Rural development and biorefineries – The case of Barcial del Barco

Rural and agro-forestry areas in Spain, Europe and all over the world are facing major economic and social challenges. Although the characteristics of those zones vary considerably across the globe due to geographical and structural factors, maybe it is possible to consider three common general patterns: depopulation, job losses and decline in services. People, especially the young, leave for more opportunities in urban areas. Less investment happens and businesses are shut. All the foregoing redounds to services going down. And, this trend results in a difficult to stop cycle. The importance of the agro-forestry sector in the economy is declining and the phenomenon known as poverty of rural areas is not imaginary. Recently, Eurostat (the official statistics agency of the EU) announced that according to first estimates, real agricultural income in the EU has fallen by 6.0% in 2015 compared with 2014 (see press release).

However, there are reasons to look to the future of rural zones with hope. The biobased economy can help to provide solutions to their challenges and release all the potential that possess. The global paradigm shift from an oil-based production towards a biomass based production, represents a unique chance for agro-forestry areas to start a competitive bioeconomy with significant economic and societal benefits. Biorefineries are in the heart of this transition towards a circular bioeconomy under the principles of a “zero waste society”. As it is well known, the concept of biorefinery is analogous to that of the oil refinery but biorefining processes use renewable (designated crops, agro-forestry waste and MSW) rather than fossil-based feedstocks.

In this sense, a revitalized rural economy based on biorefineries using local biomass in a sustainable way entail several benefits. The following are some of the most important:

• Creating new jobs and securing existing jobs. Permanent (operators, technical personnel and management) and construction-related jobs at the biorefineries; local farmers and foresters to supply raw materials; people involved in collection, transportation and storage of feedstock.
• Boosting new markets, new business and a wider variety of products. Innovative high-tech companies will prosper around regional biorefineries and specialize in producing a range of high-value products from biomass fractions and side-streams.
• Integrating biorefining processes into existing agroforestry value chains or development of new industrial value chains. Farmers and foresters can move from being solely suppliers of raw material to primary processors, providing semi-finished goods for biorefineries.
• Contributing to achieve regional climate change goals. For instance, minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing oil imports.

In order to identify these benefits in a real context, I would like to introduce a case study: the project of the Multifunctional Biorefinery in Barcial del Barco. Barcial is a small village (over 300 residents) located in Castilla y León (North West of Spain). The main activity in this zone and the surrounding ones, the agriculture and livestock industry, has been seriously affected by the recent economic crisis. The three patterns pointed out in the first paragraph are an evident reality. Also, from a local point of view, it is important to underline that the sowing of sugar beet, one of the most important crops in the area, has been restricted as a consequence of the Common Market Organisation (CMO) of the sugar.

Taking this context into account, Magdala and MF Investments is trying to get a biorefinery project off the ground in Barcial del Barco. Currently, it is dealing with final financial issues. The facility will have an annual capacity of 155,000 m³ of bioethanol and 105,000 tons of animal feed. It will be fed by 700,000 tons/y of sugar beet (from October to March, aproximately) and 150,000-180,000 tons/y of maize (complement to close of the annual cycle). Below, some of the benefits derived from the construction of this facility in the surrounding rural zones:

• Creation of around 1,000 direct and indirect jobs (personal at the plant and farmers). Magdala have already signed agreements with farmers associations and cooperatives (cultivation areas within a radius of 60-70 km) to provide 100% of the required feedstocks for the next 15 years. The biorefinery will allow to recover cropping lands lost because of the CMO of the sugar and use them to energetic purposes without interferences in the food chain.
• Formation of a green chemistry industrial hub with companies from the advanced biofuels and biopolymers sectors. The concept of multifunctional biorefinery considered by the promoters takes into account the possibility of a future integration of biorefining processes to valorize different biomass fractions and side streams (fermentation, pyrolysis, gasification, methane and hydrogen production,…). This is the basis for other companies to manufacture a wide spectrum of marketable chemical products and biomaterials.
• Emergence of positive synergies between the biorefinery and other sectors of the region. In the case of the battered sugar sector, when the sugar mills are close to the maximum of their expected share, they will be able to produce dehydrated syrups to feed the biorefinery where such syrups will be used as a starting point for fermentation (biofuel and another biobased products in the future). The animal feed will be delivered to adjoining farms increasing their viability.

I would like to finish this post borrowing some words from the Vision of the Biobased Industries Consortium: “We envisage an EU-wide network of regional and local biorefineries that add value to available residues and renewable raw materials, create jobs that did not exist before in local, regional and rural settings, and transform sustainable biomass into chemical intermediates and consumer and industrial products that support the competitiveness of European Industries worldwide.”

Note: I would like to express my appreciation to Vicente Merino (General Manager at Magdala and MF Investments) for providing the information about the project of the Barcial Multifunctional Biorefinery.