throughout the remainder of the book.
A third sector, that of alfalfa, should also be kept in mind, for Champagne-
Ardenne is the leading alfalfa producer in France, and the plant has many
advantages: in terms of soil conservation as mentioned above, but also because it
is rich in protein.12 This sector is however for the moment much less powerful than
the other two.

3 First Steps in the Development of the Bazancourt-Pomacle

Site

The development of the Bazancourt-Pomacle platform is closely linked to the

growth of research. Research really began to develop at the end of the 1980s,
when overproduction provided the opportunity to offer farmers new non-food
outlets for their produce.
However, this kind of plant use was a notion that still lacked credibility for many
farmers, even though progress had been made in this field before the war. For
example, alcohol fuel had been produced from sugar beet at the Bétheniville
distillery.
The factors were therefore in place to encourage farmers and their leaders to
begin to consider plants differently and launch new industrial ventures.

3.1 Towards Collaborative Research

The first joint initiative between academic research and agro-industry was launched
in February 1983, and was initiated by Jacques de Bohan. It consisted in the launch
of the Association for the Development of Research in the Food and Packaging
Industries (Association pour le Développement de la Recherche dans les Industries
Agro-alimentaires et dans le Conditionnement—ADRIAC), specialising in pack-
aging science and techniques, to provide the food industry with new outlets via the
development of bio-based and biodegradable packaging for meat products.
At the same time, the sugar industry, on the initiative of Alain Delaunoy, the
founding chairman of Sucre Union, and Régis de Baynast, who had worked as a
researcher in the oil industry, launched its own research activity. In 1983, it created

11
This trend towards concentration can be observed throughout the agro-food sector. We could
cite other cooperatives in a similar situation, such as TEREOS and ACOLYANCE.
12
Alfalfa, as a legume, captures atmospheric nitrogen and transfers it to the soil. Subsequent crops
therefore require less nitrogen inputs. In the winter, alfalfa acts as soil cover, protecting it from
erosion. It is also a niche for biodiversity and is a source of protein production for animal feed.
20 1 Unique, Multi-generational Development: A Lesson in Forward Planning

Sugar Research and Development (Sucre Recherche et Développement—SRD), an

economic interest group whose aim was to develop the agricultural resource by
making use of the whole plant. Already in 1984, Régis de Baynast, who was at that
time the head of SRD, aiming to find the appropriate skills where he could, joined
forces with researchers in Toulouse. SDR bought a 10 % stake in the Toulouse-
based firm BioEurope,13 founded by Jean-Bernard Borfiga and Pierre Monsan. The
collaboration between BioEurope and ARD was intense and fruitful, since it
enabled BioEurope to develop two key Soliance products, DHA and hyaluronan.
These two technologies were later transferred from BioEurope to ARD and
marketed by Soliance.
In 1987, following the work by SRD, the launch of cooperation between sugar
and cereal producers was confirmed with the production of ethanol fuel in a sugar
beet hydrolysis pilot unit based in Bétheniville. The idea of a plant-based refinery
took form with the creation of Ethanol Recherche et Développement (ERD).
In 1989, the two research structures, SRD and ERD, finally merged to form a
single organisation: Agro-industrie Recherches et Développements (ARD).
Initially they were based at different locations in Compiègne, Vauciennes and
Bétheniville. It was not until 1992 that the whole organisation located to Pomacle.
Early days were difficult however, with partners backing down due to the economic
situation.
The first joint initiatives of the previous years led nonetheless to the creation of
the Centre for Analysis and Development of Agricultural Substrata (Centre d’Ana-
lyse et de Valorisation Industrielle des Substrats Agricoles—CAVISA). In 1990,
Serge Kochman, Deputy-Mayor of Reims, had proposed the creation of a monitor-
ing and research centre that would bring together researchers and industrialists from
different agricultural sectors. The result was CAVISA, organised with financial
partners and three sections: sugar beet, sugar and alcohol; cereals; and alfalfa.
Research projects proliferated thanks to local and national partnerships. In 1993,
for example, the cereals branch of CAVISA founded the Champagne-Ardenne
Association for the Development of Cereal By-products (Association pour la
valorisation des coproduits céréaliers—ARDEVAL), with the support of the
Regional Chamber of Agriculture and with the encouragement of researchers in
Toulouse who were looking for industrial partners. This association obtained the
support of the Regional Council of Champagne-Ardenne.
In 1997, the history of CAVISA merged with that of ARD. The members of
ARD, unable to find enough players prepared to risk investing in research, decided
to broaden their search and look for partnerships with players in other sectors. Such
a partnership interested the cereal-producing members of CAVISA. They
transformed ARDEVAL into Céréales Recherche et Développement (CRD) before
joining ARD.

13
SRD was a BioEurope shareholder along with Roussel-Uclaf, Crédit Agricole, BNP, Suez and
Citybank. Following its creation, ARD took over SRD’s share in BioEurope, which in 1992
became the R&D subsidiary of the Parisian group Solabia.
3 First Steps in the Development of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Site 21

Fig. 1.11 The development of research at the Bazancourt-Pomacle site

ARD was thus founded on a solid base made up of three structures devoted to
plant-based research: SRD, ERD and CRD (Cf. Fig. 1.11).

3.2 From ISTV to the Involvement of Academic Research

In 1989, Henri Nallet, who was at that time Minister for Agriculture, envisages the
creation of the Institute of Life Science and technology (Institut des Sciences et des
Technologies du Vivant—ISTV), an excellence cluster bringing together major
schools specialising in agronomics. Albert Vecten, the President of the Marne
Département Council, offered to host the ISTV in the Marne, as the area presented
excellent possibilities for academic study and experimentation. To support the
project, the Paris-Reims Foundation was set up in 1990, one of the aims of which
was to encourage researchers to settle in the region. Despite the mobilisation of
considerable resources, the project failed. However, with hindsight, the failure was in
fact a victory, since it made the region’s players aware of the need to develop and
adapt fundamental and applied research in the region. This positive context
encouraged players at the time to continue their efforts and in 1991 to create
“Agropole Européen,”14 to develop innovative uses for agro-resources. It brought
together the University of Reims Chemical Physics and Biotechnology Research
Centre, ARD and the INRA Chalk-soil Agronomics Research Centre (Cf. Fig. 1.12).
In 2004, The French President, Jacques Chirac, launched the competitiveness
cluster project. Its aim was to combine scientific and industrial competences to
revitalise the economic tissue of France’s regions. In this context, the Champagne-
Ardenne region decided, on the strength of its existing partnerships between
academic research, applied research and industry, to join up with the Picardy region

14
Renamed Europol’Agro in 1994.
22 1 Unique, Multi-generational Development: A Lesson in Forward Planning

Fig. 1.12 The research

structures making up
Europol’Agro
Europol'Agro

Université
ARD INRA
de Reims

and propose an ambitious project in the plant-based biorefinery sector. In July 2005,
the project was awarded the label International Competitiveness Cluster. The
Industry and Agro-Resource Cluster (IAR) was born.15
However, the IAR cluster had to obtain added authority, particularly by
attracting major universities and schools to Champagne Ardenne. Its strength was
that it could offer, at the Bazancourt-Pomacle site, the genuine large-scale experi-
mental resource they needed. The project was a success, and was strengthened in
2011 with the arrival of Ecole Centrale de Paris, followed AgroParisTech in 2011
and finally NEOMA Business School in 2012.

Conclusion
We have seen in this chapter that agriculture in Champagne, which today is
considered highly advanced, owes its development mainly to the determination of
professional people, to their ability to make use of technical progress and to joint
together to adapt to environmental changes. The particularly strong dynamic of the
agricultural cooperative has been crucial in this exceptional development, in terms
both of agriculture and of its extension, industrial processing and innovation. The
Bazancourt-Pomacle site is both the result and the symbol of the determination of
local farmers to develop new regional outlets by optimising their use of cutting-
edge technologies. The success of the site, considered as “the archetype of a
territorial biorefinery,” would not be what it is today without the unshakeable
commitment of the farmers of Champagne to agricultural cooperatives supporting
the notion of “patient capitalism.” This determination and this commitment have
developed over time, which is why this analysis of the success of the Bazancourt-
Pomacle site could only begin by a review of its history.
In managerial and organisational terms, a number of lessons are to be learnt from
this analysis.
The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is the result of a unique, incremental,
unplanned process. Even if a number of visionary leaders foresaw its potential,
there was no initial master plan. A project, perhaps, but without a design.
The biorefinery is the result of an intergenerational process: even if we take 1946
as the starting point, almost three generations have succeeded each other during its
development, in some cases different generations in the same family.16

15
As part of the official launch of competitive clusters and the creation of the Agency for Industrial
Innovation (AII), President Jacques Chirac visited ARD August 30, 2005.
16
The de Bohan family, for example.
References 23

The success of this long process is a perfect illustration of how, through

innovation, a weakness can become a strength in certain circumstances: technical
progress together with necessity, in the case of “flea ridden Champagne”, made
possible by openness to progress, the creation of cooperatives to gain critical mass
when dealing with suppliers and wholesalers etc.
It is also an example of a Ricardian process, capitalising on comparative local
advantage: the Champagne Ardenne region, as we have seen, does not have so
many strong points at its disposal. Through the solidarity of its farmers and the
mutualisation of both resources and risks, the region’s farmers were able to
overcome the effects of asymmetry.
Finally, the existence of leaders, both of opinions and of men, has been a key
factor down through the generations, because it has made organic relatively inde-
pendent growth possible, based on local strengths.17 For example, M. Albert
Vecten, politician and agricultural leader, was behind the two institutions that
foreshadowed the integrated biorefinery of today: the Institut des Sciences et
Techniques du Vivant (Institute of Natural Science and Techniques—ISTV) and
the Paris-Reims Foundation, the first joint initiative between industry, agriculture
and academic research.
We will present the next stages in the development of the Bazancourt-Pomacle
biorefinery in Chap. 2.

References
Curutchet M-P (1999) La dimension socioculturelle des stratégies conjointes: l’exemple des agro-
industries champardennaises. Thèse de doctorat en Sciences de gestion, URCA
Pope Leo XIII (1891) Rerum Novarum. Vatican Publishing House
Garnotel J (1985) L’ascension d’une grande agriculture – Champagne pouilleuse-Champagne
crayeuse. Editions Economica, p 264
Mangeart R (1999) Préface d’Alain Decaux de l’Académie française, Un siècle de progrès
agricole. Ouvrage publié à compte d’auteur, Imprimerie des Eaux Claires
Neeser P (1998) Comprendre 40 ans d’histoire agricole, T1 Les occasions perdues 1955–1981.
Editions France agricole
Thénot M (2011) Thèse de doctorat “Spécificité coopérative et groupes coopératifs agricoles – Le
cas CHAMPAGNE CEREALES”. Sous la Direction du Professeur A Mbengue, URCA
Vecten A, Lapie G, Yverneau J, Mangeart G (2012) En Champagne-Ardenne, une agriculture forte
de ses Hommes et de ses innovations

Sciences Po Cartographie

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champagne_pouilleuse
http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%A9on_Harmel

17
This notion of “leadership” is increasing recognised (c.f. the current strategy of NEOMA
Business School) as a key determinant of successful societies and businesses.
An Original Business Model: The Integrated
Biorefinery 2

Summary
The biorefinery, considered as a single industrial entity, becomes economi-
cally attractive when different factories making up an industrial ecosystem
are present on the same site, where the firms supply each other with interme-
diate products and/or energy and water. The economies of scale resulting
from the close proximity of the different players become key competitiveness
factors. The biorefinery can thus optimise its procurement and production
depending on markets both upstream and downstream of its activity. This
economic optimisation must be accompanied, or at least is generally
accompanied by environmental optimisation, including the minimisation of
waste and of energy consumption and other inputs.
The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery is one of the largest in Europe. It brings
together on the same site a sugar factory and dehydration plant; a joint
research centre; a starch and glucose plant; an ethanol producing plant; an
industrial demonstrator; a CO2 collection centre; a production and research
centre for active cosmetics ingredients; the pilot plant for the FUTUROL
second generation fuel project; and a White Biotechnologies Centre of
Excellence, a partnership between three academic institutions.
Whilst it is often suggested that the common good, good sense and a spirit of
cooperation were the key factors in the development of the site and its
uniqueness, in this chapter we study other significant factors. These factors
are linked to the business environment in which the cooperatives operated.
They are both exogenous, such as the evolution of the CAP and WTO
regulations, but also endogenous, such as increasing financial needs and
strategic and industrial trial and error on the part of the players involved.
We show, for example, that the current situation of the Bazancourt-Pomacle

(continued)

# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 25

P.-A. Schieb et al., Biorefinery 2030, DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-47374-0_2
26 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

integrated biorefinery is to a large degree the result of the strategies

implemented to tackle problems linked to competition, regulation, finance
and organisation. The decision to diversify, to integrate upstream and down-
stream activities in the value chain, to use increasingly complex financial
arrangements, to build an industrial demonstrator and to increase economies
of scale through new partnerships, are all response strategies to stabilise and
develop activities.
One section of this chapter studies whether the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery
has enough assets to continue to develop. To do this we make an analysis of its
strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and illustrate our analysis with
two applications: that of the threat that certain players may leave the site and the
strength of the circular economy facilitated by the biorefinery.

Abstract The innovation strategy developed by the firms present on the

Bazancourt-Pomacle site is based on the concept of the territorially integrated
biorefinery, in the sense that the synergy between local biodiversity and the
optimised use of resources is the basis of research and innovation strategy. This
concept is also applied when these firms develop new markets and new products.
Whilst the definition of a refinery may appear obvious to all, the definition of a
biorefinery seems more abstract. What is a biorefinery? In what way is it economi-
cally relevant? What are the differences between first and second-generation
biorefineries? Our first section will attempt to answer these questions.

1 The Concept of Biorefinery

The field of study of the biorefinery is still recent, and this is reflected in its
terminology. The biorefinery has no single accepted definition, but rather a series
of definitions that enable us to apprehend the subject as well as possible.

1.1 Definitions, Technical Status and Typology

Box 2.1 Examples of Definitions of the Biorefinery

As part of its scientific programme to support the policies of 2008, BIOPOL1
reviews some of the existing definitions of the biorefinery2:

(continued)
1
Assessment of BIOrefinery concepts and the implications for agricultural and forestry POlicy.
2
BIOPOL (2008).
1 The Concept of Biorefinery 27

Box 2.1 (continued)

– The term “green biorefinery” was defined for the first time in 1997 in
Germany.3 According to this definition, “‘green’ biorefineries are complex
systems based on ecological technology for comprehensive (holistic),
material and energy utilization of renewable resources and natural
materials using green and waste biomass and focalising on sustainable
regional land utilization.” The expression “complex systems” has since
been replaced by “totally integrated systems.”
– According to Kamm et al. (2006) and Kamm et al. (2007), The American
Department of Energy (DOE) uses the following definition:
A biorefinery is an overall concept of a processing plant where biomass feedstocks
are converted and extracted into a spectrum of valuable products. Its operation is
similar to that of petrochemical refineries.

– The American National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) uses the

following definition4,5:
A biorefinery is a facility that integrates biomass conversion processes and equip-
ment to produce fuels, power, and chemicals from biomass. The biorefinery concept
is analogous to today’s petroleum refineries, which produce multiple fuels and
products from petroleum. Industrial biorefineries have been identified as the most
promising route to the creation of a new domestic biobased industry.

– The International Energy Agency (IEA) describes the biorefinery as “the

sustainable processing of biomass into a spectrum of marketable products
(food, feed, materials, chemicals) and energy (fuels, power, heat)”. This
means that biorefinery can be a concept, a facility, a process, a plant, or
even a cluster of facilities.6

In simple terms, a biorefinery is an industrial site that transforms biomass in a

sustainable way into human and animal food products, biomaterials, biofuel, and
chemical products with high value added, such as cosmetics. The aim is to put every
part of an agro-resource to either food or non-food use. Thus, with the same inputs,
the members of the biorefinery will obtain a much wider range of outputs
(Cf. Figs. 2.1 and 2.2).
Another example is wheat, which can be processed to produce starch, glucose,
gluten and fibre. These ingredients can then be used for human and/or animal
foodstuffs. After that glucose can be used to produce glucose syrup and then,
after fermentation, bioethanol to be used in the production of biofuels.

3
Kamm et al. (1998).
4
Kamm et al. (2006).
5
Kamm et al. (2007).
6
IEA Bioenergy Task 42 Biorefinery, 2009. Brochure: www.biorefinery.nl/biopol
28 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

Fig. 2.1 Inputs and outputs of a traditional sugar factory [Adapted from a diagram by STUART,
P. (2006). The forest biorefinery: survival strategy for Canada’s pulp and paper sector? Pulp &
Paper. Canada, June 107 (6)13–16]

Fig. 2.2 Inputs and outputs of a sugar factory that is part of a biorefinery [Adapted from a diagram
by STUART, P. (2006). The forest biorefinery: survival strategy for Canada’s pulp and paper
sector? Pulp & Paper. Canada, June 107 (6)13–16]

The biorefinery concept is similar to that of the oil refinery, which produces
different fuels and other products from oil (Cf. Fig. 2.3). The traditional refinery
converts oil into fuel, molecular platforms for the petrochemical industry and
chemical specialities such as lubricants and solvents. The biorefinery converts
1 The Concept of Biorefinery 29

Fig. 2.3 The refinery and the biorefinery (Kamm, B., Kamm, M., Gruber, P. (2012). Biorefineries -
Industrial Processes and Products. In: Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Indutrial Chemistry, WILEY-
VCH, Weinheim, p 668)

biomass into biofuels, molecular platforms for green chemistry, and into chemical
specialities such as biolubricants and biosolvants. The production processes used in
biorefineries are the same as those commonly used in oil refineries: raw-material
distillation, processing of these materials, separation of the products formed, all of
which is carried out using integrated material and energy flows and processes.
The biorefinery competes with the oil refinery as it commercialises similar
molecules in terms of properties and/or applications.
By producing bioenergy and biosourced products, the biorefinery takes advan-
tage of all the components and intermediate products and maximises the value
obtained from its refining operations.
According to de Cherisey (2010), numerous studies7 have attempted to classify
and map the biorefineries of the world. Biorefineries can be classified on the basis of
the raw materials they use

• The cereal biorefinery processes grain and starch.

• The oilseed biorefinery.
• The “green” biorefinery, which processes water-based raw materials.

7
The European projects Biopol, Biorefinery Euroview and, more recently, Star Colibri.
30 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

• The lignocellulose biorefinery, which can process forestry products or straw,

corncobs and lignocellulose-rich waste.
• The syngas biorefinery, which produces hydrocarbons or intermediate chemical
products by the microbial fermentation of synthesis gas.

However, the concept of biorefinery goes beyond the philosophy of the oil
refinery because, when possible, it includes sustainable management practices
and a circular economy.
More generally, the concept of biorefinery takes into account all the issues of
sustainable development, including environmental, economic and social factors.

1.2 The Viability of the Biorefinery

The biorefinery, seen as a single industrial entity, becomes economically worth-

while when different factories on the same site come together to make up an
industrial ecosystem in which the different firms supply each other with intermedi-
ate products and/or energy. The economies of scale made possible by the proximity
of the various players, in terms of logistics and investment, become key competi-
tiveness factors. The biorefinery can thus optimise its procurement and production
in line with the markets upstream and downstream of its activity.
This economic optimisation can be accompanied by an environmental
optimisation, including the minimisation of waste, energy consumption and other
inputs. The more integrated the biorefinery, the more viable the biorefinery model is
(Cf. Box 2.2).

Box 2.2 Levels of Integration and Multi-functionality Already Achieved by

Biorefineries (After Star-Colibri (2011))
Degree Integrated and multifunctional features
Raw Use of all the components of the biomass
materials Processing of different components of raw materials in parallel and in an
appropriate manner
Flexible, optimised use of raw materials for primary refining
Process Link between primary and secondary refining
Successive steps to the process along the value chain
Wide range of products
Products Simultaneous production of chemical products, materials, energy, and
when appropriate, by-products for food and animal feed
Simultaneous production of various materials and/or simultaneous
production of different types of energy
Link between conversion and refining
Industry Incorporation within the existing value chain
Selection of location with regard to biomass production and availability
1 The Concept of Biorefinery 31

Fig. 2.4 The different components of the primary and secondary refining in biorefinery concept.
(IEA Task 42 Biorefinery systemics, 2009; adapted and modified by the FNR) (Peters D., FNR,
2011. The German Biorefinery Roadmap; presentation at the Expert Forum Conference on
Biorefineries; Budapest; April 2011)

Most traditional biomass processing plants carry out the initial stage of biomass
refining and, in certain cases, a first conversion stage. Integrated biorefineries go
further than this, including other conversion stages and thus moving towards
sustainable optimisation by maximising their profits and minimising their losses.
For example, energy focused biorefineries8 produce biofuel, electricity and heat
from the biomass through primary and secondary refining: the waste from the
process is sold as animal feed, or even better transformed into high value-added
products, which optimises the biomass both economically and ecologically
(Cf. Figs. 2.4 and 2.5).
One of the most exceptional examples of the biorefinery concept is embodied in
the Bazancourt-Pomacle site.

1.3 The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery

The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery (Cf. Fig. 2.6) is one of the best-known and
largest biorefineries in France and indeed in Europe. It is an excellent subject for a

8
We speak of first generation biorefinery to describe processes using food products such as cereal
grain and of second generation biorefinery for processes using lignocellulose materials (straw,
agricultural waste, wood, . . .).
32 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

Fig. 2.5 The different components of the overall biorefinery concept (IEA Task 42 Biorefinery
systemics, 2009; adapted and modified by the FNR) (Peters D., FNR, 2011. The German
Biorefinery Roadmap; presentation at the Expert Forum Conference on Biorefineries; Budapest;
April 2011)

Fig. 2.6 Overall view of the Bazancourt-Pomacle platform

study insofar as it is a concrete illustration of what is often still considered a

concept.
The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery, from the name of the communes in which
it is located, is unusual in that it includes an industrial complex and an open
innovation platform. It includes on the same site a sugar factory and dehydration
plant; a joint research centre; a starch and glucose processing plant; an ethanol
production unit; an industrial demonstrator; a CO2 collection centre; a research and
1 The Concept of Biorefinery 33

production unit for active cosmetics ingredients; the pilot factory for the
FUTUROL second generation biofuel project; and a public research centre named
Centre of Excellence for White Biotechnology (CEBB) operated by three academic
institutions.
Its principal owners are two major European cooperatives: VIVESCIA (whose
holding company is Siclaé) and CRISTAL UNION (Cf. Box 2.1)

Box 2.3 Presentation of VIVESCIA and CRISTAL UNION,9 2013 Figures

VIVESCIA CRISTAL UNION
People • 11,443 members, 8500 of • 9300 farmer members in ten different
whom are active regions of France
• 3000 member breeders • 2200 employees on more than 10 sites
• 2500 farmer customers in France
• 8119 employees in
cooperatives and
agricultural subsidiaries
A leading • Largest cereal cooperative • 1.7 million tonnes of sugar produced
international in France, collecting 3.9 per year, together with nearly 190,000
group million tonnes tonnes of sugar beet pulp and alfalfa
• 270 collection silos pellets
• One million hectares of • Ten sugar factories and three major
agricultural land (SAU)a distilleries
• Active on 4 continents, in • 138,000 ha of sugar beet production,
25 countries, with nearly 40 % of French production
80 factories • Second largest French sugar producer
• World leader in the malt and fifth largest in Europe
sector • Partnership for sugar production in
• One of Europe’s leading Algeria and partnerships for sugar
milling and baking/pastry- marketing throughout Europe
making groups
• Second largest maize
processor in Europe
Financial • Turnover: 4.2 billion euros • Turnover: two billion euros
data
a
Surface Agricole Utile

It is the result of a unique development process (c.f. Box 2.2), which started in
1953 with the creation of the Bazancourt sugar factory. This founding event
involved a significant degree of risk on the part of the farmers, who put up their
farms as security and gave up a year’s harvest as the company’s capital.

