Consideration of Environmental and Socio-economic Aspects …
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integrated to the existing industrial facility that has already employees working there,
probably less (or even zero) new human resources would be necessary. For sites 2–3,
however, all the human resources must be recruited. Therefore, more expense would
be necessary for sites 2–3 to assure the working activity. However that represents
more social profits for the local recruitment rate. The parameter operation with local
subcontractors measures the ability of the biorefinery to interact with regional economic operators. The fact of having local subcontractors could promote the activity
of local micro and small enterprises. It is necessary to assure this activity at as many
biorefinery value chain stages as possible. In depth study is necessary to confirm
this, but, for all the studied sites, operation with local subcontractors seems to be
feasible at each biorefinery value chain stage. The contribution to regional production defines the capacity of the biorefinery to create value for the local territory. The
market of final products is still not identified; therefore, it is difficult to make an analysis of our case study on this issue. However, it could be implemented in the case of
potential biorefinery facility when the market objectives are known. The impact on
agricultural employment, corresponding to the proportion of local farmers involved
in the biorefinery supply, is the only economic parameter that seems to be difficult
to integrate to the inexistent biorefinery facility. Currently it is impossible to predict
how many famers will be involved in the biorefinery activity, and furthermore this
parameter depends also on the agricultural techniques (more or less labor-intense)
used by the farmers.
The social dimension includes the following parameters: social equity of farmers
(form of collaboration with local producers, contract sustainability, contract flexibility, price policy, adaptation to specifications and assistance of farmers) and social
acceptance (participation to social development, ability to contain and reduce nuisances).
The form of collaboration with local producers includes two main types: “integrated sector” when the biorefinery concludes a supply contract with an agricultural
cooperative to deliver the biomass feedstock, and “independent model” where the
biorefinery obtains the feedstock from the market, by selecting the most attractive
price. In our case study, site 1 implies the implementation of the process in an existing biorefinery in which an agricultural cooperative is a business partner. In that
case, the form of collaboration with local producers will be an integrated one, where
a contract is provided. In fact, the existence of a contract will ensure stability in
the supply (volume and quality) for several years as well as in the revenue of local
producers—an important point of the cooperative model. Furthermore, the biorefinery can ensure the necessary biomass feedstock’s quality through the assistance
of farmers, either by control and adaptation throughout the production phase, or by
encouragement to switch to seeds or production techniques adapted to the required
quality. For sites 2–3, the independent model is considered, which will imply that
cheaper non-local feedstock might be chosen over local feedstock, and thus reduce
the biorefinery’s contribution to the local economy, as well as the ability of local producers to cope with price variability. This choice will then affect the distances that
need to be considered in environmental impacts. The form of contract sustainability
measures the duration of contracts between the biorefinery and local farmers and
55
integrated to the existing industrial facility that has already employees working there,
probably less (or even zero) new human resources would be necessary. For sites 2–3,
however, all the human resources must be recruited. Therefore, more expense would
be necessary for sites 2–3 to assure the working activity. However that represents
more social profits for the local recruitment rate. The parameter operation with local
subcontractors measures the ability of the biorefinery to interact with regional economic operators. The fact of having local subcontractors could promote the activity
of local micro and small enterprises. It is necessary to assure this activity at as many
biorefinery value chain stages as possible. In depth study is necessary to confirm
this, but, for all the studied sites, operation with local subcontractors seems to be
feasible at each biorefinery value chain stage. The contribution to regional production defines the capacity of the biorefinery to create value for the local territory. The
market of final products is still not identified; therefore, it is difficult to make an analysis of our case study on this issue. However, it could be implemented in the case of
potential biorefinery facility when the market objectives are known. The impact on
agricultural employment, corresponding to the proportion of local farmers involved
in the biorefinery supply, is the only economic parameter that seems to be difficult
to integrate to the inexistent biorefinery facility. Currently it is impossible to predict
how many famers will be involved in the biorefinery activity, and furthermore this
parameter depends also on the agricultural techniques (more or less labor-intense)
used by the farmers.
The social dimension includes the following parameters: social equity of farmers
(form of collaboration with local producers, contract sustainability, contract flexibility, price policy, adaptation to specifications and assistance of farmers) and social
acceptance (participation to social development, ability to contain and reduce nuisances).
The form of collaboration with local producers includes two main types: “integrated sector” when the biorefinery concludes a supply contract with an agricultural
cooperative to deliver the biomass feedstock, and “independent model” where the
biorefinery obtains the feedstock from the market, by selecting the most attractive
price. In our case study, site 1 implies the implementation of the process in an existing biorefinery in which an agricultural cooperative is a business partner. In that
case, the form of collaboration with local producers will be an integrated one, where
a contract is provided. In fact, the existence of a contract will ensure stability in
the supply (volume and quality) for several years as well as in the revenue of local
producers—an important point of the cooperative model. Furthermore, the biorefinery can ensure the necessary biomass feedstock’s quality through the assistance
of farmers, either by control and adaptation throughout the production phase, or by
encouragement to switch to seeds or production techniques adapted to the required
quality. For sites 2–3, the independent model is considered, which will imply that
cheaper non-local feedstock might be chosen over local feedstock, and thus reduce
the biorefinery’s contribution to the local economy, as well as the ability of local producers to cope with price variability. This choice will then affect the distances that
need to be considered in environmental impacts. The form of contract sustainability
measures the duration of contracts between the biorefinery and local farmers and