THE FRENCH BIOECONOMY
CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES
PRODUCTION AND TRANSFORMATION OF BIOMASS RESOURCES
MARKETS
WHAT IS THE BIOECONOMY?
The bioeconomy includes all biomass production and processing activities. They can be of agricultural, forestry or marine origin, and destined for food production (for humans or for animal feed), bio-based chemistry, bio-based materials or energy.
The bioeconomy offers many opportunities to address the major environmental, societal and economic challenges of tomorrow.
The bioeconomy encourages us to manage and use land and natural resources sustainably, ensuring food security while promoting complementary biomass uses.
The bioeconomy reduces our dependency on resources (both fossil and renewable) and helps combat climate change.
The bioeconomy creates growth and job opportunities. It also helps strengthen France’s competitiveness by revitalising rural areas.
BIOREFINERIES
One of the cornerstones of the bioeconomy are locally-oriented biorefineries which use local biomass as a raw material, transforming every part of the biomass into value added compounds for both food and industrial applications.
MARKETS
The bioeconomy supports very diverse markets such as food and feed, materials, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, transport, energy…
A NATIONAL PRIORITY
The bioeconomy is a national priority for France. Following the adoption of a bioeconomy strategy by the European Commission, France adopted its own national bioeconomy strategy in January 2017 and a plan of action in February 2018.
The goal is for France to commit to the development of a sustainable bioeconomy and to become a bio-based world leader. The strategy seeks to put in place measures which will support the development of a bioeconomy over the next 20 years, focused on:
Communicating on opportunities and raising awareness of the benefits of the bioeconomy
Recognising the leading role the bioeconomy can play in value creation in France
Affirming a local vision of the bioeconomy which contributes to creating local jobs
Strengthening France’s attractiveness and making it Europe’s bioeconomy leader
Continued support for research and development
Bridging the innovation gap between research and the market
Developing consumer and industry demand
IAR, THE BIOECONOMY CLUSTER
IAR is the leading Bioeconomy Cluster, recognised across Europe and internationally. Gathering key players in the bioeconomy, the Cluster is built around a circular, efficient and resilient bioeconomy model, which aims to reduce inputs at all levels through the optimisation of resources and their use in successive cycles. IAR supports a model where agriculture and industry are closely linked, and where food and industrial uses of biomass resources coexist and complement each other. The IAR Cluster’s vision of the bioeconomy is firmly rooted in local regions and contributes to the development of economic value and jobs, by adding value to local resources and developing innovative and effective solutions to meet the needs of consumers.