9
Summary of figures given on the companies’ websites http://www.vivescia.com/groupe-en-bref/
chiffres-cles and http://www.cristal-union.fr/le-groupe/chiffres-cles/
34 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

1.3.1 Key Stages in the Development of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Site

Box 2.4 Key Stages in the Development of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Site

1948 Distillery
1953 Bazancourt Cooperative sugar factory10
1989 ARD, joint research centre (cereals, sugar, alfalfa)
1992 Creation of CHAMTOR, initially producing inulin (chicory) and
glucose (wheat), then starch and glucose, bought by Pfeifer and
Langen in 1994
1994 SOLIANCE, creator and manufacturer of active cosmetics
ingredients
2005 National launch of competitiveness clusters in Reims and presidential
visit of the site to illustrate this new dynamic. Creation of the IAR
cluster (Picardy and Champagne-Ardenne regions)
2007 CRISTANOL, ethanol and alcohol producer11
2009 Acquisition of CHAMTOR, starch and glucose producer, from
Pfeifer and Langen by CHAMPAGNE CEREALES
2010 BIODEMO, ARD’s industrial demonstration unit
2011 PROJET FUTUROL, second-generation bioethanol pilot factory
BRI, joint open biorefinery platform
2012 AIR LIQUIDE, CO2 liquefaction
Launch of CEBB by Ecole Centrale Paris,
AgroParisTech and NEOMA Business School12
2013 FONDATION JACQUES DE BOHAN, foundation dedicated to
promoting the biorefinery
Launch of a joint staff restaurant for the different firms on the site
2014 Acquisition of SOLIANCE by GIVAUDAN. The site becomes the
REIMS CHAMPAGNE ARDENNE EUROPEAN
BIOREFINERY INSTITUTE13 (IEB)

10
Conversion of the distillery into a sugar factory.
11
From wheat and sugar beet by-products.
12
Installation of these research chairs in a dedicated building on the biorefinery site planned
for 2015.
13
http://www.institut-europeen-de-la-bioraffinerie.fr
1 The Concept of Biorefinery 35

This pioneering initiative was followed up at the beginning of the 1990s (Fig. 2.7)
by the simultaneous arrival on site of the CHAMTOR, factory, producing starch
and glucose, and the ARD research centre.14,15,16
Later, in 2005, when France launched a new industrial policy with competitive-
ness clusters, actors in Picardy and Champagne-Ardenne united to develop a joint
project: “pôle à vocation mondiale Industries et Agro-ressources” (world industry
and agro-resource cluster—IAR). The excellent example of Bazancourt-Pomacle
was chosen by the President of the French Republic17 for the ceremony to launch
this national policy focusing on cooperation between public and private players to
reindustrialise the country.
After this, the development speeded up. In 2007, the launch of new regulations
in favour of biofuels stimulated the construction on the site of CRISTANOL, a
mixed sugar beet and cereal ethanol producer. A few years later, in 2011, this same
encouraging environment led to the setting up of the FUTUROL project18 by the
company PROCETHOL 2G and to the construction of its pilot factory.
Furthermore, since 2012, significant financial support by the local authorities
(Champagne-Ardenne Regional Council, Marne Departmental Council and Greater
Reims Area), has enabled the launch of a Centre of Excellence for White Biotech-
nology (CEBB) through the creation of three complementary research chairs.19 The
arrival of higher education institutions has given the site a new dynamic, with
academic researchers to initiate essential research into the different activities. The
industrial demonstrator BIODEMO,20 built in 2010, also illustrates this new dimen-
sion by giving ARD the ability to develop biotechnological processes on an
industrial scale.
More recently, the Jacques de Bohan Foundation has been set up by VIVESCIA
and CRISTAL UNION. Its first purpose is to promote the biorefinery concept as an
integrated industrial tool for the optimal use of agricultural production. By creating

14
The département of the Marne demonstrated its commitment alongside the industrial players at
this time by financing the ARD research building.
15
This led to the creation in 1994 of SOLIANCE, creator and producer of active cosmetics
ingredients and, in 2010, WHEATOLEO, manufacturer of surfactants.
16
The people of Champagne very quickly realised that this was a turning point, and sought to
support it through research. With this aim in mind, and at the initiative of Albert Vecten, who was
at that time President of the Champagne-Ardenne Regional Council, the Paris Reims Foundation
was set up in 1990, under the aegis of the Fondation de France. This foundation has more than
1000 individual, local authority and business donors. It supports the agro-bio-industrial dynamic in
the Greater Champagne region through the development of a centre for teaching and research
excellence in topics such as Europol’Agro research, by hosting researchers and by funding post-
doctoral scholarships.
17
Jacques Chirac.
18
The first French project for the production of second generation ethanol.
19
NEOMA Business School Chair in Industrial Bioeconomy, AgroParisTech Chair in Industrial
Agro-Biotechnologies, and Ecole Centrale Paris Chair in White Biotechnologies.
20
Initially for the production of succinic acid in partnership with BIOAMBER.
 36

1980
SUGAR FACTORY 1990
SUGAR FACTORY 2000
ARD
SUGAR FACTORY 2010
ARD
2

CHAMTOR SUGAR FACTORY 2015

SOLIANCE ARD
CHAMTOR SUGAR FACTORY
SOLIANCE ARD
CRISTANOL CHAMTOR
SOLIANCE
BLETANOL
CRISTANOL
BIOAMBER
BLETANOL
BIODEMO
BIOAMBER
AIR LIQUIDE
BIODEMO
WHETOLEO AIR LIQUIDE
WHETOLEO
FUTUROL

Fig. 2.7 Evolution of the Bazancourt-Pomacle platform between 1980 and 2012 in 10-year periods (It should be noted that BIOAMBER is produced in the
bio-demonstrator)
An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery
1 The Concept of Biorefinery 37

2013
2012 Promoon
2009 Academic and
1994 Demonstrator layer development
layer
1953 R&D
Industrial layer
origins

Fig. 2.8 Phases in the development of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery from 1953 to 2012

the foundation, these firms demonstrate their open-mindedness and concern for the
development and evolution of the bioeconomy (Allais et al. 2013).
These different stages appear as the addition of different layers around an initial
core (Fig. 2.8). Four successive phases can be seen in the growth of the Bazancourt-
Pomacle site, as it evolved from a mere industrial complex into an integrated,
complete biorefinery. This representation is important, insofar as it proves that even
though the development of the site was not planned, its current shape did not come
about by accident. Indeed, the firms present on the site did not come together by
chance but are result of a strategy that sought complementary activities to diversify
the food and non-food use of agro-resources. Although its growth was far from
homogenous, in the sense that some of the stages took much longer than others, the
Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery can claim to have developed in an ordered way,
and this is one of its strengths (Lapie et al. 2012).
Thanks to all these initiatives, more than 1000 people are now employed on the
Bazancourt-Pomacle site (full-time and seasonal) in addition to at least 600 indirect
jobs. They work 24 h a day to process three million tonnes of various types of
biomass (mainly sugar beet and wheat, but also alfalfa) on a site covering more than
160 ha (c.f. Table 2.1). Two agro-industrial cooperative groups are very involved
on the site: VIVESCIA21 and CRISTAL UNION22 (owners of CRISTANOL,23
CHAMTOR, ARD24 etc.) Their presence guarantees the site’s industrial dynamism,
with more than 20 million euros invested annually and a global strategic vision.
The site is unusual in that it constitutes an “ecosystem,” in which “symbioses”
can develop, exchanges and interaction aimed at optimising its economic efficiency
and reducing its environmental impact. The site has reached a critical size making it
possible to optimise the basic synergies between the different players (water, steam,
energy, waste. . .), and to develop product synergies (flows of materials between the
units), and operational synergies (R&D, academic research. . .).

21
http://www.vivescia.com
22
http://www.cristal-union.fr
23
http://www.CHAMTOR.fr
24
http://www.a-r-d.fr
 38

Table 2.1 Synopsis of firms present on the Bazancourt-Pomacle sitea, b (2011 data)
Key figures for firms present on the site
Date or 2011 Production
Name Activity 2011 Turnover 2011 Payroll arrival volume
A.R.D Research and development 10,144,749 90 1989 Not provided
BIOAMBER Succinic acid production 395,759 Not provided 2008 Not provided
BIODEMO Demonstrator Not provided Not provided 2009 Not provided
2

BLETANOL Cereal cooperative Union 84,406,086 12 2006 Not provided

CHAMTOR Starch production 153,400,000 198 1992 347,000 t
CRISTAL UNION Sugar production 200,000,000 (approx.) 279 1948 206,282 t
CRISTANOL First generation ethanol production 213,553,021 131 2006 2,359,387 hl
FUTUROL/ Second generation ethanol 150,060 12 2011 Not provided
PROCETHOL 2G industrial pilot scheme
SOLIANCE Cosmetic ingredients production 16,268,033 60 1994 Not provided
WHEATOLEO Surfactant production 304,914 Not provided 2010 Not provided
AIR LIQUIDE CO2 collection Not provided Not provided 2009 120,000 t
a
There is a wheat collection site ACOLYANCE (http://acolyance.fr/) at the platform that partially supplies CHAMTOR, but with no role in the overall
symbiosis. This entity is not studied in this book. During their interviews, the authors met Mr Pascal Bailleul, Managing Director of ACOLYANCE, and thank
him for the additional information he provided.
b
The Compagnie Industrielle de la Matière Végétale (Industrial Plant Material Company—CIMV) is also present on the site. Since 2007, CIMV, which was set
up in 1998 with head offices in Levallois-Perret, is operating a pilot scheme to test the process for transforming straw into paper pulp
An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery
1 The Concept of Biorefinery 39

Fig. 2.9 Interaction and cohesion between players on the Bazancourt-Pomacle site [Moreover,
the involvement of the local authorities is echoed in their support for the academic chairs and in the
setting up of the European Biorefinery Institute (IEB), the new name for the site]

Research is at the heart of the biorefinery’s structure. The structure is organised

at different levels (Fig. 2.9): academic, research and innovation, and overall site
level. The site also interacts with the Industry and Agro-resource Competitiveness
Cluster (IAR)25 (see above), a world-scale cluster that is very dynamic in the
Champagne-Ardenne and Picardy regions.
All these dimensions make the Bazancourt-Pomacle site an integrated
biorefinery, whose interest lies in the diversity of its outputs, the optimised use of
its inputs and its industrial ecology26 (c.f. Fig. 2.10).
This diversity of outputs observed in the site’s overall variety of products is not
necessarily present at the level of each individual company. Although some firms
on the site specialise in the production of a single type of output (human foodstuffs,
animal feed or biofuel),27 thanks to the biorefinery’s ecosystem, others are capable
of producing all three types of outputs (c.f. Table 2.2).

25
http://www.iar-pole.com
26
This notion will be discussed in detail in Chap. 3.
27
This division between human foodstuffs, animal feed and biofuel is commonly made in the
literature and refers to the “FFF: Food, Feed, Fuel” debate. To grow their raw materials, biofuels
use a little under 6 % of agricultural land, or 1.7 million hectares in 2010, including 1.45 million
hectares for biodiesel and 250,000 ha bioethanol. Nonetheless, after 2008 and the dramatic rise in
the price of agricultural raw materials, there has been criticism of the competition existing between
biofuel production and that of human or animal foodstuffs. This notion of competition for arable
land and its potential impact on prices is in fact not clear-cut, as shown in several recent studies
(Sources: Press Release by the French Court of Auditors: E´valuation d’une politique publique: la
politique d’aide aux biocarburants [Assessment of a public policy: the policy of support for
40 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

Fig. 2.10 Inputs and outputs of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery

Table 2.2 Distribution of CHAMTOR and CRISTANOL production

CHAMTOR CRISTANOL
Volume Value 2011 (million Volume Value 2011 (million
2011 euros) 2011 euros)
Human 190,000 t 75.5 670,090 hl 43.8
foodstuffs
Animal feed 122,000 t 25 178,554 t 34.7
Biofuel 257,000 hla 11.5 2,359,387 hl 132.5
a
CHAMTOR does not produce biofuel, but a fermentation substrate (liquid wheat). This product is
then sold to Cristanol, which used it to produce 257,000 hl of bioethanol in 2011. This quantity is
included in Cristanol’s overall production

biofuels], 24 January 2012 and Gohin Alexandre (2013), Le changement d’affectation des sols
induit par la consommation européenne de biodiesel: une analyse de sensibilité aux évolutions des
rendements agricoles (Changes in land use resulting from European biodiesel consumption: an
analysis of sensitiveness to change in agricultural yield, INRA Rennes).
It should be noted that with the arrival of second-generation biofuel, production would be
mainly based on agricultural by-products and/or forestry resources. It would thus be possible to
produce biofuel without monopolising fertile land that is essential for the cultivation of cereal for
human foodstuffs.
2 Changes in the Environment that made the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 41

The production of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery provides an alternative

to fossil fuels, and nonetheless maintains its vocation to supply the food markets.
While it is often claimed that the common good, good sense and the spirit of
cooperation were the foundations of the different initiatives that led to the develop-
ment of the site and its originality, other factors obviously played their part.

2 Changes in the Environment that made the Bazancourt-

Pomacle Biorefinery

According to Filippi et al. (2008), for several decades French agricultural

cooperatives have faced a radically changing environment, including reforms of
the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and the growing power of the hypermarket
sector. The different players on the Bazancourt-Pomacle site have not escaped this
trend and face both exogenous (market volatility, CAP, WTO regulations), and
endogenous (financial organisation, trial and error) factors of change.
This section will present the changes the cooperatives have had to face, and then
describe the strategies used to tackle these regulatory, competitive and industrial
mutations.

2.1 Exogenous Factors

Three main exogenous factors have influenced the strategy of firms on the
Bazancourt-Pomacle site: World Trade Organisation regulations, reform of the
Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), and the volatility of agricultural product prices.

2.1.1 WTO Regulations28

The 1947 General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) applied to agriculture,
but in practice, the contracting parties excluded this sector from application of the
principles set out in the general agreement. As the CAP had rapidly generated
surpluses, the European Community was asked to dismantle its system of subsidies
to avoid harming the American market (Emorine 2006).
The Uruguay round included this sector in multilateral trade negotiations
(Bureau et al. 2007). In 1994, the Marrakech agreement gave a new multilateral
frame for the progressive deregulation of agriculture. At this time agriculture
benefitted from its own agreement, the Agreement on Agriculture.
The WTO member states undertook to apply a programme to reform agricultural
policies in force between 1995 and 2000 in developed countries. This programme
targeted three main areas:

28
Source: http://www.europarl.europa.eu
42 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

– Access to markets, by imposing the transformation of all protection measures

into customs duty (tariff equivalents) and then their gradual reduction (by 36 %
over 6 years, 1995–2000, compared with the reference period, 1986–1988).
– Differentiated reduction of subsidy volumes by type of aid, depending on their
capacity to distort agricultural markets.
– Reduction of export subsidies over 6 years by 21 % in volume and 36 % in value,
compared with the reference period of 1986–1990. This linear reduction was
implemented by the European Union in 20 product groups. For processed
products, only the reduction in value was applied. Before this agreement,
although agriculture was already subject to GATT regulations, export subsidies
were regulated by other agreements (Tangermann 2001).

The 1992 reform of the CAP, apart from its internal objectives, also aimed to
facilitate the Agreement on Agriculture as part of the Uruguay round. In fact, the
EU broadly respected the commitments it made in Marrakech.
Since 1995, the common agricultural policy has been subject to WTO rules.29 A
Dispute Settlement Body (DSB), with a very strict procedure for litigation, was set
up to ensure that states who were party to the agreement respected the new
multilateral regulations.

2.1.2 The Common Agricultural Policy

Agricultural cooperatives had to adapt to the different phases of CAP reform.
Several key stages can be distinguished:

– In 1962: creation of the CAP, with the initial aims of increasing agricultural
productivity, guaranteeing a fair standard of living for farmers, stabilising
markets, guaranteeing food supply and ensuring reasonable prices for
consumers. Farmers invested massively in new production techniques and new
equipment in order to increase their production volumes.
– Production surpluses soon appeared; in 1984, quotas were set up and a policy of
subsidy reduction was implemented.
– In 1988: budget discipline with a maximum annual allocation for expenses and
obligatory set-aside of land.
– From 1992: new guaranteed low prices to align with global prices.
– In 1999: Berlin agreement, giving European agriculture responsibility for
protecting the environment and local territories.
– In 2003: Delinking of subsidies. Subsidies are paid in the form of a single
payment per farm based on the average level of subsidies received during

29
“Within the framework of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), signed in
Geneva in 1947, and the agreement setting up the World Trade Organisation (WTO), signed in
Marrakech in 1994, the EU and its member states act in accordance with articles 207 (common
trade policy ), 217 and 218 (international agreements).”
2 Changes in the Environment that made the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 43

Fig. 2.11 Comparison of wheat and sugar price trends [De Cherisey, Hugues (2010). Panorama et
potentiel de développement des bioraffineries. ADEME Study. 221 p.]

three reference years. These subsidies are paid on condition that the farmer
respects the environment and animal wellbeing.
– In 2009: End of mandatory set-aside and total delinking of subsidies apart from
exceptional cases.
– In 2013: Budget reduction.

This decline in protection, under the pressure of the WTO, led to extremely
volatile prices for agricultural products (c.f. Fig. 2.11).

2.1.3 The Volatility of Agricultural Produce Prices

Significant variations in the price of agricultural raw materials have a direct impact
on the activity of agricultural cooperatives.
A high level of instability makes prices much more difficult for producers to
anticipate. Speculation, in particular, makes pricing more complex and increases
the risk to producers’ margins.
In such a situation, it is important for farmers and the cooperatives to which they
belong to sell their produce on the most profitable markets.
Given the humanitarian stakes (Cf. Fig. 2.12), it is important for nations and
international organisations to support the efforts of the agricultural sector to favour
food independence and avoid, where possible, periods of under-production. The
issue of agricultural produce storage is also important to offset poor harvests.
However, support for the agricultural sector must respect the principle of free
competition within the sector, in an increasingly global agro-food industry.
44 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

Fig. 2.12 World cereal production and consumption (Source: http://www.fao.org/

worldfoodsituation/csdb/fr/)

2.2 Endogenous Factors

The previous section described changes in regulations and the market that affect all
agricultural cooperatives. Now we turn to the endogenous factors that have affected
the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery. We discuss two key points: the failures it has
experienced and the lessons it has learnt from these failures; and problems linked to
the heavy investment load that it has had to bear in order to develop.

2.2.1 Trial and Error: Example of the Launch of CHAMTOR and Its
Implications30,31
Fortunately, the Bazancourt-Pomacle site has experienced more successes than
failures during its development. However, it would be unwise to ignore the failures.
Failures can be considered a good thing, in that they can point us in a different
direction, towards success. We will attempt to illustrate this through the example of
the launch of CHAMTOR.
The CHAMTOR plant was built in 1992 on former agricultural land in the
commune of Bazancourt, opposite the sugar factory.
The factory’s launch was instigated by several personalities who strongly
influenced rural life in Champagne-Ardenne, Jacques de Bohan, Alain Delaunoy
and Georges Mangeart. Their idea was to have a site to process their produce within
the region and to create value added for the agricultural sector by transforming
chicory and wheat into sugars: inulin and glucose for the production of blended
products for the food industry. They also hoped to obtain inulin quotas that were, at
that time, negotiated at European level.

30
Source: Interviews with the main players on the site.
31
Source: http://www.siclae.com/actualites/CHAMTOR-20-ans-histoire-futur-construire
2 Changes in the Environment that made the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 45

The concept was very innovative because the plant was to transform chicory into
inulin during the chicory season and then, during the off-season, transform wheat
into glucose. The plant was designed and built while the quota negotiations were
under way, in the hope of obtaining them. Unfortunately, in 1992, the CHAMTOR
adventure did not start too well when the firm failed to obtain the inulin production
quotas it had hoped for. It did not have the right to produce, or at least not on the
scale for which it had been designed.
After an appeal to the European Commission, it eventually transpired that the
process to transform chicory into inulin was extremely complex.32 Laboratory trials
had been very successful, but on the industrial scale, the inulin production process
turned out to be a disaster. In fact, the project had progressed from the laboratory to
industrial production too quickly, and had ignored the pilot phase.
Despite all the hard work of the staff, the plant did not manage to accelerate
production or to find clients, and after 2 years was near to collapse. Realising that
the future of CHAMTOR would not be in inulin, the management decided to
renovate the factory step-by-step and to specialise in wheat processing. This led
to several changes in the shareholders. Initially the project was supported by a
Belgian starch producer, Avebe. Then CHAMTOR was bought by the German
sugar group Pfeifer and Langen, which took up the challenge of transforming the
firm into an efficient, profitable starch and glucose producer.
Through hard work and heavy investment, the factory began to gather momen-
tum, increased its production, obtained market share and forged itself a place in the
starch sector.
Then, in 2007, Pfeifer and Langen decided to refocus on its core sector. It sold
CHAMTOR to CHAMPAGNE CEREALES. Today,33 CHAMTOR, via Siclaé, is
part of the VIVESCIA group. It processes 450,000 tonnes of Champagne-Ardenne
wheat.
Consistent with the notion of an integrated biorefinery, CHAMTOR delivers a
fermentation substrate34 to CRISTANOL by pipeline, equivalent to 250,000 hl of
ethanol. Glucose produced by CHAMTOR is also used to develop new molecules.
The firm operates in French, European and world markets. Its customers are
confectioners, biscuit-makers, industrial bakers, pastry and cake makers,
ice-cream manufacturers, major animal and pet-food manufacturers, and paper
mills.
So as to avoid repeating early mistakes, the firm sought to smooth the passage
from laboratory trials to industrial production. The processes do not take place
identically when the molecules are in a larger environment.35 For this reason, ARD
industrialised the laboratory process, investing 21 million euros, in 2011, in an
industrial demonstration unit, BIODEMO. Firms can use this unit to produce on a

32
At the time, it was also necessary to train nearly 200 staff in a new activity.
33
CHAMTOR is the fourth largest European corn starch producer.
34
Liquid wheat.
35
Due to calorific loss among other factors.
46 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

preindustrial scale. This is a vital intermediate phase to validate the technology and
finalise “process book” as preparation for full industrialisation.
Apart from the consequences of this mistake, which led to success via improved
production processes, other endogenous factors drove the cooperatives to review
their strategies.
In the next section, we look at the consequences that the heavy investment
involved had on the cooperatives’ financial structures.

