56
T. Bratec et al.
storage agencies. In our case, site 1 will be studied with a pluriennial contract that
goes together with the supply contract aforementioned. The ‘independent model’
for feedstock supply does not involve a contract for local producers. Site 2, close
to the Nancy area, includes existing storage facilities with which a contract can be
implemented—annual or pluriennial, whereas for site 3, no existing storage facility
is included, meaning that the economic cost of finding a storage facility as to be taken
into account, as well as the distance it may imply.
Among other parameters that could influence territorial embeddedness and be
important to consider for a potential biorefinery, we can find spatial, temporal, institutional, organizational and cultural ones. Institutional factors will not influence
our case study, because all the sites are located in a region where public authorities
are committed to bioeconomy development through an ambitious and already implemented bioeconomy strategy. Nevertheless, regarding the organizational and cultural
factors, site 1 will benefit from an existing partnership between economic actors in
agriculture, biochemistry and research within the Pomacle-Bazancourt biorefinery
that will facilitate the implementation of the value chains at each stage. The spatial
dimension (including ground area, impact on agricultural land and accessibility to
major transport routes) refers to the physical implantation of the biorefinery. For
example, it is important to know the area occupied by the potential installation to
estimate its impact on the territory. In our case, if a new biorefinery were constructed
in the region (sites 2 and 3), it would occupy between 200 and 400 m
2 of land
surface. In site 1, where the biorefinery will be integrated into an already existent
infrastructure, this parameter could be ignored.
Territorial embeddedness of the biorefinery is a combination of all those factors
and impacts, and, in that regard, cannot be studied only through quantitative data.
Our study aims at combining quantitative and qualitative data, the latter obtained by
a comprehensive study of local stakeholders for each site through interviews.
3.2 Environmental Considerations for the Territory
Even though biorefineries have lower environmental impact compared to petrochemical complexes, they could be associated with different ecological concerns, namely
due to land and water use (Demirbas 2010). Currently, life cycle assessment (LCA)
is one of the most commonly used methods to assess the environmental impacts of
biorefineries (Caldeira-Pires et al. 2013; Caffrey et al. 2014; Ahlgren et al. 2015;
Tonini et al. 2016). An LCA study is also considered for our case study at each
stage of the biorefinery value chain, but at the second phase of territorial environmental evaluation. Within the first-phase evaluation, we propose to carry out the
environmental analysis of three studied territories, based primarily on their natural
characteristics.
Industrial activity has an obvious impact on environmental quality, by transforming natural bio-systems, degrading soils, reducing natural resources, contributing
to the deforestation process and so on. Since some regions and localities could be
T. Bratec et al.
storage agencies. In our case, site 1 will be studied with a pluriennial contract that
goes together with the supply contract aforementioned. The ‘independent model’
for feedstock supply does not involve a contract for local producers. Site 2, close
to the Nancy area, includes existing storage facilities with which a contract can be
implemented—annual or pluriennial, whereas for site 3, no existing storage facility
is included, meaning that the economic cost of finding a storage facility as to be taken
into account, as well as the distance it may imply.
Among other parameters that could influence territorial embeddedness and be
important to consider for a potential biorefinery, we can find spatial, temporal, institutional, organizational and cultural ones. Institutional factors will not influence
our case study, because all the sites are located in a region where public authorities
are committed to bioeconomy development through an ambitious and already implemented bioeconomy strategy. Nevertheless, regarding the organizational and cultural
factors, site 1 will benefit from an existing partnership between economic actors in
agriculture, biochemistry and research within the Pomacle-Bazancourt biorefinery
that will facilitate the implementation of the value chains at each stage. The spatial
dimension (including ground area, impact on agricultural land and accessibility to
major transport routes) refers to the physical implantation of the biorefinery. For
example, it is important to know the area occupied by the potential installation to
estimate its impact on the territory. In our case, if a new biorefinery were constructed
in the region (sites 2 and 3), it would occupy between 200 and 400 m
2 of land
surface. In site 1, where the biorefinery will be integrated into an already existent
infrastructure, this parameter could be ignored.
Territorial embeddedness of the biorefinery is a combination of all those factors
and impacts, and, in that regard, cannot be studied only through quantitative data.
Our study aims at combining quantitative and qualitative data, the latter obtained by
a comprehensive study of local stakeholders for each site through interviews.
3.2 Environmental Considerations for the Territory
Even though biorefineries have lower environmental impact compared to petrochemical complexes, they could be associated with different ecological concerns, namely
due to land and water use (Demirbas 2010). Currently, life cycle assessment (LCA)
is one of the most commonly used methods to assess the environmental impacts of
biorefineries (Caldeira-Pires et al. 2013; Caffrey et al. 2014; Ahlgren et al. 2015;
Tonini et al. 2016). An LCA study is also considered for our case study at each
stage of the biorefinery value chain, but at the second phase of territorial environmental evaluation. Within the first-phase evaluation, we propose to carry out the
environmental analysis of three studied territories, based primarily on their natural
characteristics.
Industrial activity has an obvious impact on environmental quality, by transforming natural bio-systems, degrading soils, reducing natural resources, contributing
to the deforestation process and so on. Since some regions and localities could be