OVERVIEW
OUR ADVANTAGES FOR THE FUTURE
A EUROPEAN LEADER IN THE BIOECONOMY
With the excellence of the Industrie du futur alliance and the know-how of our producers in agriculture, viticulture and forestry, the Grand Est region holds all the cards for becoming a benchmark region in biomass production and processing.
Biomass
- Over 50% of the region dedicated to agriculture, with some 50,000 farms
- Sectors of excellence: rape, barley, protein crops, oilseeds, wheat, industrial beet, alfalfa, potatoes and hemp… not to forget vines, with over 95% of white wines classified AOP (Champagne and Alsace wines)
- Nearly 2 million hectares of forest, the 2nd largest region for timber harvesting
Industrial fabric
- Regional biorefineries of Pomacle-Bazancourt and Golbey, the European centre for hemp
- Big industrial names: InVivo, Cristal Union, Vivescia, Malteurop, Soufflet,
MHCS, Tereos, Tismail, Petit Bateau, Albea Tubes France, Rehau Industrie, Tricoflex, Tereos, Roquette, Dupont de Nemours, Norske Skog, Schmidt Group…
R&D innovation
- IAR, the French bioeconomy cluster, a benchmark in Europe and internationally
- Public and private sector research: CEBB (Centre Européen de Biotechnologie et de Bioéconomie), INRAE, university laboratories (URCA, UL, UNISTRA…)
- Technology transfer and experimental platforms: ARD (agribusiness R&D), FRD (fibre R&D), RITTMO Agroenvironnement, Aérial, CRITT Bois, CETELOR, Terralab, experimental farm network (ARVALIS…)
Growing markets of global significance
- Agriculture/forestry/viticulture
- Agri-food/animal feed
- Construction & civil engineering
- Detergents
- Packaging
- Energy
- Coatings (paint, varnish, ink, etc.)