2.2.2 Funding Heavy Investment

As the 2008 financial crisis has made access to capital more difficult, cooperatives
have to review their financing and capitalisation strategies. In this area, actors on
the Bazancourt-Pomacle site are no exception to the rule. In the following subsec-
tion, we will look at the challenges and opportunities engendered by the cooperative
business model in terms of financing. Then we will consider the investment made
on the Bazancourt-Pomacle site and highlight the importance of bank partnerships.

Challenges and Opportunities of the Cooperative Business Model

According to Chomel et al. (2013), whilst French law provides a precise legal
framework for cooperatives, and particularly for agricultural cooperatives, it does
not define them. The only definition available is that drawn up in 1995 by the
International Cooperative Alliance (ICA). In its Manchester declaration, the ICA
defined a cooperative as “an autonomous association of people voluntarily united to
satisfy their collective economic, social and cultural aspirations and needs, by
means of a jointly-owned, democratically controlled enterprise.” According to the
same author, this definition is completed by the universal values and principles that
characterise cooperatives (c.f. Box 2.3).

Box 2.5 Cooperative Values and Principles According to the ICA (1995)
Values Principles
• Individual and mutual management and • Voluntary membership open to all
responsibility • Democratic power exercised by the
• Democracy members
• Equity and solidarity • Financial contribution by members
• Members’ commitment to ethical principles of • Autonomy and independence
honesty, transparency, social responsibility and • Education, training and information
altruism • Cooperation between cooperatives
• Commitment to the community

Traditionally, cooperatives used retained earnings and members’ contributions

to finance their activity. Today, like any other firm, cooperatives operate in a very
different business environment (c.f. Fig. 2.13). They need more funds to grow and
remain competitive, at a time when it is more difficult than ever to obtain funds
(Lewi and Perri 2009).
2 Changes in the Environment that made the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 47

Fig. 2.13 Structural needs and new challenges (After the PWC study (2012), Cartographie et
grands enjeux du monde coopératif agricole à l’échelle mondiale)

Funding development is an increasingly difficult challenge and it goes hand-in-

hand with more general issues such as expansion and differentiation in the market.
However, even though the unique cooperative business model makes access to new
funding sources more difficult, it also provides opportunities.
In a 2012 study, Deloitte’s identifies the limitations of the cooperative business
model (c.f. Fig. 2.14). The study notes that:

– The ownership structure limits access to capital since generally cooperatives do

not issue shares.36 Indeed, such a strategy, which gives outside investors the
opportunity to own and control the firm would go against cooperative principles,
according to which ownership and control are reserved for the members. This
limits the rate of capital funding and the cooperative’s ability to grow. Further-
more, although traditional internal funding sources are necessary, they are not
always enough to satisfy development requirements, particularly as the fall in
the agricultural population makes it impossible to expand the capital. Meanwhile
retained income is not always sufficient since it depends on annual profits and in
the long term raises the question of funding by the membership.37

36
Avoidance strategies are nonetheless possible, as shown by the examples of TEREOS (stock
market listing and open bond issue) and VIVESCIA (closed bond issue).
37
As the profits are owed to the members, retaining profit is synonymous with looking for funding
sources to repay the members.
48 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

Fig. 2.14 Challenges and

opportunities generated by CHALLENGES:
the singularity of the
- Ownership structure limits access
cooperative business model
to share capital,
(After the Deloitte Report,
2012, Financer l’avenir: - Fragile balance between funding
Évolution des stratégies de needs and stakeholder interests,
financement et de - need for strong governance.
capitalisation des
coopératives)

OPPORTUNITIES:
- Lower capital costs
- Principles governing cooperatives
facilitate access to funding,
- Principle of cooperation between
cooperatives.

– The balance between funding needs and stakeholder interests is a fragile one.
Whilst the concentration of stakeholders38 can facilitate decision making when
their interests converge, this is often much more difficult when they diverge.
Indeed, it is sometimes difficult to align the strategic priorities of the
cooperative’s management with those of the members. For example, the former
may want to give priority to external growth to improve competitiveness, whilst
the latter might consider any external growth as risky and so oppose it.
– Strong governance is necessary, because the employment of new funding
sources requiring complex financing arrangements demands supplementary
control and management capacities.39

The same study notes that all of these drawbacks linked to the cooperative
business model are counterbalanced by advantages. For example:

– Cooperatives benefit from lower capital costs since they often fund most of their
activities by the contributions of their members. The members are required to
contribute financially to the cooperative when they join. This contribution by
each of the members makes it possible to make cooperative governance
democratic.40 Further, the members do not expect to obtain a return on this
investment; they receive limited payments based on the capital they contribute
when they join.

38
The members are not only owners but also customers, suppliers and even, sometimes, employees.
39
This point will be developed in the next section.
40
“One Man One Vote”.
2 Changes in the Environment that made the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 49

Cooperatives also fund themselves by loans, on which the interest payments

are tax deductible.
– The principles on which cooperatives are managed facilitate access to finance
from funders seeking projects that will be profitable in the long-term. Indeed,
funders who are averse to risk often pay great attention to long-term projects,
since the benefits are less volatile and reduce the amount of risk taken in
different projects. Cooperative managers are expected to take decisions to
maintain the productive capital and maintain the firm’s activity for future
generations rather than take into account market pressures.
– The principle of inter-cooperative cooperation can also be a significant lever to
obtain funding. The mutual guarantees undertaken by vertically linked
cooperatives can reduce funding needs for commercial operations.

Cooperatives capable of raising sufficient funds to ensure their growth and

develop their competitiveness by increasing their operational efficiency can make
the most of these opportunities.

Challenges and Opportunities of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery

Cooperative Business Model
In structural terms, the firms present on the Bazancourt-Pomacle site have impor-
tant needs (c.f. supra Fig. 2.13).
The firms are characterised by intensive capital requirements. Their capital
expenditure is high because of the need to purchase and maintain costly, customised
equipment. The number of innovative industrial-scale projects that emerge is not
high, but their implementation, and the various stages required to increase progres-
sively in scale require significant investment (Fig. 2.15).
The cooperatives and the firms present on the Bazancourt-Pomacle site have
limited financial means because of the reduction in public financial support and also
because of the volatility of raw material prices.
Their working capital requirement is also high, due to the seasonality of their
activity directly related to the sugar beet and wheat harvests and short supplier
payment times.
The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery has many new challenges to face, with
firms globally tending to increase in size through mergers and acquisitions,41 the
development of the value chain upstream and downstream of processing, including
R&D (c.f. Fig. 2.16) and the need for increased internationalisation to access new
markets.
The example of the creation of CRISTANOL is interesting, because it illustrates
both the structural requirements of actors on the site (significant capital expendi-
ture, limited funding sources) and the new challenges encountered (need to unite
the actors in a union of cooperatives, diversification and development of the value
chain upstream of processing and the possibility of exporting production all over

41
For example, the acquisition of the sugar group Vermandoise by Cristal Union in 2011.
50 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

Fig. 2.15 Increase in total investment needs on the Bazancourt-Pomacle site between 2000 and
2011

Upstream Processing Downstream

R&D Inial processing Distribuon
Collecon Secondary
processing

Fig. 2.16 Summary of the value chain upstream and downstream of processing

Europe). Created in 2006, CRISTANOL is today one of Europe’s leading

bioethanol producers. The firm is a subsidiary of CRISTAL UNION and
BLETANOL, and required an initial investment of 272 million euros for a produc-
tion capacity of 280,000 tonnes of ethanol.
The initial investment to launch the firm was funded as shown in Fig. 2.17.
Although equity and quasi-equity42 make up 29 % of the initial investment,
long-term debt alone, typically bank loans, makes up 71 % of the investment
required to set up CRISTANOL.
In France, the CREDIT AGRICOLE DU NORD-EST (CANE)43 has clearly
positioned itself as the agro-industry’s bank, and has partly enabled the major
projects on the Bazancourt-Pomacle site to be brought to fruition.

42
Current account.
43
Summary of information collected during interviews with Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery
actors.
2 Changes in the Environment that made the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 51

Fig. 2.17 Initial investment Inial investment for the

for the creation of
CRISTANOL in 2006 launch of Cristanol in 2006 Shareholders
’ Equity
18%

Quasi-equity
11%
Long-term
debt
71%

Resulting from the merger of the Reims, Aisne, Champagne and Ardennes
regional banks, the CANE had enough shareholder equity to fund the
Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery agro-industrial projects. Indeed, the cooperatives
were growing in size, merging and/or buying up other companies, and their funding
requirements to support this growth were high. The origins of the CANE make it
above all “the bank for agriculture, wine-growing and agro-industry”, which is why
the bank agreed to take on the justified, bearable risk that was required to support
the investment at Bazancourt-Pomacle. It was aware of the risk and was committed
to local and agricultural development. Other banks would undoubtedly have reacted
differently.
Today, while the 2008 financial crisis and the events that it led to, in particular
the debt crisis in the Eurozone, continue to shake the world’s markets, banks, even
those that are closest to their customers, have become reluctant to take even
moderate risk. The investment required has driven cooperatives as a whole, and
the actors of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery in particular, to turn towards
other funding sources, including complex financial packages. We will examine this
trend in the next section.

2.3 The Strategies and Solutions that Have made the Biorefinery
What It Is Today

In the face of these endogenous and exogenous changes, the Bazancourt-Pomacle

site chose to develop via the value chain upstream and downstream of processing.
Internal funding capacity was insufficient to ensure this growth and bank loans were
increasingly difficult to obtain, so the firms decided to turn to complex financial
packages.

2.3.1 Financial Packages

The cooperatives at the Bazancourt-Pomacle site were thus led to modify their
structure and to exist in a less “pure” state. These are made up of cooperatives or
unions of cooperatives with groups of non-cooperative subsidiaries. These
52 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

Fig. 2.18 Changing structure of the cooperatives and joint subsidiaries

subsidiaries are often jointly owned with other cooperatives or with

non-cooperative industrial or banking firms44 (c.f. Fig. 2.18).
According to Mauget (2013), all of these economic changes can disturb the
relationship between the cooperative and its members. One of the major challenges
for cooperatives is without doubt that of developing their members’ “market”
culture. They need to understand better the socio-economic environment in which
their cooperative operates and take a more active part in the changes cooperative
groups are undergoing. Cooperatives need then to inform and train not only their
members but also their industrial and financial partners, to make sure each stake-
holder understands the mind-set of the others.
Eleven firms are present on the site of the biorefinery. However, the platform is
much broader in scope if we take into consideration all the indirect stakeholders and
subsidiaries (Cf. Fig. 2.19).
The risk represented by this type of financial arrangement in terms of loss of
power for the members, the original cooperatives and the holding groups
(c.f. Box 2.4) does not outweigh the advantages of such arrangements. This is
particularly true if the rules for payment of the farmers, the ratio between dividends
and retained profit of profit retained, and the rules for changes in majority
shareholdings are settled beforehand.

44
Thus, two different logics find themselves combined: cooperative and capitalist.
2 Changes in the Environment that made the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 53

Fig. 2.19 Financial structure of the Bazancourt-Pomacle site in 2012

Box 2.6 Presentation of Siclaé, VIVESCIA Holding Group and Player

in the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery
SICLAE45 is an agro-food industry group that specialises in transforming
plant material into food and non-food fibres. SICLAE is a partnership limited
by shares, controlled by its founders from the farming sector.
SICLAE is present in promising markets at the crossroads between agri-
culture and industry, such as malting, milling and bakery, starch and glucose
production, maize processing, animal feed and environmental plant chemis-
try. Its core activity is processing cereal production (wheat, barley, maize,
oats), oilseed (rape, sunflower) high-protein crops (peas, horse beans), with
the aim of developing regional agriculture and attaining critical mass.

Key Figures
– World Leader in malt
– Leading French milling company and major European player in baking,
cakes and pastries
– Number Two in Europe for maize processing
– 6546 employees
– Active in 25 countries
– Turnover of 2.45 billion euros

Shareholders of SICLAE46:

(continued)

45
Source: http://www.siclae.com/
46
Source: http://www.siclae.com/siclae-en-bref/actionnaires-filieres/index.html
54 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

Box 2.6 (continued)

With such a complex ownership structure, quality management is vital. Today,

agricultural cooperatives have to call on skilled managers who are capable of
leading the strategic development of such structures. Cooperatives are prepared to
attract leading managers from other sectors to decide and implement growth and
development strategies, as long as these managers adhere to and recognise the
specific values and characteristics of the cooperative model.
For the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery, these financial arrangements are the
price it has to pay if developing the value chain upstream of processing is to be
financially possible.
2 Changes in the Environment that made the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 55

2.3.2 Developing the Value Chain Upstream of Processing

The firms present on the site did not wait to have their backs to the wall to tackle the
problems linked to changes in their regulatory and competitive environment. Well
before the exogenous changes occurred, they implemented strategies to diversify
their activity or internalise more processes.
The firms making up the biorefinery had and have the possibility of moving in
different strategic directions to develop the cooperatives’ activities all along the
value chain: concentration, strengthening different sectors, upstream integration,
downstream integration and internationalisation.
Whilst the actors on the site have to decide on their strategic priorities, it is even
more important to foresee the investment choices and strategic decisions that will
be necessary to develop their activity. From an early stage, the founders of what was
to become the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery were determined to diversify so as
to develop non-food applications for agro-resources. This would give farmers new
outlets and make them less dependent on public policy.47
The foresight and anticipation of the leaders of the site explains how
Bazancourt-Pomacle has evolved over time. Today, the biorefinery covers the
whole of the agro-food industry value chain (c.f. Fig. 2.20).
The different segments of the value chain have been integrated both by firms
specialising in one part of the chain, and by cooperatives involved in several
segments. While historically agricultural cooperatives such as CRISTAL UNION
have been positioned at the centre of the chain, they have invested upstream in order
to innovate and downstream to get closer to the consumer.
Developing upstream of processing has allowed them to guarantee their raw
material supplies and to invest more in R&D (c.f. Fig. 2.21).
These different strategies have enabled the platform to develop and progres-
sively become an integrated biorefinery. There are benefits in this throughout the
value chain, and also for each of the firms present (c.f. Table 2.3).
The above example is interesting, because we can see the increasing volumes of
raw materials and production between 2006, when CRISTANOL was beginning its
activity, and 2011, when this activity was fully developed.
An increase in inputs of 18 % enables production of fermentation substrates for
the production of biofuel to be increased by 173 %. Meanwhile technical starch
production increased by 30 %. There was little or no impact on the production of
food and animal feed.
The ecosystem provided by the biorefinery thus stimulates the production of the
firms present on the site. The steady rise in turnover since 2000 (c.f. Fig. 2.22) for
the whole of the platform is the result not only of the arrival of new companies on

47
As an example, the construction of Cristanol foresaw the end of CAP quotas and gave farmers a
new outlet for their sugar beet when prices fell.
Similarly, the development of SOLIANCE was linked to low prices for agricultural crops; it was
necessary to find a more profitable outlet for local farmers’ produce.
56 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

Fig. 2.20 Increased

diversification of the • ARD
companies on the • Biodemo
Bazancourt-Pomacle site in
the agro-food industry value R&D • CEBB
chain

• Blétanol
• Cristal Union
Collecon • Chamtor (via Vivescia)

• Chamtor
• Cristal Union
Inial • Air liquide
processing • Cristanol

• Cristanol
• Soliance
Secondary • Wheatoléo
processing • Bioamber

• Cristal Co
Distribuon

the site but also of increased production by the firms already present in relation with
the activity of the new arrivals.
All of the strategic decisions taken since the creation of the Bazancourt sugar
factory in 1953 and until the development of the biorefinery have resulted in a
steady growth in activity on the site.
This observation leads us to ask the following two questions:

– Is activity at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery optimal, or could productivity

be improved even more?
– The importance of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery is no longer in doubt,
but what of its competitiveness?

We will attempt to answer these questions in the next section.

2 Changes in the Environment that made the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 57

Fig. 2.21 Development

strategy upstream of Supplies, Producon
processing R&D and Collecon

Raw materials
Upstream innovaon procurement is one
is important for the of the key factors in
biorefinery, because upstream
it makes it possible to development
improve producon strategies. Access
processes to maintain to raw materials
compeveness and makes the whole of
to develop new
the value chain
products (food and
secure and opens it
non-food) which will
provide the farmers up to new markets.
with new outlets.

Table 2.3 Benefits of the biorefinery for the company CHAMTOR between 2006 and 2011
(period of development of CRISTANOL)
Volume Volume
2006 2011
Inputs
Wheat 340 Kt 400 Kt
Outputs
Food 192 Kt 190 Kt
Animal feed 126 Kt 122 Kt
Biofuela 94 Khl 257 Khl
Ingredients/molecules for downstream industry (technical 27 Kt 35 Kt
starch)
a
Production and sale to the CRISTANOL distillery of a fermentation substrate (liquid hydrolysed
wheat) equivalent to the production of 94 Khl of bioethanol in 2006 and 257 Khl of bioethanol in
2011
58 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

Fig. 2.22 Turnover on the

Bazancourt-Pomacle site,
2000–2011 (This graph does
not include data for the sugar
cooperative, because Cristal
Union publishes sales figure
for the whole of the group but
not for each of its companies)

3 The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery: An On-Going

Success Story?

During this section, we will investigate whether the Bazancourt-Pomacle

Biorefinery has enough strong points to continue its growth. To do so we will
carry out a SWOT analysis (strengths/weaknesses/opportunities/threats) and will
illustrate our analysis with an application that will demonstrate the extent of the
threats that hang over the biorefinery.
We will also discuss whether all of the companies present on the site are at an
optimal level of technological maturity, or whether there is still untapped potential
for development within these firms.

3.1 Technological Readiness Levels: TRL

TRL are scale measuring the degree of maturity reached by a technology. The scale
was developed by NASA to manage the technological risk presented by its
programmes. Initially it was made up of seven levels, which was increased to
nine in 1995.
Since then the TRL scale (c.f. Box 2.5) has been adopted in numerous fields.

Box 2.7 The Nine Levels of Technological Maturity

TRL Definition
1 Basic principles observed and reported
2 Technology concept and/or application formulated
3 Analytical and experimental critical function and/or characteristic proof of
concept
4 Component and/or breadboard validation in laboratory environment
5 Component and/or breadboard validation in relevant environment
6 System/subsystem model or prototype demonstration in a relevant environment

(continued)
3 The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery: An On-Going Success Story? 59

Box 2.7 (continued)

TRL Definition
7 System prototype demonstration in an operational environment
8 Actual system completed and qualified through test and demonstration
9 Actual system proven through successful mission operations

When applied to the Bazancourt-Pomacle site, this typology results in the

following analysis (Fig. 2.23).
This diagram highlights all the development potential existing at the biorefinery.
It also shows the chances of success for each of these projects.
Of course, beyond the level of technological readiness, other criteria need to be
taken into account to ensure the development of the projects, particularly:

– The relative prices of oil and plant raw materials, which enable us to calculate
the breakeven point for a bio-based product, on which the development of the
sector depends.
– The level of public authority subsidies, which encourage investment in new
equipment and make it worthwhile.
– The level of inducement from society, corresponding to consumer demand.

It is in the interest of the biorefinery, as at the present time, to have technologies

at different levels of maturity in order to provide the potential for further innovation
at the site and thus to maintain competitiveness.

3.2 What Are the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities

and Threats for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery?

The SWOT48 analysis is used to examine corporate strategy and to discover what
strategic options are feasible in an area of strategic activity. The model was
developed in the 1960s by four professors at the Harvard Business School: Learned,
Christensen, Andrews and Guth.
This analytical tool combines the study of the strengths and weaknesses of an
organisation, a territory or a sector, with that of the opportunities and threats
provided by its environment, in order to contribute to the definition of a develop-
ment strategy.

