Socio-economic Effects of Biomass Supply Chain: Case Studies from Logist’EC Project

The European policies have been designed over the last decade to face the challenge of climate change. Several measures have been put in place to accelerate the development and deployment of cost-effective low carbon technologies. The domestic nature and its potential avaibility in Europe make biomass a relevant resource to be considered. The Logistics for Energy Crops Biomass (LogistEC) project aims to develop new or improve technologies of biomass logistics chain. The sustainability of different types of biomass is being analysed in terms of environmental, economic and social impacts, based on the supply chain of two existing plants. The objective of this paper is to present the main results obtained in the socio-economic analysis of the French case. The Input-Output Analysis has been seen as the most appropriate method to estimate these impacts using a Multiregional Input-Output Table from the World Input-Output Database project. Socio-economic effects have been estimated in terms of additional economic activity, added value and job creation. Additionally, the most stimulated sectors have been identified. Results highlight the importance of biomass at a national level.