54
T. Bratec et al.
Pettersson 2014), in spite of the local know-how elicited by the implementation of the
biorefinery). Rakotavao et al. (2017) presents a fairly full literature review of socioeconomic issues of existing biorefineries. In addition, the authors provide their own
picture of the socio-economic assessment of rural-agricultural biorefineries in order
to measure their territorial embeddedness. The case study presented is focused on
two starch biorefineries located at different sites in France. Based on the interviews
conducted with various biorefinery stakeholders, namely managers, biomass producers, agricultural cooperatives as well as local authorities and others, the authors
provide the framework to assess the socio-economic impacts and territorial embeddedness of biorefineries. Thus, the study of Rakotavao et al. (2017) represents a
starting point for our investigation, by adapting the social- economic parameters of
the existing biorefinery complexes to the potential biorefinery facility. The analysis
of other parameters presented by the authors, influencing territorial embeddedness,
was also carried out in order to identify which of them could be important to consider
for the potential biorefinery.
In existing literature, the economic impacts usually focus on the economic benefits
of the biorefinery (profitability, return on investment, net present value, …). Indicating that this is not sufficient to measure the real economic fallout of the biorefinery
on a territory, the authors propose the following economic parameters: the ability
to mobilize local resources, including raw materials as well as human resources
and skills, and the ability to promote the local economy, including operations with
local subcontractors, contribution to regional production and impact on agricultural
employment.
In our opinion, almost all of these parameters could be considered for our case
study. The ability to mobilize local raw materials allows the industrial facility to be
integrated locally, with local suppliers. Based on the biomass potential data of the
Grand Est region, 17,070 ha was used for sunflower cultivation in 2016 (Statistiques
des oléagineux et plantes riches en protéines 2015–2016) and it did not change significantly in other years. According to our evaluations, for the minimal annual industrial
production envisaged, only 0.66 ha of sunflower are necessary, while the maximum
production requires 65.57 ha. It means that the region is capable of providing the necessary quantity of initial feedstock in both production cases and this could contribute
to the local economy. However, several concerns could be raised. For example, it
is necessary to know if the cultivated sunflower feedstock of the region is already
assigned to specific industries/purposes/activities or not. If all raw materials are supposed to be distributed to defined actors, additional sunflower production is needed,
that would necessitate the evaluation of consequences on direct and indirect land
uses. If the additional quantities of sunflower cannot be cultivated, the raw materials
would have to be imported from other regions or neighboring countries which will
not benefit the local economy and would affect environmental impacts since additional transportation is necessary. The ability to mobilize local human resources and
local skills is also of importance. There are various educational institutions in the
region, able to prepare qualified specialists/engineers/technicians and, therefore, to
provide the labor force necessary for the biorefinery facility. However, this parameter
would not have the same importance for site 1 and sites 2–3. Since site 1 is to be
T. Bratec et al.
Pettersson 2014), in spite of the local know-how elicited by the implementation of the
biorefinery). Rakotavao et al. (2017) presents a fairly full literature review of socioeconomic issues of existing biorefineries. In addition, the authors provide their own
picture of the socio-economic assessment of rural-agricultural biorefineries in order
to measure their territorial embeddedness. The case study presented is focused on
two starch biorefineries located at different sites in France. Based on the interviews
conducted with various biorefinery stakeholders, namely managers, biomass producers, agricultural cooperatives as well as local authorities and others, the authors
provide the framework to assess the socio-economic impacts and territorial embeddedness of biorefineries. Thus, the study of Rakotavao et al. (2017) represents a
starting point for our investigation, by adapting the social- economic parameters of
the existing biorefinery complexes to the potential biorefinery facility. The analysis
of other parameters presented by the authors, influencing territorial embeddedness,
was also carried out in order to identify which of them could be important to consider
for the potential biorefinery.
In existing literature, the economic impacts usually focus on the economic benefits
of the biorefinery (profitability, return on investment, net present value, …). Indicating that this is not sufficient to measure the real economic fallout of the biorefinery
on a territory, the authors propose the following economic parameters: the ability
to mobilize local resources, including raw materials as well as human resources
and skills, and the ability to promote the local economy, including operations with
local subcontractors, contribution to regional production and impact on agricultural
employment.
In our opinion, almost all of these parameters could be considered for our case
study. The ability to mobilize local raw materials allows the industrial facility to be
integrated locally, with local suppliers. Based on the biomass potential data of the
Grand Est region, 17,070 ha was used for sunflower cultivation in 2016 (Statistiques
des oléagineux et plantes riches en protéines 2015–2016) and it did not change significantly in other years. According to our evaluations, for the minimal annual industrial
production envisaged, only 0.66 ha of sunflower are necessary, while the maximum
production requires 65.57 ha. It means that the region is capable of providing the necessary quantity of initial feedstock in both production cases and this could contribute
to the local economy. However, several concerns could be raised. For example, it
is necessary to know if the cultivated sunflower feedstock of the region is already
assigned to specific industries/purposes/activities or not. If all raw materials are supposed to be distributed to defined actors, additional sunflower production is needed,
that would necessitate the evaluation of consequences on direct and indirect land
uses. If the additional quantities of sunflower cannot be cultivated, the raw materials
would have to be imported from other regions or neighboring countries which will
not benefit the local economy and would affect environmental impacts since additional transportation is necessary. The ability to mobilize local human resources and
local skills is also of importance. There are various educational institutions in the
region, able to prepare qualified specialists/engineers/technicians and, therefore, to
provide the labor force necessary for the biorefinery facility. However, this parameter
would not have the same importance for site 1 and sites 2–3. Since site 1 is to be