48
Strengths – Weaknesses – Opportunities – Threats
60 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

Innovave
patentable molecules On-going research

Unl 2012

Move to Canada

TL1 TL2 TL3 TL4 TL5 TL6

System/subsystem model or TL7 TL8 TL9
prototype demonstraon in
Technology concept and/or

Analycal and experimental

through successful mission

and qualified through test
Actual system completed
Basic principles observed

operaonal environment
breadboard validaon in

breadboard validaon in
laboratory environment

a relevant environment
crical funcon and/or
applicaon formulated

characterisc proof of

Actual system proven

relevant environment

demonstraon in an

and demonstraon
Component and/or

Component and/or

System prototype
and reported

operaons
concept

pre-design phase experimental phase pre-industrialisaon phase industrialisaon phase

Fig. 2.23 Application of TRL to the Bazancourt-Pomacle site (With regard to the joint project
between Global Bioenergies and Biodemo, see Chap. 4)

The aim of the analysis is to take account of both internal and external factors
when defining strategy, by maximising the potential of the strengths and
opportunities and by minimising the effects of the weaknesses and threats.
It is interesting to read this analysis carried out in 2011 for the Bazancourt-
Pomacle Biorefinery (c.f. Box 2.6).
3 The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery: An On-Going Success Story? 61

Box 2.8 SWOT Analysis of the Biorefinery49 in 2011

Strengths Weaknesses
A recognised site High levels of conflicting interests on the
• world-famous site: organised visits, site
conferences on the topic of agro-resources • pollution: noise, odour, atmospheric,
• A site that attracts higher education visual
institutions • Insufficient road development on the site:
Recognised innovation capacity footpaths, clear road and other signs. . .
• ARD, Europe’s leading agro-resource • Problems caused by HGV traffic, despite
technology transfer centre a rail connection to CRISTANOL, the
• Successful, value-creating projects such sugar factory and AIR LIQUIDE
as SOLIANCE, BIODEMO, BIOAMBER, • Insufficient road furniture
FUTUROL • Problems with gas and electricity
• Well-established industrial symbiosis supplies
Extremely accessible location Reputation still to be developed
• A34 motorway exit • Scientific status needs to be more visible
• Improved rail access via Bazancourt Insufficient hotel and catering facilities
station with direct connections to the high- • Accommodation, hotels, restaurants
speed train line at Reims (work in progress)
Leadership problems
• no real leader/coordinator for decision
making
Opportunities Threats
Significant assets in a fast-growing, Risk that actors on the site may leave
diversifying world bioethanol market • Increased competition between regions to
• Fast-growing world market: + 67 % attract innovative firms
between 2006 and 2009 (in volume), • Regions offering more attractive working
currently dominated by the USA (45 % of conditions and environment?
production), and Brazil (31 %) Overall facilities might not correspond to
• French positioning needs strengthening: the site’s ambition to be a world-renowned
production in France represents 30 % of centre
European production (growth of 117 % • Poor quality facilities
between 2006 and 2009) • Insufficient attention paid to all those
• CRISTANOL: leading French company concerned with the site
• diversification of raw materials: projects • insufficiently coherent overall
for producing production of bioethanol communication by the site
from lignocellulosic biomass Difficulty of attracting SMEs and start-up
firms
• A big challenge for the agro-industrial
site in years to come
Uncertainty of public policy
• Aim of achieving at least 10 % renewable
fuel by 202050 then 6 % limit on first
generation biofuel51

49
From Algoé Consultants, Diagnostic Presentation Diagnostic of the Reims Champagne Nord
agro-industrial complex, September 2011. Study carried out at the request of the Burgundy Plain
Community of Communes and that of the Suippe Valley.
50
DIRECTIVE 2009/28/CE.
51
Vote in the European parliament on 11/09/2013.
62 2 An Original Business Model: The Integrated Biorefinery

This analysis demonstrates that the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery has at its

disposal sufficient skills and know how to become a central player nationally, in
Europe and globally in a context where markets for bio-based products are boom-
ing. However, the platform still has recurring problems concerning the attractive-
ness of the site (environment, fiscal and regulatory situation) to innovative firms.
The recent example of BIOAMBER illustrates this perfectly.

3.3 BIOAMBER: A Locally Unrecognised Success Story

As early as 2002, ARD was declared by experts to have exceptional competence in

the field of biotechnologies. The Scientific Council of the time recommended it to
investigate succinic acid, a four-carbon molecule52 that ferments anaerobically.53
Together with its American partner DNP Green Technology, ARD set up a joint
venture in this area in 2008 (c.f. Fig. 2.24). BIOAMBER SAS, the result of this
R&D partnership between the two shareholders, is the first company in the world to
have developed commercially the technology to produce plant-sourced succinic
acid. This technology, licenced with the American Department of Energy, is based
on an E. coli bacterial strain and significantly reduces production costs. It opens up
new markets that today are inaccessible for fossil-based succinic acid.54
In the context of its agreement with DNP, ARD industrialised its laboratory
process and invested 21 million euros in an industrial demonstration unit,

The challenge:
Industrial-scale producon of succinic acid.

The obstacle:
Financial barriers to entry (cost of patents)

The soluon:
Creaon of a joint venture

Fig. 2.24 BIOAMBER: challenge, obstacle and solution

52
Four-carbon chemistry is extremely important.
53
As succinic acid provides four carbon atoms and glucose six, in theory with one glucose
molecule and two CO2, we can produce two succinic acid molecules. This never works in practice,
but the yield remains high. Carbon can be metabolised into succinic acid.
54
http://www.a-r-d.fr/ARD-filiales-et-partenaires-BIOAMBER-46.html
3 The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery: An On-Going Success Story? 63

BIODEMO55 with a capacity of 2000 tonnes per year. With this unit, BIOAMBER
successfully tested its technology and finalised the process book with a view to the
sale of licences.
This type of production was the first of its kind in the world. It could revolution-
ise the markets for bio-based products. It has already provoked a wave of enthusi-
asm, enabling large funding sums to be raised (c.f. Box 2.7).

Box 2.9 BIOAMBER Funding56

For example, in the autumn of 2009, DNP Green Technology was granted $12
million of funding by a large investment fund managed by Sofinnova Partners,
an important European risk capital company. Associates of this firm include
Mitsui & Co. Venture Partners, the risk-capital branch of the Japanese trading
company Mitsui & Co, and Samsung Ventures, the risk-capital branch of
Samsung, one of the largest industrial groups in Asia. Other investors include
the Cliffton group, a Canadian property group with interests in clean technology.
In the autumn of 2010, DNP Green Technology bought from ARD the
whole of its joint venture BIOAMBER. At the same time it changed its name
to BIOAMBER Inc. In the process, Siclae became a shareholder of
BIOAMBER.
BIOAMBER completed two further rounds of funding in 2011 and 2012,
for a total sum of $75 million, from two new shareholders, Naxos Capital
Partners and LANXESS Corporation.
In May 2013, BIOAMBER was listed on the New York Stock Exchange,
with the symbol BIOA. The firm raised $80 million and issued warrants giving
investors the right to buy an additional sum of $44 million in ordinary stocks.

Currently, BIOAMBER is still integrated with the Bazancourt-Pomacle

Biorefinery, which supplies the succinic acid factory with glucose, carbon dioxide,
steam, ammonia and process water.
However, BIOAMBER has entered into a partnership with Mitsui & Co. to build
a world production plant in Sarnia, Ontario. The two firms intend to build two other
plants, one in Thailand and the other in the USA or Brazil.
The Sarnia plant, in Ontario will be the first to result from the joint venture
signed between BIOAMBER and Mitsui & Co. It will be located in a bio-industrial
site belonging to Lanxess, which is itself part of a vast petrochemical centre with
infrastructure giving access to public services and a number of raw materials
(steam, electricity, hydrogen, process water and carbon dioxide) and finished
product distribution services. The plant’s initial capacity will be around 17,000
tonnes of bio-based succinic acid. When it reaches full capacity, total production
should be around 34,000 tonnes of succinic acid.

55
BIODEMO was built with financial assistance from the Marne Department Council, the
Champagne-Ardenne Region and the ERDF.
56
Source: http://www.bio-amber.com/
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
between two actors: CRISTAL UNION and CHAMTOR.57
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
CO2 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.
References 65

that their internal funding capacity was limited and bank loans became more
difficult to obtain. They were forced to look for new sources of finance to develop
the new activities desired by the cooperative members, while attempting to main-
tain stable cooperative governance structures.
To integrate activities upstream and downstream of processing, firms on the site
developed complex financial arrangements, which included participation by capi-
talist firms. Whilst this method made it possible to extend their activities, it made
the cooperative logic less clear for their members. The members are the base of the
whole cooperative system. They are at once owners, clients and suppliers. The
managers must therefore be careful to maintain their trust. One of their major
challenges is undoubtedly to develop the farmers’ “market culture” through training
and communication, since in the future they will have to reason more as a private
company to anticipate the progress of their global competitors and market trends.
The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery has significant potential for growth.
Markets for bio-based products are booming, which provides excellent
opportunities for development. However, the region is less attractive than a number
of international competitors due to the European regulatory situation and French
tax laws.
A high degree of synergy has been developed on the site (steam, products, waste,
R&D), which we will describe in more detail in Chap. 3.

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Websites
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http://grandes-cultures.reussir.fr/public/index.php?a¼article&codeArticle¼9UCRPYSU
http://www.a-r-d.fr
http://www.bio-amber.com/
http://www.chamtor.fr
http://www.cristal-union.fr
http://www.europarl.europa.eu
http://www.fao.org/worldfoodsituation/csdb/fr/
http://www.iar-pole.com
http://www.institut-europeen-de-la-bioraffinerie.fr
http://www.siclae.com/actualites/CHAMTOR-20-ans-histoire-futur-construire
http://www.siclae.com/siclae-en-bref/actionnaires-filieres/index.html
http://www.vivescia.com
www.biorefinery.nl/biopol
Industrial Symbiosis at
the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 3

Summary
Industrial ecology, or industrial symbiosis, concerns the synergy developed
between different actors in an integrated biorefinery. This synergy mainly
takes the form of exchanges of by-products in an industrial cascading process,
where the product of one of the industrial firms (an output) becomes an input
for another. This cascade can continue through several levels in the case of
vertical integration. Some exchanges can take the form of services (R&D,
waste treatment, shared staff restaurant, joint purchases, staff
secondment. . .).
The systematic study of industrial symbiosis is relatively a recent phenome-
non (1989) and is the subject of increasing interest on the part of States,
investors and analysts due to its benefits in terms of promoting sustainable
development and a circular economy. This type of study is however difficult
to carry out due to the confidential nature of competitive operations.
This study of industrial symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is
the first of its kind. It shows that as early as the beginning of the 1990s, with
the creation of the joint R&D firm, ARD, industrial ecology was central to the
biorefinery’s strategy. At the beginning, an “agro-system” set up through the
combined efforts of farmers, refiners and the biorefinery, gradually became
an industrial estate, and then an innovation platform, in which symbiosis was
a key element: within both the sugar beet and wheat processes, exchanges of
raw juice, sugar syrup, glucose, alcohol and CO2 developed in different
directions. Two support resources were also combined: water and energy in
the form of steam. Waste treatment and spraying was also combined; these
are all pivotal aspects of symbiosis. In addition to the historical sugar
CRISTAL UNION plant (the motor), starting with the creation of

(continued)

# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 67

P.-A. Schieb et al., Biorefinery 2030, DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-47374-0_3
68 3 Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery

CHAMTOR (starch and glucose processing plant), high-technology firms

were set up to take advantage of these synergies: SOLIANCE producing
molecules for cosmetic use, BIOAMBER for succinic acid, CRISTANOL for
bioethanol, the Air Liquide recovery and processing plant for CO2 and
WHEATOLEO for detergents. The pilot plants and demonstrators
(BIODEMO and FUTUROL) also benefitted from the synergy.
This search for synergies has been continuous insofar as processes have
continually been optimised, new by-products continue to be developed and
raw material savings are always on the agenda. All the biorefinery actors we
interviewed stressed their aim to process the whole of a plant, to minimise
pollution and environmental footprints and to give back to the farmer the
organic elements he needs. We also describe avenues for future progress in
this chapter.
Finally, Chap. 3 confirms that industrial ecology is not simply a fad or a way
to satisfy regulatory requirements: it is indeed also applied for rational
economic reasons, to develop market value and competitive strategy, and
ensure a fair return on R&D investment.

Abstract The increasingly important role given to sustainable development in

public policy and by the public at large is gradually bringing firms and public
authorities to reconsider the material flow management.
Industrial ecology aims to integrate this flow management within economic devel-
opment. Industrial ecology as a discipline appeared in the 1960s and developed
rapidly in the 1990s. It considers that industrial ecosystems should aim to enable the
“normal” functioning of biological ecosystems (Erkman 2004). For this reason, an
“ideal” ecosystem should operate in a circular fashion, in other words limiting the
production of waste as much as possible and maximising exchanges of products,
by-products and material flows (water, steam etc.) between the different members
of the ecosystem.

1 What Is Industrial Symbiosis?

Industrial symbiosis is a key concept in the area of industrial ecology. Although

there is no consensus over the definition of “industrial symbiosis,” Chertow1
proposes the following definition, which is relatively well accepted: “Industrial
symbiosis engages traditionally separate industries in a collective approach to
competitive advantage involving physical exchanges of materials, energy, water,
and/or by products.” These exchanges generate environmental and/or financial

1
Chertow (2004).
1 What Is Industrial Symbiosis? 69

benefits (Lombardi and Laybourn 2012). This definition stresses the fact that the
“waste” of one company can become a raw material for another, becoming thus a
“by-product.” Industrial symbiosis makes it possible to give value to materials that,
as such, in the absence of clients, would become waste. It also gives firms environ-
mental and economic benefits. The main resources concerned are water, energy and
by-products of the industrial processes. However, as well as natural resources, firms
can share staff, equipment or even information.
Although using by-products rather than getting rid of them is not a new phe-
nomenon, the industrial advances of the twentieth century made it possible to obtain
larger and cheaper quantities of energy and raw materials and to design more
efficient waste treatment processes. In this context, firms saw little interest in
managing and recycling their waste. However, the increasing importance given to
sustainable development in public policies, rising costs for eliminating waste, ever
stricter environmental regulations and growing awareness of the potential resources
represented by by-products, encouraged firms and public authorities to reconsider
their water and energy consumption and waste treatment policies. In these
circumstances, the concept of industrial symbiosis became particularly attractive
and began to develop all over the world. The best-known case of industrial
symbiosis is that of the Kalundborg refinery in Denmark. Indeed, it was here that
the term “industrial symbiosis” was invented in 1989. The Kalundborg symbiosis
has been widely studied by the academic community and this research has
established the basis of industrial ecology. This industrial symbiosis is the result
of interactions between the town of Kalundborg, the Statoil oil refinery, the Dong
Energy power station and various other firms such as Novo Nordisk and Gyproc.
The site has managed to achieve a degree of economic and industrial efficiency that
today is world-renowned. However, the process took place over a period of
40 years.
Many other economic approaches have been shown to be less intrusive yet very
effective ways to initiate economic development. However, by transforming corpo-
rate culture so radically, industrial symbiosis stimulates economic development that
is closely linked to sustainability. Industrial symbiosis can thus be seen as an
environmental phenomenon that not only involves exchanges of materials and
energy, but also offers concrete opportunities to build cooperative relationships
between firms.
Throughout the world, the concept of industrial symbiosis has taken on different
forms: “top down,” with government directives, “bottom up” independent
programmes and even industrial symbioses developed spontaneously (Lombardi
and Laybourn 2012). This range of different types of industrial symbioses makes
them difficult to study and model. Today, industrial symbiosis has moved on from
being a purely academic topic to become a practical tool supported by governments,
professional organisations and environmental groups. Throughout Europe, the
concept of industrial symbiosis is seen as a strategy to encourage economic growth
that is compatible with sustainable development, innovation and efficient resource
use (Lombardi and Laybourn 2012). Recently, European policy has incorporated
industrial symbiosis into its environmental and economic policy. It is part of the
70 3 Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery

Union’s Europe 2020 strategy. Industrial symbiosis is to be found, for example, in

the “Resource Efficiency Initiative2”, the document presenting Europe’s future
growth strategy. It is also included in the “Roadmap for a Resource Efficient
Europe3” which indicates that one priority is to develop resource efficiency through
industrial symbiosis between all the member states. Although it does not have the
weight of a European Directive, the road map is a reliable indicator of the direction
that future European policy will take. Industrial symbiosis is also highlighted in
other policy areas such as climate change and eco-innovation.
Furthermore, a growing number of national and international institutions and
representative groups support the development of industrial symbiosis. In 2010, the
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) stated that
industrial symbiosis was “vital for the future of green growth,” and is currently
carrying out a case study of the NISP (British National Industrial Symbiosis
Programme), considered as a model of innovation. A similar imitative has been
launched in France by the Ministry of Ecology and Sustainable Development, the
Committee for Sustainable Territorial Management and Industrial Ecology (Comité
d’Animation Territoire Durable et Ecologie Industrielle—CATEI).
A great deal of data is still missing on cases of industrial symbiosis; how they
operate is still not clearly understood, and they are difficult to model. Yet the
European Commission now recognises industrial symbiosis as a vital tool for
sustainable economic development, so it is essential to improve understanding of
the concept.
This chapter presents industrial symbiosis as it operates at the Bazancourt-
Pomacle biorefinery. This biorefinery is unique in that it works only with agricul-
tural resources, which makes it a very comprehensive example of industrial symbi-
osis and a genuine process of sustainable development.
It even appears that industrial ecology was designated as one of the priorities of
the Bazancourt-Pomacle site as soon as ARD was launched.
This fact explains why the refinery is recognised today as one of the most
complete examples of a biorefinery in Europe, particularly due to the symbiosis
operating between the different firms on the site.

2 Different Aspects of Industrial Symbiosis at

the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery

In order to describe the symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery accu-

rately, we need to spend some time describing its environment and the firms present
on the site. We will also study the particular case of water use at the biorefinery.

2
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/resource_efficiency/
3
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/resource_efficiency/pdf/com2011_571.pdf
2 Different Aspects of Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 71

2.1 The Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery and Its Local

Environment

The industrial symbiosis operating at the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is the

fruit of long-term, complex interactions between the site’s different economic
actors and those in the surrounding area.
The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery can be described as an agricultural system
of several 1000 operating via constantly changing active synergies (c.f. Fig. 3.1).
Since its creation in 1953, the Bazancourt-Pomacle site has developed close links
with its environment, with the cooperatives and their members (CRISTAL UNION,
VIVESCIA), the local authorities, local people and institutions such as the Industry
and Agro-resource competitiveness cluster (Pôle IAR).
The biorefinery has evolved constantly ever since its creation, for economic
reasons but also due to the desire to continually improve its production systems
while ensuring that this development does not harm the environment. To fulfil these
requirements, the Bazancourt-Pomacle site works to reduce its environmental
impact. This means improving water and energy efficiency, reducing gas emissions,
optimising recycling systems and so on. This commitment is not, however, limited
to the biorefinery’s internal structure. Close links have been developed with the
members of the cooperatives. For example, to deal with surplus nitrogen that can
remain in the soil after harvesting, the CRISTAL UNION cooperative has used a
system of bonuses to encourage its members to grow intermediate crops before
sowing the next year’s crop.

Fig. 3.1 Relations between the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery and its environment. The inter-
action between the biorefinery and the member-farmers of the cooperatives is called an “agro-
system”
72 3 Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery

The symbiosis is developed through the implementation of environmental tools

such as lifecycle analyses, materials and energy appraisals and so on. These
evaluations, both quantitative and qualitative, are powerful tools to manage the
flows within the biorefinery and to define appropriate environmental indicators.
Additionally, they have shown themselves to be essential for the requirements of
certification agencies such as ISO.

2.2 The Firms Making Up the Biorefinery

There is a wide range of close interactions between the different firms at the
Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery. They involve exchanges of products and
by-products, energy, water and steam.4
The greatest originality of the biorefinery is the wide range of raw materials
processed at the site. Most of the world’s biorefineries are dedicated to a single type
of biomass. At Bazancourt-Pomacle, three raw materials are processed: sugar beet,
wheat and alfalfa.
From sugar beet, the CRISTAL UNION sugar factory produces white sugar.
Wheat is used by CHAMTOR to produce glucose and starch products. However,
this is not the full extent of the site’s production. The by-products resulting from the
processing of the three raw materials are used to produce a wider range of products:
biofuel, alcohol for the pharmaceutical industry, cosmetics ingredients, spent grain,
pellets from dehydrated pulp and alfalfa, etc. These by-products are not processed
at the sugar plant or by CHAMTOR. Various flows of materials results from these
activities, which are the basis of the industrial symbiosis existing on the site
(c.f. Fig. 3.2). Some of the firms on the site were specifically set up to make use
of by-products. CRISTANOL, for example, was initially created to process sugar
beet by-products, providing farmers with more outlets for their production and at
the same time anticipating the end of CAP subsidies.5
In order to make use of the by-products of plant biomass, the actors involved
with the biorefinery (industrial firms and sugar beet farmers belonging to the
CRISTAL UNION cooperative) decided to set up a research centre on the site.
Indeed, to develop new crops as much as possible, it was necessary to find new
outlets for arable production. Thus, one of the first units created at the biorefinery,
in 1989, was the joint Agro-Industry Research and Development Centre (ARD).
The purpose of ARD is to develop innovative, competitive products and processes
from biomass. ARD plays a vital role in the industrial symbiosis in operation at the
site. The centre is the heart of research activity on the site, and its work is used by

4
Camille Vicier produced a first outline of the carbon footprint in a report entitled “The
biorefinery, a possible entry to anthropogenic carbon reservoir,” written during an internship at
ARD in 2012–2013, under the direction of Frédéric Meylan and Suren Erkman, Industrial Ecology
Group, University of Lausanne (unpublished).
5
C.f. Chap. 2.
2 Different Aspects of Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 73

Fig. 3.2 Flows of products, by-products and services between firms (It should be noted that the
dehydration unit backs onto the sugar factory and operates outside the sugar production period) at
the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery, Champagne-Ardenne

the biorefinery’s different actors (c.f. Fig. 3.2), creating a symbiosis of “grey
matter.” Furthermore, this research activity has led to the creation of new
companies that also participate in the symbiotic exchanges on the site.
In 1994 SOLIANCE, a firm specialising in natural active ingredients for the
cosmetics industry was set up to exploit the results of research carried out by ARD.
This ARD subsidiary, 99 % owned by the R&D centre until 2014, has recently been
taken over by GIVAUDAN, a Swiss firm working in the perfume and fragrance
industry. ARD’s research has also spawned other projects such as BIODEMO.
BIODEMO is an industrial demonstrator, with a production capacity of 2000 tonnes
per year. ARD owns 50 % of its capital. The creation of BIODEMO resulted from
the launch of the firm BIOAMBER (of which ARD also owns one half). Set up in
2008, BIOAMBER was the fruit of research by ARD in partnership with DNP
Green Technology. BIOAMBER produces plant-sourced succinic acid through the
fermentation of glucose or sugar. After the laboratory research stage, a new
technology needs to be tested in a demonstrator, before industrial scale production
can be envisaged. Faced with this necessity, ARD built BIODEMO in 2009. The
location of the BIODEMO unit was designed to optimise the supply of
BIOAMBER with its raw material, glucose, from the company CHAMTOR. This
location also makes it possible for CHAMTOR staff to carry out maintenance on
the unit. Finally, like the other units at the biorefinery, BIODEMO receives supplies
of water and steam from the sugar factory and its waste is processed by the same
plant. BIOAMBER is now ready to move on to the industrial production stage, and
its place will soon be taken by another new, innovative company: Global
Bioénergies.
74 3 Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery

Many products and by-products from the different players on the platform are
processed by the CRISTANOL distillery. This plant has two distinct production
lines; one line is fed by sugar beet by-products; the other operates using a
by-product of wheat. These products and by-products serve as raw materials for
the fermentation process to transform sugars (present in sugar beet or wheat) into
alcohol. Sugar beet materials (raw juice, sugar syrup etc.) are supplied by the
CRISTAL UNION sugar plant, whilst the wheat material (glucose) comes from
the mill belonging to CRISTANOL and from the company CHAMTOR after
hydrolysis of one of its by-products.
CRISTANOL also supplies by-products from its production process to other
firms present on the site. Its mill is used to produce flour. One of the outlets for this
flour is CHAMTOR. The fermentation process generates CO2, which is recovered
and purified by Air Liquide. This CO2 is either supplied by Air Liquide to the food
industry or used by BIOAMBER for the production of succinic acid in the
BIODEMO industrial demonstrator. Finally, some of the alcohol produced is
used by SOLIANCE to manufacture cosmetics.
The glucose produced by CHAMTOR from wheat processing has several differ-
ent outlets. Some is bought by the cosmetics firm SOLIANCE. Secondly, the
industrial demonstrator BIODEMO was built next to the CHAMTOR plant to
simplify its supplies of glucose, the basis of bio-based chemistry and the raw
material used for the production of succinic acid. Furthermore, CHAMTOR carries
out the maintenance of the demonstration unit.
There are also flows of “grey matter” originating in the activity of the ARD
centre, which carries out all CRISTAL UNION research programmes and a number
of CHAMTOR R&D programmes, since these firms do not have such large-scale
R&D departments.
The industrial symbiosis does not only include flows of materials and research. It
takes on other, less material forms. Since 2012, there has been a staff restaurant on
the site. This inter-company establishment, founded by CRISTANOL, CRISTAL
UNION, ARD and CHAMTOR, provides a space where staff from the whole site
can meet. Finally, there are also interactions between the Humans Resources
departments of the different companies. For example, the HR directors meet
regularly to give each other feedback on staff management and possibilities for
internal staff mobility.

2.3 The Biorefinery and Water Symbiosis

It is particularly interesting to look at the case of water flows on the site. To make
savings and increase sustainable development, a significant amount of work has
been carried out on water use and on quantifying the water flows between the
different units.
This dynamic linked to water use is one of the aspects that make up the
originality of the biorefinery. It is partly conditioned by the fact that one of the
2 Different Aspects of Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 75

raw materials processed on site, sugar beet, has a high concentration of water. This
water is recovered and processed as a by-product. It is called condensed water.

2.3.1 The Importance of Water and Its Productivity

Independently of the symbiosis issue, it should first be noted that water is one of the
elements in which the most spectacular gains have been made over time, as the
Table 3.1 makes clear.
The sugar factory is legally responsible for evacuating liquid waste from the site,
and is therefore the main intermediary for the water board. An annual report has to
be provided for the water board, detailing water inputs and outputs for the
biorefinery. With the aim of improving the system constantly and of anticipating
new regulations, all water flows on the site are quantified and qualified to draw up
quantitative and qualitative reports.
This work is carried out by the ARD research centre, which collects the required
data from the different firms on the site. The work is complex and painstaking, and
all the different companies have had to been made aware of its importance.
To draw up this water use report, every water molecule is taken into account, in
other words water in the form of liquid or vapour, and also the water present in
sugar beet (which contain 75 % water), water molecules included in the composi-
tion of chemical products etc. Indeed, any water molecule entering the system is
liable to be found in outgoing water, in water for agricultural spraying, in steam
ejected into the atmosphere, or in products from the site.
Figures 3.3 and 3.4 show water flows in 2012 at the Bazancourt-Pomacle
biorefinery. These diagrams are taken from a water use report published by ARD.
To make the diagrams simpler and easier to understand, the water flows have been
divided into two categories: water flows between the companies, not including
wastewater (c.f. Fig. 3.3) and water flows associated with waste (c.f. Fig. 3.4) and
destined for spraying. It is important to note that, as mentioned above, the
biorefinery is constantly changing system, and so this view of symbiosis in 2012
is by definition different from the current situation in 2014.

2.3.2 Water Flows: Symbiosis Between Companies

Almost 50 % of water flows between the different units are in liquid form (borehole
water and processed water). Water present in raw materials and by-products
represents 27 % of these flows. Finally, the smallest proportion of water flows is
represented by steam, at 16 %. These figures do not include water flowing out of the
system.

Table 3.1 Gains in water use productivity at the Bazancourt sugar factory
Year 2000 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Litres of borehole water/Tonne of 123 32.7 21.1 33.50 58.50 7.03 0.67
sugar
Source: CRISTAL UNION
76 3 Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery

0.2%

6.9%

Vinasse 1.7%
10.7% Cristal Union
ARD
Soliance
0.6%
´
Biodèmo
Fermented P2G
sugar
beet
byproducts Drilling and process
11.6% water
8.5%
Steam
3.8%
19.5% Condensed
water
2.6%
0.5%
17.1%
Cristanol

Chamtor
Fermented wheat byproducts
4.3%

Fig. 3.3 Water flows (borehole water and processed water, steam and water originating in
biomass) between the firms of the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery, Champagne-Ardenne. The
percentages indicated represent the proportion of each flow in comparison with all the water
entering the system

Fertilization Fertilization

Process water recovery tank

Condensed water
Process water recovery tank (leftover in tanks)
4.5% Process water
25.8% treatment tank

3.1%
16.5% 8.3%

ARD
Cristal Union Soliance
´
Biodèmo
Cristanol P2G

Chamtor

Fig. 3.4 Waste flows at the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery, Champagne-Ardenne. The

percentages indicated represented the proportion of each flow in comparison with all the water
entering the system
2 Different Aspects of Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 77

At the biorefinery, most of the water and steam are supplied by the CRISTAL
UNION sugar factory. This plant owns three boreholes enabling it to supply the
other firms on the site with water from the water table. CHAMTOR and
ARD-SOLIANCE-P2G6 have their own borehole water. Furthermore, the
ARD-SOLIANCE site supplies additional water for CHAMTOR and BIODEMO,
whilst the sugar factory supplies additional requirements of CHAMTOR. In con-
trast, CRISTANOL depends entirely on the sugar plant for its supplies.
Once extracted, the borehole water is partially distilled (using water softeners) or
more thoroughly distilled (via reverse osmosis). These two types of water are called
respectively distilled water and osmosis water. This water, called “processed water”
in Fig. 3.3, is used for the production of steam, for cooling towers, solubilisation
and the hydrolysis of raw materials. The different units can exchange borehole or
processed water directly.
As well as these supplies of water in liquid form, the sugar factory also supplies
the other firms with steam. However, when necessary, CHAMTOR and the sugar
factory can exchange condensed steam. Similarly, during sugar beet processing,
CRISTANOL sends condensed steam to the sugar plant to be stocked in reservoirs;
this water is turned back into steam and used between processing seasons.
However, water exchanges are not limited to the sugar factory. The CHAMTOR
production unit supplies the BIODEMO demonstrator with osmosis water and the
ARD-SOLIANCE-P2G units with steam and osmosis water.
Water is also present in the biomass used for processing, such as wheat and
above all sugar beet. During sugar beet processing, the raw juice is concentrated
and the evaporated water is recovered. This is called “condensed water.” During
sugar beet processing, the sugar plant sends this condensed water to CRISTANOL
to be used as the fermentation medium for the production of ethanol. Furthermore,
the vinasse produced by CRISTANOL during ethanol distillation is recovered by
the sugar factory.
This optimisation of water use in the biorefinery has resulted in significant
savings. An example that illustrates this very well is the savings the sugar factory
has been able to make in borehole water used per tonne of sugar beet processed.
Similarly, the fact that the CRISTANOL production unit is attached to the
biorefinery has meant that its water consumption has been divided by ten.

2.3.3 Water Flows: Waste Treatment

The sugar factory plant was the first factory to be established on the Bazancourt-
Pomacle site, and these historical origins led to the CRISTAL UNION agronomic
department managing waste spraying for all the firms at the biorefinery.
The different types of waste from the sugar factory, CHAMTOR,
ARD/SOLIANCE/BIODEMO and P2G are collected in different reservoirs in the
sugar plant and then sprayed on local agricultural land in line with good agricultural
practice. Waste from CRISTANOL is collected in a reservoir belonging to the

6
Futurol, second generation Procethol.
78 3 Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery

CRISTAL UNION Betheniville sugar factory because of local administrative

boundaries. This waste is controlled and monitored by the ARD Environment
department.
The spraying technique used by the CRISTAL UNION cooperative is
recognised as exemplary by the European Union. Spraying denotes supplying
agricultural land with water and minerals; in this case, the minerals result from
the processes used on the production site. Three of the different minerals necessary
for plants to develop well are particularly essential: nitrogen, phosphorus and
potassium. Through its water management practices, CRISTAL UNION has
woven close links with the farmers who benefit from its spraying services. Thus,
the sugar factory has encouraged other firms on the site to use potash (a source of
potassium) rather than soda ash to regulate pH. Spraying thus contributes essential
minerals to the crops that are beneficial to their development. This new practice
enables farmers to reduce their chemical inputs and the biorefinery to optimise its
water flow management.

2.4 Possible Improvements to the System

The biorefinery’s stakeholders continually look for possible optimisations, in an

attempt to improve the “biorefinery system,” and thus the system is constantly
changing. Although improvements are still possible, the work undertaken over
many years has brought the site almost to an optimal situation in terms of
energy use.
One of the recent initiatives taken by CRISTANOL was to construct a biomass-
fuelled boiler as part of an initial plan that in the long term could be made up of two
boilers. An estimation of the financial value of the project has been made using
mostly data from the public domain and various hypotheses. This estimation is
summarised in the box below.

Box 3.1 Economic and Environmental Impact of the Installation of Two Biomass
Boilers on the CRISTANOL Site
CRISTANOL, which is a leading European bioethanol producer, and a
subsidiary of CRISTAL UNION (55 %) and BLETANOL (45 %), is
committed to the development of the biomass sector in France. CRISTANOL
did not have its own boiler, and its premises were totally supplied with steam
by the boiler of the neighbouring CRISTAL UNION sugar plant, which
operates using natural gas, via a pipeline more than one kilometre long.
CRISTANOL consequently decided to set up a steam production unit fuelled

(continued)
2 Different Aspects of Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery 79

Box 3.1 (continued)

by biomass (Bazancourt Biomas Development Unit) consisting of two
41 MWth biomass boilers. Currently only one of the boilers is operating,
producing around 40 % of the factory’s requirements in steam. The construc-
tion of the second boiler is at the planning stage.7
The project would considerably reduce CRISTANOL’s greenhouse gas
emissions; the two biomass boilers would reduce CO2 emissions by 9790
tonnes (or 67 %) compared with the original gas-fuelled boilers. The reduc-
tion in CO2 could be taken advantage of via the “Green Certificates” System;
whereby operators who emit more or less greenhouse gas during a year than
authorised can buy or sell credits on carbon trading markets.
A simulation of the internal profitability of the project compared with the
initial situation has been calculated (without taking the funding method into
account) using the data available and different hypotheses: with a 4 %
discount rate and a project life of 20 years, the project’s net present value
(NPV) would cover 48 % of the initial investment. The investment would be
recovered in approximately 12 years and the internal profitability rate would
be around 6 %. Because of the investment and the cost of management and
maintenance of a biomass installation, which for the moment are significantly
higher than those of a traditional gas-fuelled boiler, the investment will need
to be subsidised to produce steam at the same price as other energy forms.
The main subsidies that biomass projects are entitled to are awarded by
ADEME (Environment and Energy Saving Agency), local authorities
(Regional and Departmental Councils) and Europe (European Regional
Development Fund).8

In order to continue improving the system, it is now essential to consider how it

interacts with its external environment.
One way to envisage improvements is by developing scenarios. Scenarios have
been studied internally. These demonstrate the positive impact of symbiosis in
reducing energy consumption and future directions that the site organisation might
take. All these scenarios give very positive results concerning possible optimisations.
Another possibility for the optimisation of the system would be to use low
energy use systems. This work could include integration of the needs of local
authority sites near the biorefinery site, which would strengthen links between the
biorefinery and its local environment even more.

7
Source: Report of the inspection of classified installations: Extension of the CRISTANOL site by
the installation of biomass boilers, 31 May 2011.
8
Source: Chelly M., Research Engineer, NEOMA Business School Chair in Industrial
Bioeconomy.
80 3 Industrial Symbiosis at the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery

Conclusion
The symbiosis implemented at the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is very com-
prehensive and complex. The biorefinery’s development was a question of seizing
opportunities at the right time. It is important, then, to bear in mind that these
different flows advanced progressively. They are the result of the collective history
of the different firms on the site, and have developed over the years since the
establishment of the sugar factory in 1953.
For example, initially the ARD research centre extracted and processed the
water it needed internally. Later, as its activity developed, it was forced to use
water from CHAMTOR in addition to its own production. Such links established
between firms enabled them to adapt to new needs and to develop innovative
solutions where necessary.
The success of the symbiosis can also be explained by a range of different
reasons:

– Economic rationality. The different exchanges set up are regulated by coherent

financial agreements, through which prices are set in line with market prices.
– Economic advantages: the flows are economically beneficial in terms of com-
petitiveness, although at the current time it is difficult to assess the full scope of
this. According to some of our respondents, such advantage is sought after, but
does not alone justify the establishment of any one of the industrial firms on
the site.
– Fair returns for the quality of the research carried out on site by engineers and
technicians who are demanding and proud of their work.
– The implementation of an ideal in terms of circular economy as defined at the
outset of ARD (use the whole of a plant, refuse the idea of waste. . .)
– and, of course, the response to regulatory requirements developed over the year
both nationally and in Europe.

References
Chertow M-R (2004) Industrial symbiosis. In: Cleveland CJ (ed) Encyclopedia of energy.
Elsevier, Oxford
Erkman S (2004) Vers une écologie industrielle: comment mettre en pratique le développement
durable dans une société hyper-industrielle. Charles Léopold Mayer, Paris
Lombardi R, Laybourn P (2012) Redefining industrial symbiosis – crossing academic – practi-
tioner boundaries. J Ind Ecol 16(1):28–37

Websites

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/resource_efficiency/
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/resource_efficiency/pdf/com2011_571.pdf
Prospects for the Bazancourt-Pomacle
Biorefinery Between Now and 2030 4

Summary
Over the years, the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery has followed a progres-
sive strategy to develop and diversify its activity, accompanied by changes in
its nature. The original sugar factory and distillery (1948) has been joined by
a starch and glucose producing plant, a dedicated research centre, start-up
companies, demonstration and industrial pilot scheme sites, a bio-fuel refin-
ery and academic research chairs. In this way, the biorefinery has moved on
from industrial processing to become an innovation platform made up of
demonstration sites and a private joint research centre, and then a centre of
excellence for white biotechnology (CEBB) specialising in research and
knowledge production within the European Biorefinery Institute (IEB).
Future prospects between now and 2030 for the biorefinery and IEB are
demonstrated by three local but world-scale events in the first half of 2014.
These events confirm the first fruits of a genuine knowledge economy: the
sale of SOLIANCE to a global group (GIVAUDAN), the ability of the
BIODEMO demonstrator (ARD) to attract some of the most promising
start-up companies in the world (Global Bioenergies) and the success of the
industrial second generation bio-fuel pilot scheme FUTUROL, far beyond the
initial expectations of its major shareholders.
In order for this knowledge economy and exceptional network of local
competences to prosper, the CEBB will have to increase its regular output,
integrate fully with its founding industrial companies and schools, become
more multidisciplinary, stimulate a genuine sense of belonging among its
stakeholders, and find an appropriate governance structure. The governance
of the whole structure (integrated biorefinery, IEB, local actors) will also
have to adjust to these new dimensions by giving it more structured resources

(continued)

# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 81

P.-A. Schieb et al., Biorefinery 2030, DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-47374-0_4
82 4 Prospects for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery Between Now and 2030

in terms of strategic monitoring, investment decisions, the development of

knowledge and skills, support for start-up firms, financial engineering, and
reputation building.
More traditionally, local actors and the authors of this book have identified
very concrete avenues upstream and downstream of the biorefinery. Upstream
of the biorefinery, the possibility of setting up an experimental farm nearby
(on land made available by the closing of an air force base, BA 112), would
provide the opportunity to develop improved crop varieties required both by
the biorefinery and local farmers. The farm would also contribute to attract a
new group of industrial firms, equipment makers, engineering and services
firms in addition to those of the IEB. Downstream, a new 60 ha industrial
estate (Sohettes Val des Bois) close to the biorefinery will enable
cooperatives and industrial firms already involved with the biorefinery, as
well as new firms to join the existing biorefinery and benefit from a number of
synergies and by-products.
Finally, Chap. 4 discusses certain conditions of future success, and in partic-
ular that of retaining or renewing some of the merits of the cooperative model
(mutuality, reactivity, patience, risk-taking.)

Abstract In the specific case of Bazancourt-Pomacle, the prospects until 2030 are
promising following three local but world-scale events that took place during the
first half of 2014. These events confirm the first fruits of a genuine knowledge
economy. In this chapter, other orthodox future prospects are identified by the
authors of the study. They include some very concrete possibilities both upstream
and downstream of the biorefinery.

The preceding chapters have shown the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery to be the

result of a process of accumulation and a series of progressive transformations from
its original form.
It has accumulated new activities and actors since the original distillery, which
became a sugar factory and was then joined by a starch processing plant, an alcohol
and biofuel refinery, a research centre, demonstration sites and industrial pilot
schemes.
The transformations have included the integration of industries based on
mechanical, physical and thermal processing of raw materials, and the progressive
incorporation of Life Sciences and complex technological processing of biomass.
Until 2012, the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery could be described as the
superposition of different layers of activity such as that described in Chap. 2,
whose principles are:
1 Challenges for the White Biotechnology Centre of Excellence (CEBB) 83

– A foundation of industrial processing activity.

– Research and development carried out by a private joint research centre (ARD)
and its subsidiaries (SOLIANCE, WHEATOLEO).
– Pilot schemes and industrial demonstration sites, resulting from the creation first
of BIODEMO, and then of the FUTOROL pilot scheme.1

From 2011–2012, a fourth layer appeared, that of academic research led by three
Chairs set up from leading French engineering and business schools linked to the
University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne. These Chairs make up the Centre of
Excellence for White Biotechnology (CEBB) and support ARD and the industrial
firms on the site. They firmly establish the already innovative, exceptional character
of the biorefinery in the French or even European landscape.
According to one of the instigators of this rapprochement, the schools are only
interested in Bazancourt-Pomacle because of its international dimensions. The
engineering schools that have agreed to relocate a proportion of their research
laboratories to the Bazancourt-Pomacle site are indeed attracted by the exceptional
potential offered by the community made up of industry, demonstration sites and
research capabilities that is already on site. Nor are the schools indifferent to the
funding provided by the local authorities (Champagne-Ardenne Regional Council,
Marne Department General Council, Reims Metropolitan Area), given their initial
significant 7-year commitment. Indeed, the total accumulated investment in
buildings, equipment and salaries of these three authorities over the period adds
up to 30 million euros.
The future prospects for Bazancourt-Pomacle can be discussed in terms of two
additional elements: its evolution towards a knowledge economy; and the strategy
to integrate its ecosystem upstream and downstream in concentric circles. Finally,
we will discuss associated issues, such as the sustainability of cooperative values
and the governance of the biorefinery.

1 Challenges for the White Biotechnology Centre

of Excellence (CEBB)

The main challenge for the CEBB is to prove that the site’s unorthodox develop-
ment proved well suited to the context and a reason for its success.
It will have to test a coopetition model by creating different types of value over
the next 15 years:

– Creation of original knowledge and competences in the form of patents,

methods, codified expertise, commercial secrets (tricks of the trade), implicit
knowledge.

1
It should be noted that the ARD-SOLIANCE site has a whole series of pilot-scheme tools, but
which are not all aimed to interconnect or to produce fulltime.
84 4 Prospects for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery Between Now and 2030

– Training and employment of researchers, project leaders, managers, laboratory

and installation technicians, ready to enter the job market or set up their
own firm.
– Creation of economic value through research and development and formulas
validated on pilot or demonstration sites in different forms (sales or licencing of
patents, company creation, contributions in kind to industrial projects etc.).

The model targeted by the CEBB is more ambitious than that encountered in
many universities, which consists in “juxtaposing” under the same umbrella
organisation (Centre of Excellence in the interdisciplinary field of X) laboratories
whose centre of gravity remains in the original laboratory. The CEBB will need to
link a scientific community with an industrial site in such a way that genuine
synergies occur. It will have three main challenges to take up:

– develop and demonstrate the extra added value created by multidisciplinary,

non-compartmentalised approaches.
– help teams with different legal statuses coexist and prosper.
– develop an effective governance structure.

1.1 Multidisciplinarity

Creating multidisciplinarity consists in encouraging teams and individuals who

usually work in silos or closed circuits to understand each other and work together.
How can one create a successful mosaic made up of biotechnologies, chemistry,
biochemistry, physics, process engineering, economics, management sciences and
other social sciences?
Our interviews at Bazancourt-Pomacle show that the category “engineer” is by
no means homogenous, unlike what outsiders might expect: engineers trained in
more “determinist” disciplines find it difficult to assimilate the terms of reference of
engineers trained in less determinist disciplines such as white biotechnologies.
Different cultures exist, that are more or less penetrable or familiar with each
other, which can sometimes explain a lack of understanding about industrial
challenges or choices.2
To succeed in its mission, the CEBB must therefore create exchange
mechanisms and initiate scientific, technological and economic “promiscuity”3
between its members, despite their differences in terms of discipline and the status
of personnel.

2
This remark can be partly “theorised,” since other research into power trains and alternative fuels
has shown that physical engineers in an electricity firm are more liable to understand and become
involved in the field of electric vehicles or fuel cells, whilst chemical engineers in oil firms feel
closer to the field of bio-fuels (Source: Stevens and Schieb 2013).
3
“Promiscuity”: this noun is used in its etymological sense, from promiscuous in Latin, in other
words common, shared, general, indiscriminate (Source: OED).
1 Challenges for the White Biotechnology Centre of Excellence (CEBB) 85

1.2 The Public-Private Partnership

Managing a public and private partnership under the same roof (for the Chairs
making up the CEBB) and with the ARD staff is another necessary condition for the
successful development of synergies. The Chairs belong to the same academic
tradition, and are mostly financed by public funds, Foundations and their schools;
whereas ARD is a private company, and a subsidiary of two agricultural
cooperatives.
It will thus be necessary to develop framework agreements and then individual
agreements (project by project) to regulate how each Chair will be remunerated in
proportion to its contribution. At present (2014), more or less formal bilateral or
trilateral agreements, (for example those between ARD and the Ecole Centrale and
NEOMA BS chairs) show the way to go forward and are the catalyst for larger scale
projects. In the long term, we can envisage genuine joint ventures between different
actors for significant projects, including outside partners.
Apart from the founder members, the CEBB will also have to include, at least
temporarily, firms created by the incubator. They also are profitmaking companies
and need to protect their secrets, and yet must cooperate and benefit from the CEBB
ecosystem.
This juxtaposition of projects and interests is the source (and the result) of a
proliferation of interactions (among this scientific and industrial community), but it
is also a potential source of conflict and failure. It will thus be essential to set up an
appropriate governance structure.

1.3 Governance

Finding a suitable governance structure for the innovation platform is a different

challenge from the issue of the governance of the biorefinery itself. We will discuss
the latter issue in a subsequent section. However, the governance of the innovation
platform is also an important question.
Given the ambitions and challenges faced by the platform, the solution chosen
and its degree of formalism will not be without its significance for the result
(a retroactive loop?). Indeed, if the fact of sharing a site and personnel seems
relatively easy to manage jointly (free agreement between the occupants, charitable
status, joint possession), It will probably be necessary to create a legal entity to
achieve a number of specific objectives:

– Tender for joint research contracts.

– Acquire joint material resources.
– Manage a joint image, reputation and intangible assets (brands, website,
protocols and procedures), including joint scientific publications.
– Organise visits to the biorefinery, joint events, local public relations.
– Provide financial resources or contributions in kind for innovative start-up
companies.
86 4 Prospects for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery Between Now and 2030

– Become a member of the group that manages the site’s staff restaurant.
– Take legal action; resolve regulatory issues concerning the whole community.

A single legal entity might not be enough to fulfil all these objectives, but legal
decisions need to be made on behalf of the whole site, and the community will have
to be willing to work formally together if the CEBB is to succeed.
Certain decisions may even be quite sensitive: for example, who, or what entity
will decide whether a team of scientists and entrepreneurs is eligible to work in the
CEBB incubator, and in what conditions. Governance mechanisms will also have to
be found to associate the chairs’ parent schools or universities with strategic
decisions, whilst not damaging the CEBB’s operations and its necessary
independence.
These challenges in terms of multidisciplinarity, public-private partnerships and
governance are implicitly illustrated by recent developments at the biorefinery.

2 Recent Developments: 2014, a Turning Point4?

After 20 years of effort and perseverance by a handful of managers and their staff,
together with significant investment on the part of the farmers making up the
cooperatives, 2014 seems to be a turning point for several reasons.
Seemingly unconnected events appear to confirm the status of the Bazancourt-
Pomacle biorefinery as an innovation platform. Apart from the fact that the site
persuaded the organisers of the European Forum of Industrial Biotechnologies to
hold their conference in Reims in October 2014, three events demonstrate the
success of the innovation platform: the sale of SOLIANCE to a multinational
group, the attractiveness of the BIODEMO demonstrator, and the success of the
second-generation biofuel project FUTUROL.
Each of these three events is undoubtedly of international significance in its own
field, illustrating different but complementary competences.

2.1 The Sale by ARD of Its Subsidiary SOLIANCE

to the GIVAUDAN Group

The sale by ARD of its subsidiary SOLIANCE to the GIVAUDAN group took
effect on 1 June 2014. SOLIANCE is a firm that specialises in the production of
high value-added plant, microorganism and seaweed based ingredients. It was set
up in 1994 to take advantage of opportunities in the field of bio-based active
cosmetics, primarily for the L’OREAL group. It became known as the world leader
in DHA (a sunless tanning ingredient) and the European leader in hyaluronic acid

4
The launch of the 3.8 billion euros public-private partnership Bio-based Industries Consortium
(BIC) adds to the nature of 2014 as a turning point.
2 Recent Developments: 2014, a Turning Point? 87

(HA), an anti-aging skin product. At the time of the sale, its turnover was around
21 million euros per year, and it employed 77 staff.
The company’s success is based on biotechnologies, process engineering, intel-
lectual property, its forward-looking and leadership qualities and its contribution to
industrial symbiosis at the biorefinery.
Its sale to the GIVAUDAN group, a Swiss company specialising in the develop-
ment and sales of innovative perfumes and fragrances, is a perfect illustration of one
of the mechanisms of an innovation platform. To ensure its global-scale industrial
and commercial development, SOLIANCE needs significant growth. Therefore,
applying their “right of first refusal” if not their ownership rights in this precise
case, the shareholders (primarily ARD, together with the cooperatives) judged that
an effective global strategy for SOLIANCE could more easily be developed by a
large outside group. In view of this, the decision to sell the society was a
logical one.
The sale is thus both proof of the success of SOLIANCE, but above all, for our
purposes, an indicator of the success of the innovation platform.5
An additional, by no means negligible factor is the fact that GIVAUDAN will
continue to develop SOLIANCE at its original site and will subcontract part of its
R&D to ARD. This is also evidence of the value attached to the industrial symbiosis
at Bazancourt-Pomacle as presented above in Chap. 3, particularly via its
demonstrators.6

2.2 ARD’s BIODEMO Demonstrator

ARD’s BIODEMO demonstrator is one of four or five demonstrators in Europe, and

the only one of its size (production capacity of 2000 tonnes per year, fermenters
between 100 l and 200 m3). It provides evidence that a demonstration platform can
be a success. BIODEMO was set up by ARD in 2005 at a cost of 22 million euros,
20 % of which was contributed by the local authorities (region and département)
and the ERDF to fulfil the requirements of the BIOAMBER project. Its aim was to
respond to the problems caused by the fact that a white technology discovery made
in a laboratory may well not produce the theoretical yield estimated in the labora-
tory when it is replicated on an industrial scale, because there are so many obstacles
to overcome. These include the appearance of inhibiters, fermentation instability,
the behaviour of yeast and bacteria in different thermo-physical conditions, wash-
ing and integrity problems in sequential processes and the difficulties of moving to
continuous flow.
Bio-Amber SAS was initially a joint venture between ARD and a North-
American firm, DNP Green Technology. It was the first company in the world to

5
Earlier ARD successes are also significant, and should not be ignored. They are however
confidential in nature and subject to contracts between private partners, and so cannot be
discussed here.
6
ARD: press release of 3 June 2014.
88 4 Prospects for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery Between Now and 2030

develop commercially a proprietary technology to produce bio-based succinic acid.

Succinic acid was produced on the BIODEMO site until a dedicated factory came
into service. Today, BIOAMBER is building its first factory at the SARNIA
platform in Ontario, Canada, instead of building it in Europe, causing great excite-
ment among Europeans (from local players to the members of the European
Commission in Brussels). It will be the world’s biggest bio-based succinic acid
production facility, and 90 % of its production will be exported. This is not the place
to go back over the causes of the choice of location, which would be a worthy topic
of a separate study, but the experts seem to agree that funding conditions for the
initial investment and operating costs were undoubtedly more favourable in Canada
than in Europe. Whatever the regrets and the lessons to be learnt from this experi-
ence, from the perspective of BIODEMO, it is a great success.
Here too, 2014 is a turning point. At the very moment when BIOAMBER might
be bringing production to an end at Bazancourt-Pomacle, Global Bioénergies, an
innovated listed French firm, “one of the few companies in the world, and the only
one in Europe to develop a process to transform renewable resources into
hydrocarbons by the fermentation of biomass, announced the success of laboratory
trials on its isobutene process and the launch of the subsequent industrial pilot
scheme”7 . . . at ARD, Bazancourt-Pomacle.8
Thus, BIODEMO’s reputation continues to grow as an open platform, particu-
larly in the sugars sector, in which the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery specialises.
It could be joined by other industrial pilot scheme equipment.

2.3 The FUTUROL Industrial Pilot Scheme

The industrial pilot scheme FUTUROL, led by the firm PROCETHOL 2G, aims to
optimise a second-generation bioethanol production process, based on lingo-
cellulose, in other words forestry based bio-resources: poplar and willow, or
non-food plants suitable for crop rotation processes, such as miscanthus or switch-
grass. The FUTUROL project was launched in 2008 and its industrial pilot scheme
was inaugurated in October 2011, in favourable conditions since it is supported by
11 recognised, complementary partners (ARD, IFPEN, INRA, LESAFFRE for
R&D, the industrials ONF, TEREOS, TOTAL, and VIVESCIA and the financial
investors CREDIT AGRICOLE DU NORD-EST, CGB and UNIGRAINS). Invest-
ment on this project totals 74.6 million euros.
The challenges that need to be taken up if a second-generation biofuel is to be
produced are mainly technological. First, methods need to be developed to split the
components into cellulose, hemi-cellulose and lignin, and then to transform the
cellulose and hemi-cellulose into fermentable sugars using a blend of enzymes.
Finally, a yeast needs to be found capable of carrying out the fermentation process
efficiently.

7
Global Bioenergies, press release, 4 June 2013.
8
A second industrial pilot unit will be installed at the Leuna platform in Germany.
3 Potential for Integration of the Upstream Value Chain 89

Not only must these technological obstacles be removed, the solutions found
must be economically acceptable. In other words, the total price of the bioethanol,
including that of the raw materials, must be competitive compared with oil-based
fuel and so-called first-generation bioethanol.
The announcement made at the beginning of July 2014 by the firm Procéthol 2G
of exceptional results concerning the three technological obstacles at competitive
prices is significant for different reasons:

– The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery gives the project a recognised stable

location.
– The partnership supporting FUTUROL, more than just a grouping of R&D
actors, industrials and financiers, has proved extremely effective.
– The range of specific competences put to use by the partners is itself very
important (for example, the enzyme blend by IFPEN and the yeast by
LESAFFRE, are the fruit of years of research).
– The model industrial agreement between the partners on the implementation,
distribution and development of the shared effort has been developed to recon-
cile the sharing of patents and discoveries with the preferential conditions and
financial benefits targeted at the beginning of the project.
– In the near future, it should be possible to create more value from the project via
non-exclusive licencing contracts.
– Over the next 2 years, the Procéthol 2G board may decide to transform the
industrial pilot unit into an open platform, as was the case for BIODEMO.

The sale of SOLIANCE, the attractiveness of BIODEMO and the success of

FUTUROL 2G should not be considered as isolated or random events. They are
“proof of the concept”: the addition of an industrial platform and an innovation
platform, associated with the initial culture of the farmers and agricultural
cooperatives, has shown itself to be effective. SOLIANCE, BIODEMO and the
FUTUROL project are also three examples in which, to differing degrees, multidis-
ciplinarity, public-private complementarity, and governance have played a positive
role rather than being obstacles. They are also examples of the fulfilment of a
knowledge economy.

3 Potential for Integration of the Upstream Value Chain

As demonstrated above, a territorial biorefinery cannot operate effectively unless it

can rely on access to biomass in acceptable economic, social and environmental
conditions; in other words from local sources.
For the biomass to become more diverse and sustainable, it is helpful for a
biorefinery to benefit from upstream research capacity developing new crop
varieties and agricultural processes and thus promoting sustainable, multifunctional
agriculture. This increased knowledge and skills would benefit both agriculture and
industry.
90 4 Prospects for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery Between Now and 2030

In this context, the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery currently has three principal

avenues to explore: the development of experimental farming capacity,
strengthening of its ability to attract agro-industry, and support for farming
regeneration.

3.1 The Idea of an Experimental Farm

Actors in the Reims Champagne Ardenne region envisage the creation of an

experimental farm,9 which might require an investment of several million euros.
It could be located on the land vacated by the closure of the air force base (BA 112)
less than ten kilometres from Reims and 15 km from Bazancourt and the
biorefinery. Of a total of 540 ha, 160 ha are agricultural land (c.f. Fig. 4.1) that
could be used for an experimental farm. This project is still being studied, but was
announced in April 2014 as a credible working proposition.

DIAGRAM OF EXPROPRIATION OF FARMING LAND FROM THE FORMER BA112 AIRBASE

PERIMETER OF THE FORMER BA112

AIRBASE
FARMING LAND

Fig. 4.1 BA 112: 160 ha of land usable for an experimental farm (Source: Reims Metropolitan
Council, Department of Development)

9
Marne Department Chamber of Agriculture (2014) draft report of a feasibility study for an
experimental agro-technological platform north of Reims on the BA 112 site.
3 Potential for Integration of the Upstream Value Chain 91

This experimental farm will concentrate on crop varieties and farming methods
in the unique Champagne-Ardenne climate. It will provide additional support for
the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery, as well as for other current and future sites in
Champagne-Ardenne. This is also one of the main recommendations made in the
OECD report (2009), according to which combining the agricultural and industrial
bioeconomy will have multiple effects.
If necessary, Champagne winegrowing activities could be included in the work
of this farm. For example, the possible effects of climate change could be studied,
solutions could be found and changes planned. Importing and acclimatising
varieties from other regions could be studied if necessary.
Finally, an experimental farm, in addition to the biorefinery’s existing resources,
would make the site even more attractive for upstream industrial firms.

3.2 Upstream Industry

Upstream industrial firms might be attracted by the principle of shared location that
is omnipresent in the biorefinery’s activity: industry could be integrated with the
innovation platform in the same way via the experimental farm.
In this particular case, the experimental farm would not be created from scratch:
staff from the INRA and Ecole AgroParisTech experimental sites, researchers from
the laboratories of Europol’Agro de Reims (200 researchers) and private test
centres could contribute towards the new site.
Firms producing seed, fertilisers, agricultural machinery and precision agricul-
tural technologies might be interested in working at the Reims Area experimental
farm, and perhaps at the same time occupy non-agricultural land at the air base that
will become available.

3.3 Cumulative Effects?

The cumulative effects of the activity of an experimental farm, coupled with the
contribution of industrial firms, should be witnessed in the agriculture of the
Champagne Ardenne region. As we discussed in Chap. 3, one of the benefits of
the biorefinery’s activity is that certain by-products are returned to the farmers.
These include sugar beet pulp and spent grain out of season for animal feed; and
waste liquids loaded with organic nutrients for spraying on agricultural land.
In this context, opportunities for regenerating the agricultural model, some of
which are already being studied, could enhance the biorefinery’s ecosystem both
upstream and downstream:
92 4 Prospects for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery Between Now and 2030

– Current plans include a study of the potential for the development of cattle
breeding in Champagne Ardenne, in addition to cereal and sugar beet activity.
For some farmers, including Mr. Olivier de Bohan, who is also President of the
CRISTAL UNION Cooperative, breeding remains a significant activity.
– Developing the anaerobic digestion of organic farm waste, as currently practised
in Germany is also being studied.10 Although requiring significant financial
investment, this practice contributes to the farm’s income or to its financial
equilibrium in the same way as a circular economy or a renewable energy
source.
– The possibility of planting new varieties to take advantage of changing agricul-
tural production prices varies could be tested by the experimental farm and made
available to farmers with the support of other actors in the sector.

The same intensive research could also continue to optimise the biorefinery’s
integration with its downstream value chain.

4 Potential for Integration with the Downstream Value

Chain

One of the strengths of the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is its proximity to

biomass resources, but one of its weaknesses is its relative remoteness from the
downstream value chain. There are no oil, chemical, automotive or textile industry
facilities within easy reach of the biorefinery (less than 30 km). The biorefinery’s
actors need either to attract such firms to the area or to move “down” the value chain
themselves. To attract them to the area they need to make land available and target
potential candidates. To move down the value chain they need to develop new
activities outside their traditional field, such as creating their own distribution
network.

4.1 Land Available for New Manufacturing Facilities or

Biorefineries

Land is available for new factories or biorefineries to complement the existing

biorefinery close to the current site (2 km) in the form of a business park promoted
by the Reims and Epernay Chamber of Commerce and Industry: Parc des Sohettes
Val des Bois. This park, whose total area could rise to nearly 190 ha, includes 60 ha
directly adjacent to the biorefinery, dedicated to high and medium-high technology
(c.f. Fig. 4.2).

10
It should be noted that the German anaerobic digestion model uses significant amounts of whole
corncobs. The French model would look to digest primarily organic waste.
4 Potential for Integration with the Downstream Value Chain 93

Fig. 4.2 Overall view of the Sohettes-Val des Bois business park on completion (#CCI Reims-
Epernay – 4 vents – agency no. 3, adapted by the authors) with its location in relation to the
existing biorefinery

This park offers downstream industrial firms the opportunity to benefit from raw
materials in the form of by-products from Bazancourt-Pomacle. There is even the
possibility of linking industrial units at Bazancourt-Pomacle to those in the Sohettes
Val des Bois industrial park via overhead or underground pipelines. This could even
be extended to exchanges of steam, although there would be a degree of leakage
along the way.
Certain discoveries or results described in Sects. 1–3 could lead to projects being
developed at the Sohettes business park.

4.2 Downstream Industry

Downstream industrial firms could themselves takes the initiative or be encouraged

to establish themselves in the business park. Several experts in the field of industrial
bioeconomy have noted that the chemical industry in its widest sense is enthusiastic
about the prospect of using bio-sourced rather than oil-based molecules for differ-
ent reasons:

– Certain chemical molecules are now forbidden by European regulations

(REACH or directives) because of their carcinogenic properties or the risk of
endocrine disruption. This is the case particularly for cosmetic products.
– Consumers are increasingly in favour of so-called natural or organic products.
This explains the proliferation of ‘natural’ labels, but also attempts at “green-
washing” in a transition phase between two consumption paradigms.
– Certain oil-based molecules will become increasingly expensive due to their
relatively poor availability if, for example, schist gas replaces products previ-
ously obtained from oil distillation (olefins), but which cannot be produced by
distilling gas.
94 4 Prospects for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery Between Now and 2030

– Multinational chemical groups that had strong internal biotechnology

competences lost these skills when the groups were split into “chemical” and
“pharmaceutical” divisions. They face two alternatives:

(a) Redevelop their internal competences,

(b) Cooperate with existing platforms in consortia, R&D projects and joint
ventures.

In fact, this notion of “moving downstream” (from the point of view of the
biorefinery) can also be understood as a move upstream if we consider the trend as a
“demand” on behalf of downstream firms.
As this concurrence between supply and demand will require support, the Reims
and Epernay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, local development agencies
(INVEST IN REIMS) and local industrial and financial players are of course
encouraged to promote these new opportunities directly.
The firms present at Bazancourt-Pomacle are at the same time sensitive to the
“quality” and profile of the potential candidates. They need to ensure that the new
firms are homogenous and compatible with those already on site. They may indeed
themselves be the first candidates to move downstream.

4.3 The Move Downstream by Industrials and Cooperatives

The move downstream by the industrial firms and cooperatives present at the
Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery is the most difficult option to implement. It is of
course not the most difficult to imagine, but doubtless the most difficult to make
credible, such would be the organisational innovation and risk-taking involved. The
“entry-cost” will be financial as much as organisational or cultural.
What are the possibilities?
One of these would be to distribute themselves a product of the biorefinery or at
least to create the conditions for active distribution in partnership with other
players, which would create the risk of closing off outlets through traditional
clients, a “classic” risk of such an approach. One example of a risky option
would be to distribute biofuels such as E85 (85 % ethanol) by investing in a genuine
distribution strategy by developing networks in partnership with “flexfuel” vehicle
manufacturers. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no study of this type of
strategy has been published, although such a possibility may have been studied
confidentially but rejected by investors.
Other similar possibilities have been proposed and doubtless involve the same
problems, but on a lesser scale: the creation of a department or company to provide
local housing and businesses with heating if industrial symbiosis is further devel-
oped in the field of energy production.
All of these possibilities proposed for the next 15 years at the Bazancourt-
Pomacle biorefinery can be represented in Fig. 4.3
5 Maintaining or Renewing the Virtues of the Cooperative Model 95

Fig. 4.3 Representation of prospects for extending activities around the biorefinery

Can the biorefinery extend its activities upstream or downstream whilst retaining
the advantages of the cooperative model?

5 Maintaining or Renewing the Virtues of the Cooperative

Model

Chapters 1 and 2 showed the extent to which the cooperative model shaped the
Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery and demonstrated the virtues of exceptional long-
term capacities in anticipation, reactivity, innovation and risk-taking. These virtues
are not exclusive to cooperatives; they can be found in unlisted, family companies
in the same sector (Cargill in the United States, Roquette and Soufflet in France).
Two questions will be crucial in this context over the next 15 years. Are these
virtues necessary for the future of the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery? Will the
cooperative model safeguard these virtues?

5.1 The Period 2015–2030–2040

For most of those projections modelling the period 2015–2030–2040, and in most
scenarios developed, macroeconomic and geopolitical trends will very probably be
marked by significant growth in the world’s population, accompanied by more
moderate economic growth than in the previous period. There will also be a
significant trend towards volatility, the risk of various types of crisis (both natural
and anthropomorphic), dwindling influence of multilateralism accompanied by
opposition to international standards (so-called Bretton Wood institutions) and
indebted Nations with little or no margin for maneuver. In such a context, new
technologies (apart from ICT) evolve very rapidly (sometimes too rapidly for them
to be adopted by the public), have enormous potential to provide solutions to the
96 4 Prospects for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery Between Now and 2030

challenges of the twenty-first century, and face huge market entry barriers. If we
compare these prospects with previous periods (1970–2000), which with the benefit
of hindsight appear much more favourable, cooperative values and the maxim “let’s
do things by ourselves” become even more vital. Perhaps, however, “by ourselves”
needs to be looked at again.

5.2 The Basis of the Cooperative Model

Will such a context threaten the basics of the cooperative model, such as “one man
one vote,” the agreement to invest 1 year’s harvest, the commitment to deliver all or
part of the harvest to the cooperative and mutualisation as a way to make economies
of scale and to smooth over fluctuating market conditions?
We can identify a number of challenges:

– Will the cost/benefit ratio lose its relevance, for example due to the high
volatility of agricultural raw materials prices? If prices increase too much
(a threefold increase in the price of a tonne of wheat), the commitment to deliver
will become questionable.
– Will the development of cooperatives by increasing their size and internalising
activities result in falling respect for their traditional values? Will farmers feel
less comfortable as “capitalists” or as owners of an industrial holding group?
– Will the increasing international dimension of cooperatives lead to
corresponding damage to their links with their original territory and with the
concerns and interests of their farmers?
– Will the growing dependence on financial markets lead to a feeling of dispos-
session, of loss of control, or even of risk by cooperative members?

If necessary, cooperative board members and presidents could find themselves

out of line with their management: extremely well educated, talented staff, often
recruited from large groups, but who were not brought up “on the land.”
In the face of attempts to facilitate the growth in size of cooperatives by dividing
them into divisions for each type of activity, and particularly by creating holding
companies covering industrial operations, the question remains of the survival of
links between cooperatives and their members.
As discussed above in Sect. 3, the farmers are more concerned with maintaining
the income of their farm, reducing their debt, sustainable development, the possi-
bility of passing the farm on to their children, than with the global success of the
cooperative.
Different forums (Quebec, International Summit of Cooperatives,11 2012) and
research work have recently investigated these questions, and certain future

11
Deroy and Thenot (2012).
6 Does the IEB Need a More Formal Governance Structure? 97

avenues have been discussed, particularly the strengthening of management tools to

guarantee that “sense”12 and traditional values are preserved.

5.3 Is It Possible to Benefit from Cooperative Values Without

Cooperatives?

It might be possible, but the hypothesis would not be very plausible without a great
deal of support by all the stakeholders. Above all, time would be a determining
factor.
The backing of the cooperatives at Bazancourt-Pomacle has been the keystone of
its architecture and of its development. If the cooperatives were forced, de jure or de
facto, to withdraw their support for the biorefinery in its most innovative form as the
European Biorefinery Institute, the first question that would arise would be that of
its ownership.
There would be a variety of options, from selling it in lots, acquisition by the
farmers as a modified form of cooperative, acquisition using family capital, a
leveraged buyout, regionalised financial capitalism or a takeover by multinational
chemical or oil industry groups. Not all of these options would guarantee the
integrity of the Institute or its traditional values. Furthermore, the options that
would break up the unity of the site in a disorganised manner would make a return
to an ecosystem favourable to the IEB unlikely.
These considerations raise considerable concerns about the governance of the
Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery.

6 Does the IEB Need a More Formal Governance Structure?

This question is not new to the biorefinery’s stakeholders.

Some of the actors we interviewed consider that it is necessary to create a more
formal governance structure, beyond the formal agreements between the firms
present on waste management, joint management of the staff restaurant, informal,
irregular meetings between the management of the different companies. This
governance structure should in particular help the IEB to face its new challenges,
such as extension upstream and downstream, the development of joint assets,
preservation of values, the selection and integration of new partners and develop-
ment of networks between different strata.
Other actors fear that more formal governance would hinder the activities of
each company, create a new bureaucratic layer, increase costs and lead-times, and
create confusion externally due to a proliferation of acronyms and spokespeople.

12
Rousseau (2004).
98 4 Prospects for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery Between Now and 2030

To answer the question we need to ask what functions the current governance
structure does not fulfil and that need to be fulfilled to take advantage of future
projections.

6.1 Networking, Strategic Monitoring and Strategic Decision-

Making Tools

As the other chapters reveal, there are now three layers of actors at the IEB. The first
layer is made up of professionals on site: plant managers and their staff, ARD
researchers, the operators of the pilot and demonstration units and Chair-holders
with their staff (when they come together on site in September 2015). Parent-
organisation management teams make up a second layer: the management teams
of cooperatives, schools and pilot scheme partners, together with their boards of
directors. Outlying actors make up the third layer: local village communities, local
authorities, the State and representatives of local people. There is currently a lack of
mechanism to share information, monitoring and strategy discussion between these
three layers of stakeholders. A small part of this coordination could be managed by
the Bohan Foundation, for example. Other, not necessarily formal mechanisms
could take the form of the much more social mechanisms mentioned earlier in the
context of “promiscuity” together with support mechanisms that the CEBB could
manage.

6.2 Technology Transfer and Exploitation of Knowledge

and Skills

The transfer function already exists in certain major schools and universities. It is
designed essentially to exploit the patents and licences developed by their
researchers. In the case of IEB, there are opportunities for the creation of resources
centres (databases or technical expertise), test centre activities in certain fields,
executive training and high-level services (second opinions, technical-commercial
assessment of technologies, risk surveys). It will also support incubator projects and
carry out traditional activities to promote and obtain financial returns on the shared
assets of the IEB. These functions could cover upstream activities linked to the
experimental farm, if necessary, and downstream activities for the Parc des
Sohettes extension.

6.3 Financial Engineering

This section may surprise some people: venture capitalists and banks are accessible,
given the quality of the projects usually proposed by Bazancourt-Pomacle actors
and the fact that consultants are ready to step in. Until now, this has never been a
problem. However, several reasons may be put forward for the fulfilment of this
6 Does the IEB Need a More Formal Governance Structure? 99

function locally,13 by creating not necessarily an agency or its equivalent, but rather
a mechanism:

– The lack of a tradition on the platform of assessing the technical-economic

potential of its discoveries.
– The need to assist start-up companies before they apply to established venture
capitalists.
– The great concern for confidentiality in initial development phases (a file that
circulates too widely loses a large part of its value).
– The need to examine strategic decisions locally (specifications, right of first
refusal, tours de table preferential funding rounds, risk compensation, selection
of partners. . .)
– Respect of internal regulations (framework agreements) and of a local ethics
charter.

Conclusion
The Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery and its counterpart the IEB have quite clear
prospects for the future. It needs to capitalise on favourable upstream conditions;
attract industry, young entrepreneurs, and upstream and downstream services
companies; strengthen its innovation capacity and its different ways of capitalising
on innovation; and maintain or renew its virtues and values that remain extremely
appropriate. All these opportunities for expansion and development are open to the
platform.
This discussion of future prospects does not aim to predict the future, but to offer
an overview of the opportunities and challenges that the biorefinery faces in the
relatively near future (2030).
All these topics have been discussed with representatives of the different layers
of stakeholders we have identified: industrial firms, researchers, senior manage-
ment, civil servants and elected representatives of local authorities or the State. If
some of our positions appear to reflect poorly or insufficiently the views of certain
actors, the authors are responsible for this and we propose in our general conclusion
that this study should serve as a starting point more than as a conclusion.
We hope that by reviewing systematically a number of issues that are often
discussed in isolation, we help to offer an overall view of the biorefinery. This may
prepare the ground for the actors to become more aware of the challenges they face,
and to take advantage of the window of opportunity that is opening, and finally to
take appropriate decisions.

13
Such an entity, exclusively devoted to the platform might be supported by a financial market
type local organisation, which would be set up to serve local economic players.
100 4 Prospects for the Bazancourt-Pomacle Biorefinery Between Now and 2030

References
ARD, communiqué de presse du 3 juin 2014
Chambre d’Agriculture de la Marne (2014) Projet de rapport d’étude de faisabilité d’une
plateforme expérimentale agro-technologique Nord rémoise sur la BA 112
Deroy X, Thenot M (2012) L’interaction des logiques coopératives et de marché: quelle évolution
pour le modèle coopératif agricole français? Le cas CHAMPAGNE CEREALES. In:
l’Etonnant Pouvoir des Coopératives, Sommet International des Coopératives, Québec, pp
419–432
Global Bioenergies press release, 4 June 2013
OECD (2009) La Bioéconomie à l’horizon 2030. OECD, Paris
Rousseau F (2004) Gérer et militer. Thèse de Doctorat, Centre de Recherche en Gestion, Ecole
Polytechnique
Stevens B, Schieb P-A (2013) OECD workshop on developing infrastructure for alternative
transport fuels and power-trains to 2020/2030/2050, A synthesis report. OECD
General Conclusion
5

At the end of this study of the history, business model, synergy and industrial
symbiosis of the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery together with its future prospects,
the reader might well ask: what, then, is the true nature of this biorefinery? This
conclusion will attempt to answer this question and to propose avenues for future
action by different actors, beyond those suggested in this study.

1 What Is the True Nature of the Bazancourt-Pomacle

Integrated Biorefinery?

We will define the nature of the biorefinery as an industrial district and via its
economic rationale and ecosystem.

1.1 Integrated Biorefinery and Industrial District

According to Alfred Marshall (1920), an industrial district is characterised by the

simultaneous presence of a variety of subcontractors, an abundance of skilled
labour, and a network of rapid formal and informal communication between its
members. These elements provide an industrial district with its competitive advan-
tage. In this conception, vertical aspects of integration within a sector are dominant,
whence the emphasis on subcontracting, which is not a central aspect in the case of
Bazancourt-Pomacle.
More recently, Michael Porter (2000) theorised the notion of industrial cluster, a
group of firms in the same location that combines aspects of both horizontal
integration (proximity) and vertical integration, centred on a single sector. Porter
defines an industrial cluster as a group of companies and active institutions in a
particular field of activity, which are geographically close and linked by their
similarities and complementarity.

# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 101

P.-A. Schieb et al., Biorefinery 2030, DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-47374-0_5
102 5 General Conclusion

Several characteristics can be identified to explain the competitiveness of indus-

trial clusters:

– The presence of exogenous factors such as demand, local resources and

infrastructure.
– The presence of endogenous factors linked to the nature and quality of the
interaction between the members of the cluster, often relatively informal and
unplanned.

These characteristics can be found at Bazancourt-Pomacle.

In line with Porter,1 interaction and information sharing is combined with a
conception of relative exclusiveness: the industrial cluster has a supply of
competences, shared tools and tacit knowledge, accompanied by mechanisms to
limit its propagation outside the cluster.
The structures of the IEB innovation platform, BIODEMO (and perhaps in the
near future the FUTUROL facilities) and the private, shared research centre ARD,
are examples of “open” tools access to which is selective. The Chairs of the CEBB
also apply these double standards by working for the benefit of all (published
scientific knowledge) while at the same time protecting their industrial property
rights and confining some of their information sharing with other biorefinery
stakeholders within a framework that is both formal and informal.
Other authors (Piore and Sabel 1984) have emphasised the notion of “flexible
specialisation,” or the ability to react quickly to changing circumstances. They add
that these “regional agglomerations” are based on combinations of inter-firm
contacts and institutional support and on the existence of a community of reference.
We have identified these four dimensions in the Bazancourt-Pomacle case.
The notion of institutional support can have two meanings. It can suggest a
favourable regional context (in the sense that local authorities and the regulatory
framework support the activity of the industrial cluster). It can also mean institu-
tional mechanisms that guarantee in some degree the integrity of exchanges
between the members of the cluster (chiefly peer judgment and the risk of
quarantining or even of excluding firms or individuals who betray the implicit
trust between members).
Overall, the Bazancourt-Pomacle integrated biorefinery corresponds perfectly
well to these different notions of industrial district or cluster. The question arises as
to the economic rationale justifying its existence.

1.2 Biorefinery and Economic Rationale

Our discussion of the case of the Bazancourt-Pomacle biorefinery in the previous

chapters reveals three economic dimensions related to economics as a whole, or

1
Tallman et al. (2004).
1 What Is the True Nature of the Bazancourt-Pomacle Integrated Biorefinery? 103

referred to in studies of industrial districts and clusters: economies of scale,

economies of scope and now the knowledge economy.
A. Marshall makes economies of scale, or cost reductions linked to the size of an
establishment, a central issue. They are often associated with increased
specialisation. They have been made possible by the proximity of the companies
by facilitating access to shared resources: raw materials, logistics costs and skilled
labour. They have been provided by the cooperatives, which alter the balance of
power between customers and suppliers and support increases in scale.
Economies of scope, or economies of diversification, in other words cost
reductions linked to the diversity and wealth of products and by-products, are not
cited as economies of scope but are included in the area of economies or advantages
of horizontal or vertical integration.2 Industrial symbiosis illustrates these
economies perfectly: up to a certain point, the greater the diversity of production,
the greater the capacity to make use of “the whole plant” and the more developed
the circular economy.
Finally, the knowledge economy, the most contemporary rationale, refers to
what certain authors3 analyse as a “local system of competences,” bringing industry
together with research institutions and enabling the circulation of human capital and
knowledge: changing job or employer on the same site, collaboration on the same
projects, informal and formal interaction between members of a community. The
IEB innovation platform conforms to this notion perfectly, both in its aims and in
the way it operates as a local competence system, which, moreover, also fulfils the
principle of economies of diversification: the increasing diversity of its
competences guarantees its relevance and long-term survival.
An integrated biorefinery such as Bazancourt-Pomacle is a good illustration of
these three levels of economic rationale, but they would not fully apply to a
biorefinery that was not combined with an innovation platform.
The question remains whether the process leading to such an ecosystem can be
replicated.

1.3 Biorefinery and Ecosystem: An Unplanned Process, but One

that Did not Occur by Chance

We were unable for the purposes of this study to compare two integrated
biorefineries of similar importance. However, we can draw useful conclusions
from a comparison between two sites in the same county over the same period of
time (1900–2014) in similar regions: the aerospace sector around Toulouse and
industrial bioeconomy around Reims.

2
Maskell (2001).
3
Grossetti et al. (2006).
104 5 General Conclusion

The history of local economic development since 1900 in Toulouse is enlight-

ening in comparison with that of Reims.4 The two cities could be considered as
relatively unindustrialised at the beginning of the twentieth century, and both of
them have aeronautical traditions. Reims had a historical role as the cradle of the
industry twenty years before Toulouse entered the sector. However, it was geo-
graphically unsuitable to be used as an arsenal because of the wars with Germany,
and was unable to capitalise on this innovation.
Industrial and scientific life in Toulouse was marked by the creation in 1900 of a
municipal chair in agricultural and industrial chemistry, which was led by Paul
Sabatier (1912 Nobel Prize winner). Later, Paul Sabatier became dean of the local
faculty of Science, and with the support of the city council created three institutes:
chemistry (1906), electronics (1907) and agriculture (1909).
The city council played a vital role by directly subsidising the institutes rather
than giving an overall subsidy to the university, and by encouraging research to
promote the development of industry. We note in passing that the electronics
institute, the ancestor of the research laboratory of the 1970s, would support the
production of hydroelectricity in the Pyrenees and its regional use as the basis for a
possible local industry.
It was not until 1917 that Pierre-Georges Latécoère, a neophyte in aviation,
obtained a contract to build 1000 aeroplanes for the Ministry of Armament. This
was followed by the launch of airmail services. Latécoère continued to manufacture
aeroplanes, particularly flying boats, and so the aerospace industry continued to
develop until the development of Airbus today.
In 1955, the state began to take an interest in the development of the city of
Toulouse. It decided to initiate a degree of decentralisation, and among other
options considered the aeronautics sector for this. The name Latécoère was used
very deliberately as a myth to justify this new development. In 1961, the state
decided to decentralise the National Centre for Space Study to Toulouse (CNES),
together with the Aeronautics School and the National Civil Aviation School.
In the 1970s, these developments began to have a real effect on local industry. In
the 1980s, research centres and services companies arrived, attracted by the
requirements of new digital systems (on-board management systems) and major
Airbus programmes.
Michel Grossetti and Jean-Marc Zuliani (2006), consider that for many years
there was no overall dynamic present in Toulouse. The avant-garde scientific
system (Sabatier and the institutes) did not succeed in launching the industry. It
was followed by initial steps in the aviation industry, but there was no link between
the two activities. It was not until the CNES and the aeronautics schools provided a
catalyst that the local system of competences gradually developed.

4
This brief history is based on Grossetti, M, Zuliani, J-M, ‘La Construction d’un Système
Industriel de Haute Technologie à Toulouse entre Logiques Locales et Logiques Nationales,’
pp. 267–281, in Entreprises de haute technologie, Etat et souveraineté depuis 1945, Conference of
8–9 February 2010, IGPDE, Comité pour l’histoire économique et financière de la France, 2010.
2 What Next? 105

This study of the Toulouse case reveals a logic that we have already seen in the
case of Bazancourt-Pomacle:

– The initiation of such an ecosystem is not easy to plan, but at the same time, it is
not a question of mere chance. There was no overall plan for Toulouse in 1900,
or for Bazancourt-Pomacle in 1946, but a succession of circumstances, stages
and escalations of scale.
– A high level of alignment between the actors is part of the explanation of this
development in both cases: for Toulouse, the city council and visionary univer-
sity scholars at the beginning of the century, then the state as federator and
catalyst, cementing the building blocks together. For Bazancourt-Pomacle, the
consistent support of the farmers and of their two cooperatives,5 accompanied
since the 1990s by the local authorities and then academic researchers.
– A high level of alignment in the circumstances: the solutions that the industrial
ecosystem is likely to contribute must correspond to market conditions or
circumstances that are favourable, or at least not unfriendly enough (resistance
of established powers, hidden subsidies for established sectors, opponents) to
capsize the initiative.
– In both cases the gestation period lasted around 70 years (Toulouse: 1900–1970,
Bazancourt-Pomacle: 1948–2014), which makes one think about the possibility
of replicating such ecosystems rapidly, especially given that examples in the
United States (Route 128, Silicon Valley) or in other European regions
(Lombardy, Bavaria) were neither set up from scratch nor instant successes.

This comparison shows, if proof were necessary, to what extent studies of other
biorefineries would be useful to enhance understanding of their processes, models,
strategic advantage and the roles of different actors.

2 What Next?

In view of the readers for whom this work is intended, we will make three sets of
comments: proposals for future research; an invitation for the private sector to
continue its efforts in this area; and an analysis of the possible future role of public
policy in the field of industrial bioeconomy.

2.1 A Future Research Agenda

Insofar as industrial bioeconomy and its expression in the form of biorefineries are
new fields, there is an urgent need to create the statistical foundations without which
it will be impossible to identify the sector or analyse it geographically or

5
VIVESCIA and CRISTAL UNION.
106 5 General Conclusion

temporally. These statistical foundations will require definitions, indicators and

databases to be created.
In the past, such foundations were often developed by countries that championed
a new field and united under the stewardship of the OECD in cooperation with the
national statistical centres of the countries concerned. Today, it is not certain
whether such a process could be implemented quickly. In Europe, an Economic
Observatory has been set up for an initial period of 3 years by the European
Commission (2013–2015), but without being mandated to create databases.
The methodology used for this case study of Bazancourt-Pomacle, is available to
OECD member countries interested in the field, as well as to companies and
professional organisations that would like to promote a series of case studies of
different types of biorefinery (territorial, in ports, converted oil refineries) using
different types of biomass.
A series of topics could and should be the subject of an empirical or experimen-
tal research agenda,6 but from the perspective of management decisions and public
policy, a multilateral agreement on definitions, indicators and databases is a pre-
requisite for this.

2.2 Will the Private Sector Continue Its Initial Efforts?

For the private sector to pursue or even intensify its investment in the biorefinery
sector, strategic prospects must be clearly visible. We have seen that these prospects
are clear in the case of Bazancourt-Pomacle, although the great majority of future
biorefineries will not be destined to become innovation platforms.
Meanwhile the conditions framing this investment must be sufficiently
favourable.
The world’s great societal challenges (demography, food, water, poverty, cli-
mate change etc.) are unavoidable reference points, except that investors need to
rely on a viable business model. In practice, in a global market economy,
bio-sourced products have to earn approval as an effective, competitive alternative
to oil-sourced products. For this to occur, market conditions have to guarantee a
level playing field between the different technological options, which is not yet the
case due to the advantage acquired through experience and the indirect subsidies
enjoyed by the oil economy. Certain non-European experts add quietly that these
great challenges should not even be mentioned when arguing in favour of new
industrial projects, given their total lack of “bankability.”
Can a proactive approach be envisaged?
The American Department of Energy (in agreement with the Department of
Agriculture) launched a series of studies in 2008 on the possibility of using a billion
tonnes of biomass in the United States in 2050 (the “One Billion Ton Biomass”7

6
Hamichi et al. (2013).
7
US Department of Energy (2011).
2 What Next? 107

project). The initial report was very badly received, but has now been revised three
times and is taken extremely seriously as a credible feasibility study. At the same
time, a target of 400 biorefineries to be built in the United States over the next
20 years is also being studied and is considered appropriate. The new Department of
Agriculture policy (Farm Bill, 2014) backs bioconversion more for the production
of useful molecules than to produce biofuels.8
Back in Europe, a target of 400 biorefineries also appears feasible. This would
require a direct investment of between 180 and 200 billion euros over 20 or
30 years, to which would need to be added around 30 or 40 billion in logistics
infrastructure upstream and downstream (oil and gas pipelines, rail networks,
network connections etc.) This would require an annual investment of 10 billion
euros over 25 years for the whole of Europe (around 0.7 % of GDP). The launch of a
public private partnership in 2014 (BIC9) between industry and the European
Commission as part of the Horizon 2020 programme, with a budget of 3.8 billion
euros, including one billion euros for research, is an excellent, significant initiative.
It is only the first step, but it could initiate a step up to a larger scale corresponding
to a capacity of around 10 % of European chemical and petrochemical production
(including fuel).
This idea of public private partnerships could be one of the key elements of
public policy.

2.3 The Role of Public Policy

It is generally agreed that the role of the modern state is to respect a kind of
technological neutrality, and not to choose between technological sectors. How-
ever, governments can set objectives for the private sector to meet, so that the
market can select between different sectors depending on their respective merits.
Industrial bioeconomy can satisfy our needs in terms of energy transition,
sustainable development and the circular economy, as can other technologies
(photovoltaic cells or wind turbines, for example). In this case, public policy has
a dual role:

– To create a space for dialogue between industry, citizens and governments to

debate the respective merits of these technologies and the impact of public
policy options on the respective sectors.
– To ensure that the technologies are treated equitably, and particularly that new
technologies benefit from equivalent conditions to those enjoyed by existing
technologies.

8
US Department of Agriculture, Office of the Chief Economist, Biorefinery Assistance
Program 9003.
9
Bio-based Industries Consortium: http://biconsortium.eu/
108 5 General Conclusion

In the case of Europe there is an additional dimension resulting from the

difficulty arising for industries that wish to become involved within the existing,
purely national structure: some countries have a road plan for industrial
bioeconomy whilst others do not. Some countries use different incentives, or
degrees of incentive, for example in the fiscal treatment of biofuels or electricity
produced from photovoltaic cells or wind turbines. Public policy can be short-
termist (rate of incorporation of bioethanol). Hardly a single European country
encourages the production of bio-sourced molecules as a substitute for fossil-based
chemical molecules.
European dimension public private partnerships appear to be a good way to deal
with these issues at the correct scale, given the scope of investment and the
associated risk for investors. However, the two other roles, as a catalyst and the
guarantor of equal treatment for existing and new sectors could be fulfilled better.
Could they be an opportunity to revive growth?
Reims, September 2014.

References
Grossetti M, Zuliani J-M, Guillaume R (2006) La spécialisation cognitive: les systèmes locaux de
compétences. Les Annales de la Recherche Urbaine, No 101
Hamichi S, Mangalagiu D, Guessoum Z (2013) A multi-agent system for production networks
simulation. In: Renna P (ed) Production and manufacturing management system. IGI Global,
Hershey, pp 41–57
Marshall A (1920) Principles of economics, 8th edn. Macmillan, London
Maskell P (2001) Towards a knowledge-based theory of the geographical cluster. Ind Corp Chang
10(4):921–943
Piore M, Sabel C (1984) The second industrial divide. Basic books, New York
Porter M-E (2000) Location, competition and economic development: local clusters in a global
economy. Econ Dev Q 14(1):15–34
Tallman S et al (2004) Knowledge, clusters, and competitive advantage. Acad Manag Rev 29
(2):258–271
US Department of Agriculture, Office of the Chief Economist, Biorefinery Assistance Program
9003
US Department of Energy (2011) US billion ton update: biomass supply for a bioenergy and
bioproducts industry. US Department of Energy, Washington, DC
Annexes

Biorefinery Case-Studies: Analytical Frame and Model1

Summary
Studying bio-refineries from an economic, social and environmental perspec-
tive has become a priority in the context of a future industrial bio-economy
that endeavours to replace an oil-based economy by a bio-based economy.
In practice, implementing an industrial bio-economy involves creating
bio-refineries. As a result, governments, industrialists, investors, analysts
and, more broadly, the public at large need to understand better the potential
effectiveness of bio-refineries.
In addition to a description of the bio-refinery under review, case studies
should include the following aspects: (a) description of the historical context
and the various stages of its construction; (b) presentation and discussion of
its business model; (c) analysis of industrial symbiosis and (d) discussion of
the future prospects of the bio-refinery.
The main difficulty of a case study arises mainly from the issue of data
confidentiality. The challenge is even greater in the case of an integrated
multiplayer bio-refinery since it requires the agreement of many entities. It is
thus crucial for bio-refinery owners and operators to be motivated and willing
to share their data.
An international series of case studies of bio-refineries will cover the area
sufficiently to provide the stakeholders with the data they need: for
governments to base their public policies; for regulators, investors and
insurers to assess risk levels; for industrialists to choose the right scale for
their endeavours; and for the general public to support or question this new
initiative.

1
Methodology presented on 12 June 2014 during a meeting of the OECD biotechnology working
group.

# Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2015 109

P.-A. Schieb et al., Biorefinery 2030, DOI 10.1007/978-3-662-47374-0
110 Annexes

Studying bio-refineries from an economic, social and environmental perspective

has become a priority in the context of a future industrial bio-economy that
endeavours to replace an oil-based economy by a bio-based economy.
In practice, implementing an industrial bio-economy involves creating
bio-refineries. As a result, governments, industrialists, investors, analysts and,
more broadly, the public at large need to understand better the potential effective-
ness of bio-refineries.
The template below aims to encourage bio-refinery case studies that, if possible,
would cover similar themes and indicators. Thus, the data gathered would enable
comparisons between different types of bio-refineries processing different types of
biomass, with different methods of organisation, across multiple countries. It would
be too ambitious at this stage to hope for perfect comparability, but a first step
towards the harmonisation of reference terms would enable useful lessons to be
drawn from a fairly wide variety of concrete cases.
The model described hereafter concerns in particular bio-refineries that are an
integral part of an ecosystem and come as close as possible to forming a circular
economy. That is, they start with biomass and return to biomass at the end of the
lifecycle, while minimising the costs and externalities of the bioconversion process
and maximising the social and economic benefits.
As is the case with any new economic field, in particular one that prefigures a
transformation of society, the bioeconomy poses a knowledge challenge owing to
the absence of common international definitions, databases and published impact
measurements. This is why only a series of international case studies of
bio-refineries can provide enough data to satisfy stakeholder needs: governments
and regulators to base their public policies, investors and insurers to assess the risk
levels, industrialists to choose the right scale for their projects, and citizens to
support or question this transformation.
A major pre-requisite for the success of such an initiative lies in the question of
the function of the project: “Who is asking for these studies? Who can finance
them? For what reasons?”
As shown by the multilateral experience of the OECD over the last 50 years in
different fields,2 often six or seven willing member countries are at the origin of
initiatives to harmonise definitions, indicators and data collection procedures. It is
therefore to be hoped that this will also happen in the field of industrial
bioeconomy.
In this particular case, the first indications are that the private sector in Europe, in
North America and Latin America is ready to cooperate on such studies in spite of
the confidentiality problems that may arise. Biorefinery operators include all types
of firms3 with different disclosure requirements. However, all have one thing in
common: the issue of confidentiality in a very competitive field. Under such
circumstances, much of the data sought for a case study is confidential. The

2
Frascati manual, Oslo manual, Canberra group, handbook on the space sector economy etc.
3
Family businesses, agricultural cooperatives, stock market listed firms etc.
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.
112 Annexes

2. General Outline of the Study In addition to a datasheet presenting the

biorefinery under study, such a case study might include the following sections:
(a) a description of the historical context and the stages of its construction, (b) a
presentation and discussion of its business model, (c) an analysis of its industrial
symbiosis, (d) a discussion of the biorefinery’s future prospects.

2.1 Key datasheet

The datasheet should identify the type of biorefinery concerned in terms of

location, products processed, process, inputs, products and scale of production
(volumes of inputs processed, volumes of finished products), and possibly factors
associated with production (water, energy. . .) and the ownership structure.
Is the biorefinery based on sugar, on oilseed plants or on lignocellulose?
Is it a single product biorefinery (biofuels) or a multi-input, multiple product
biorefinery?
A table summarising this information would be useful to give a rapid overview
of the biorefinery under study.

2.2 Historical context

This section needs to answer the questions what, when and who, in order to
understand how the biorefinery was designed, decided on, installed and funded.
What were the stages in its construction?
For example, is the biorefinery the result of a “master plan” for one or more
biorefineries (POET, USA)?
Is the biorefinery the result of an incremental process over time (Bazancourt-
Pomacle, France)?
Is the biorefinery the result of the conversion of a petro-chemical refinery (Porto
Rosso, Italie)?
Is the biorefinery part of an existing refinery (Bio Amber, Sarnia, Ontario),
Whatever the type, over what timescale was the biorefinery built, and what were
the stages of construction (from design until operationalization).
What factors led to its construction?
Opportunities arising from a long term trend (dwindling fossil resources, the
appearance of shortages, consumer demand for a return to “naturalness”. . .)?
Opportunities arising from public policies creating demand (mandate, tax credit,
feed in tariff. . .)?
Opportunities arising from state/federal support policies (subsidies, preferential
loans, guarantees)?
On-site transformation is more cost effective due to transport costs, currency
risks, the volatility of agricultural markets, carbon taxes?
The desire to diversify a business portfolio?
What role has the human factor played?
Did the decision to invest in this refinery result from a decision made by an
individual leader (CEO, head of a family. . .)?
Annexes 113

Was it the result of a decision made by the board of directors?

Was it the result of a collective decision (annual general meeting of the members
of a cooperative, city council. . .)?

2.3 Business Model of the Biorefinery

The aim is to describe and explain how the bio-refinery creates value through its
positioning on the market and in the value chain, the characteristics of its produc-
tion, its production process, its cost structure, its governance and policies.
Among these indicators, it would be useful to know:

– The amount of investment (Capital Expenditure) and how it was financed.

Table 1 Examples of tables giving the amount of investment and how it was funded
Inception First Latest Most recent
year upgrade upgrade year
Amount of the
investment
Long term debt

Table 2 Examples of tables giving the amount of investment and how it was funded
Initial investment
Funding sources Amount % of total funding
Equity
Quasi equity (specify its nature)
Leasing
State/federal subsidies
Regional subsidies
Municipal/city subsidies
Guaranteed loans
Other
To be specified

– volume and value of inputs (and how they have evolved since creation)
Table 3 Example of table showing inputs: biomass by product and value (at two points in time)
n
10 n
5 n
2 Most recent year (n)
Wheat
Beets
Alfalfa
Other
To be specified
114 Annexes

– cost structure (OPEX)

– Turnover, value added, workforce (over last 5 years?)
Table 4 Example of table showing turnover, value added, profits and the biorefinery’s direct
workforce
n
5 n
3 n
2 Most recent year
Turnover before tax
Value added
Profit/loss
Average workforce

– Products sold by destination (food, feed, biofuel, other by-products)

Table 5 Example of table showing products sold by destination
n
10 n
5 n
3 Most recent year
Food
Animal feed
Bio-fuels
Ingredients/molecules for downstream industry

– Financial Results (EBITBA, amortization, profit before tax. . .)

Other related questions would also be interesting:

– What part did public subsidies play in the funding plan?

– Was the initial project partly or wholly funded by investors (risk capital, hedge
funds. . .)?
– How was financial risk (death valley) overcome?
– How was industrial, technological and environmental risk taken into account?
– To what extent are the financial results the consequence of industrial synergy
(in the case of integrated biorefineries)?
– What is the impact of the biorefinery on the local economy (direct and indirect
employment, national or local taxes paid. . .)

2.4 Industrial symbiosis

Industrial symbiosis, also known as “industrial ecology,” refers to the synergy

developed between the actors in a single biorefinery.
The aim here is to describe how a resource is shared between and exploited by
the different actors on the same platform in different ways:
Annexes 115

– Horizontally: for example, drilled water can be shared between the actors based
on a weighting system approved by the regulator. Waste or other kinds of waste
with an organic content can be used contractually for crop spraying.
– Vertically: by-products resulting from an initial production process (raw juice,
alcohol, ethanol) can be stored and then reused in a second process. The steam
produced by a key actor (sugar factory, for example) can be sold to other actors
on the platform. CO2 produced during fermentation can be transferred to other
industrial actors downstream in the value chain (starch producer).
– Cascades: when this process is repeated over several consecutive levels of
processing, a genuine cascade of products and by-products is generated and
exchanged in the same biorefinery, from biomass and the result of its initial
processing to a wide range of diverse products at the end of the cascade.

The first stage of a study of industrial symbiosis consists of mapping the

biorefinery ecosystem and identifying the physical flows between the different
actors on the platform: by type of flow, in terms of volume and, where possible,
value.
Table 6 Example of table showing the exploitation of by-products and service exchanges at the
biorefinery
Volume Value Volume Value
n
5 n
5 n n
By-products sold to the different actors on the site
By-products bought from the different actors on the
site
Services sold to the different actors on the site

In petro-chemical refineries, this process can concern up to 160 actors, the actor
being defined here as different independent chains of chemical transformation for
the same operator and in the same location.4
An integrated bio-refinery such as Bazancourt-Pomacle, Reims, France involves
11 different industrial actors and almost 20 different products and by-products.
The second stage of such a study consists of showing the evolution of these
processes of symbiosis over time, because since these situations are very dynamic,
the effects of economies of scale and optimisation can be very significant. The
productivity of a biorefinery can improve dramatically over time because of the
optimisation of industrial processes (consumption of raw materials, energy, water,
availability of industrial equipment, efficiency of the operators, reduction of odour
pollution, water recycling. . .).
A third stage of a symbiosis study can consist in researching additional sources
of optimisation (energy cycle, anaerobic digestion, modernisation of production
facilities, the use of more efficient and cheaper yeasts. . .). The arrival of additional

4
BASF, Leverkusen.
116 Annexes

actors on the platform can increase efficiency. Converting and upgrading the
bio-refinery over time can lead to processing new products and/or producing
other substances that are more valuable on the market due to fluctuating supply
and demand.
Eventually a modern definition of symbiosis would include other types of
exchanges and industrial synergies than physical flows. In an integrated
bio-refinery, exchanges of services, R&D contracts, maintenance contracts,
human capital flows, information flows, or even capital can be as significant as
the exchanges of raw materials, products or co-products.

2.5 Future prospects

Beyond a cross-sectional study, the issue of the sustainability and future

prospects of a certain type of refinery can be of interest to industrialists, investors
and governments. It is also an issue that arises with regard to environmental
fluctuations (markets, factor costs, public policies. . .) insofar as, for a refinery of
a certain size, the investment is significant (in 2014, the order of magnitude can be
estimated at between 150 and 300 million euros or between $200 million and $400
million). Thus, a period of activity of 10–15 years is necessary to recoup the cost of
such a venture.
The future prospects of a bio-refinery can be discussed along several lines:

– The continuous optimisation of the industrial process as mentioned above.

– In the case of rapid success, recreating the biorefinery in a different location can
be envisaged. This could use the model followed by POET (27 biofuel refineries
in the USA).
– In the case of difficulties with the supply of biomass at a certain price level,
diversification or conversion towards other biomass products can be envisaged.
– In the case of successful product diversification via R&D, subsidiaries or start-up
firms can supplement the initial biorefinery to develop molecules of interest for
bio-plastics, bio-implants, cosmetics, or specialised chemical products (succinic
or lactic acid. . .). This is the model followed by the Bazancourt-Pomacle
biorefinery, with the creation of a joint research centre in 1990, ARD followed
by the construction of a demonstrator in 1992, BIODEMO, and a cosmetics
subsidiary in 1994, SOLIANCE.

3. Methodological Challenges The main challenge of a case study concerns the

confidentiality of data. This challenge is even more significant in the case of a
multi-actor integrated biorefinery. The issue of the time scale is also important
because over 10 years a biorefinery’s operations evolve enormously due to process
optimisation. Finally, the source of the study (internal or outsourced to an outside
institution) is also a matter of discussion.
Annexes 117

1. Confidentiality:
This is understandable on the part of the biorefinery operators. When the study
is entrusted to an outside team, confidentiality agreements can be signed to
guarantee that only authorised data will be made public, but to enable
researchers or consultants to have an overall view. Some data can be kept secret
while representation in the form of graphs or percentages is authorised In the
case of multiple biorefineries, negotiations with the operators can make the
publication of average data possible where appropriate.
2. Time scale:
As shown in the pioneering study of industrial symbiosis in Kalundborg
(oil-sourced) in a 2006 publication, efficiency gains over time can be very
significant. We recognised the same phenomenon in the case of Bazancourt-
Pomacle: the use of water in the sugar refinery (quantity of water per kg of sugar)
decreased significantly over a 10-year period. Operators lay great emphasis on
this aspect because a bio-refinery is less efficient at the beginning, and the
engineering staff are continually looking for ways to improve its productivity.
The time at which the study is carried out can thus prove critical for the results of
a review.
3. Internal or outsourced study?
We do not have the necessary hindsight in this respect, since as far as we know
very few comprehensive studies have so far been conducted by operators. We
have, however observed, without being in a position to generalise, that the
operators encountered in different countries all over the world are extremely
well informed about how well their own biorefineries are performing. In princi-
ple, an outsourced study should guarantee the impartiality of the study, and an
unbiased viewpoint, but internal studies should not be excluded. A number of
industrialists in Europe and in the USA have proposed to carry these out.

4. Conclusion Many government documents on the industrial bio-economy rec-

ognise that biorefineries are the cornerstone of the development of a circular,
bio-based economy, a substitute for fossil-based refineries. Hitherto, biorefineries
were mainly studied from a technological perspective, this being the major issue
initially: how to convert biomass efficiently into useful products. This is much less
the case today: technological barriers have not yet disappeared, but the challenge is,
as much or even more, to measure to what extent the biorefinery, and what type of
biorefinery model, would be the optimal answer to ensure a balanced growth of
industrial bio-economy.
Methodologically, a case study cannot replace other assessment tools: overall
and environmental results, life cycle analysis, and industrial risk studies. These are
complementary tools. However, only a series of case studies, if possible with
relatively homogeneous methodological approaches, can provide the knowledge
needed by decision-makers and analysts.
Through these case studies, it will be possible to explore further the questions
that are of interest for public policy makers. These include the role of science,
technology and innovation policies; the role of the different instruments of public
118 Annexes

policy; the role of subsidies and other support measures; and the role of the
regulatory framework and barriers to entry, and unfair competition. All these topics
are also, and rightly so, of interest to industrialists, financiers and analysts since this
is an emerging sector that has not benefited from many decades of trial and error, of
optimisation and knowledge of scale effects (unlike the fossil economy). Public
policies are then a determining factor for the success of the transition to an
industrial bio-economy.

5. Bibliographie
Chauvet J-M et al (2013) La bioraffinerie de Bazancourt-Pomacle. l’Actualité
Chimique, Juin-ao^ut, No 375–376
Erkman S (2004) Vers une écologie industrielle, C.L. Mayer, 2ième édn
EUROBIOREF (2014) European multilevel integrated biorefinery design for sus-
tainable biomass processing. www.eurobioref.org
OCDE (2009) La bioéconomie à l’horizon 2030: Quel programme d’action
OECD (2012) Industrial Biotechnologies
OECD (2002) Frascati manual, proposed standard practice for survey on research
and experimental development
OECD (2005) Olso manual, guidelines for collecting and interpreting innovation
data
OECD (2012) Handbook on measuring the space economy
Star-Colibri (2011) Joint European Biorefinery Vision for 2030, et The Europrean
biorefinery joint strategic research roadmap for 2020 October
Glossary of Selected Scientific and Technical
Terms

Agronomic traits Genetic traits that can improve plant yields and provide resis-
tance to stresses that can reduce yields, such as heat, cold,
drought or salinity.Source: OECD (2009)
Agro-resources Agro-resources are renewable raw materials whose transfor-
mation using industrial processes can create high-
performance products with reduced environmental impact.
They are solution for the future, replacing petrol-based
products.Source: IAR
Bio-based Term that means that the product is made from raw materials
from biomass. It does not mean that the product is biode-
gradable or from organic agriculture.
Biodiversity The variability among living organisms from all sources,
including terrestrial, marine and other ecosystems and the
ecological complexes of which they are part. The term
includes diversity within species and of ecosystems.
Source: FAO, n.d.
Bioeconomy The bioeconomy encompasses the production of renewable
biological resources and their conversion into food, feed,
bio-based products and bioenergy via innovative and effi-
cient technologies provided by Industrial Biotechnology. It
is already a reality, and one that offers great opportunities
and solutions to a growing number of major societal, envi-
ronmental and economic challenges, including climate
change, energy and food security and resource efficiency.
Bioethanol A biofuel that can be used as a fuel substitute (hydrous
ethanol) or a fuel extender (anhydrous ethanol) when
blended with petroleum fuels.Source: OECD-FAO (2008)
Biofuel In the wider sense defined as all solid, fluid or gaseous fuels
produced from biomass or by living organisms. The term is
often limited to fuels that replace, or are blended with,
petroleum-based transport fuels, including bioethanol pro-
duced from sugar crops or cereals and biodiesel produced

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120 Glossary of Selected Scientific and Technical Terms

from vegetable oils, waste oils, or animal fats.Source:

OECD-FAO (2008)
Biomass Organic matter that can be used either as a source of energy or
for its chemical components. Biomass is usually obtained
from plants, but animal matter such as fats can also
be used.Source: FAO, s.d.
Biomaterials Agro-materials are materials made from agro-resources. They
can be produced using one component or a mixture. This is
the case with agro-composites, for example, which mainly
combine bio-based polymers (starch, cellulose, etc.) and
plant fibres (flax, hemp, etc.).Today, in accordance with
technical specifications, biorefining can be used to produce
efficient agro-materials: flax concrete, hemp concrete, flax
or hemp insulation, cellulose wadding, bio-based plastic,
composites for vehicles reinforced with plant fibres, etc.
Several industries use agro-materials: Automotive, Aero-
nautics, Construction, Packaging, Biomedicine, Biome-
chanics, Plastics, Capital Goods, Electrical Engineering
and Transport.Source: IAR
Bioplastics Plastics derived from biopolymers.Source: OECD (2009)
Biopolymer Any large polymer (protein, nucleic acid, polysaccharide)
produced by a living organism. Includes some materials
(such as polyhydroxybutyrate) suitable for use as plastics.
Source: FAO, n.d.
Bio-products Bio-products or bio-based products are materials, chemicals
and energy derived from renewable biological resources.
Source: ADEME
Biorefinery A facility that converts biomass into fuels, power, or
chemicals. The biorefinery concept is analogous to today’s
petroleum refineries, which produce multiple fuels and
products from petroleum.Source: NREL (2008)
Bioremediation The use of living organisms such as microorganisms or plants
to clean up contaminated soil or water.Source: OECD
(2009)
Cellulosic ethanol A biofuel produced from the enzymatic conversion of cellu-
lose into sugars. The cellulose is obtained from wood,
grasses, shrubs, or stalks of crop plants such as maize.
Source: OECD (2009)
Enzymatic Chemical reaction catalysed by enzymes of the hydrolase type
hydrolysis during which a water molecule is added, resulting in the
splitting of a compound.Source: IAR
Fermentation More generally, refers to the chemical conversion of
carbohydrates into alcohols or acids. A stricter definition
is the anaerobic breakdown of complex organic substances,
Glossary of Selected Scientific and Technical Terms 121

especially carbohydrates, by microorganisms.Source:

FAO, n.d.
Industrial Techniques employing biological systems for the production,
biotechnology processing or degradation of molecules through enzymatic
processes or fermentation, for industrial purposes.
Intermediate Chemical intermediates are biomolecules that have no specific
chemicals end use, but which are used to produce a number of
chemicals with an end use.Source: ADEME
Lignin An organic polymer, part of the cell wall of plants and red
algae. In plants, lignin provides structural strength and
assists with water transport.Source: OECD (2009)
Renewable Energies using and exploiting the energy of wind, sun,
energy moving water, biomass (including wood), the internal
heat of the earth (geothermal) etc. The use of renewable
energy is unlimited in time, unlike fossil fuels.Source:
ADEME
Sustainable Development that meets the needs of the present without
development compromising the ability of future generations to meet
theirs. Applied to the economy, it has three dimensions:
economic (efficiency, profitability), social (social respon-
sibility) and environmental (environmental impact).
Source: ADEME
Scaling up Extrapolation of a bioprocess from the laboratory to industrial
scale. At present, many problems limit scaling-up: the
unpredictability of heat and mass transfer phenomena,
contamination problems, the development of inhibitors,
the lack of data on pilot plants etc.Source: IAR
Solvents Solvents are biomolecules that have the property of
dissolving, suspending or extracting other materials with-
out causing chemical changes in these substances and
without changing themselves. Solvents are mainly pro-
duced from vegetable oils or esters (sunflower, soybean
etc.), or obtained from the fermentation of organic acid
esters (acetic, citric, lactic etc.).Source: ADEME
Surfactants Surfactants are amphiphilic biomolecules that, depending on
their structure, possess emulsifying, softening, wetting or
detergent properties. The lipophilic group may be derived
from oleochemical feedstock produced from rapeseed, sun-
flower, palm etc. The hydrophilic group can come from
by-products of the starch industry or sugar (sugar beet,
maize or other grains).Source: ADEME
Glossary References

ADEME. http://www2.ademe.fr/servlet/KBaseShow?sort¼-1&cid¼96&m¼3&catid¼12843.
Consulted on 27 Aug 2014
FAO (UN Food and Agriculture Organisation) (s.d.) Glossary of Biotechnology for Food and
Agriculture. http://www.fao.org/biotech/biotech-glossary/en/. Consulted on 27 Aug 2014
IAR (Pôle de compétitivité Innovation et Agro-Ressources). http://www.iar-pole.com/tremplin-
votre-plate-forme-de-veille-strategique-sur-la-bioraffinerie-et-les-produits-biosources.
Consulted on 27 Aug 2014.
OECD (2009) The bioeconomy to 2030: designing a policy agenda. OECD, Paris
OECD-FAO (2008) OECD-FAO agricultural outlook 2008–2017. OECD, Paris
NREL (National Renewable Energy Laboratory) (2008) Biomass Research – What is a
Biorefinery?. www.nrel.gov/biomass/biorefinery.html. Consulted on 27 Aug 2014

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