Number 16

Green
technologies
Expertise of the scientific community
in the Languedoc-Roussillon region
agriculture
energy
products
water
& waste
environmental
monitoring
evaluation
methods
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Agropolis is an international campus devoted to agricultural and
environmental sciences. There is significant potential for scientific
and technological expertise: more than 2,200 scientists in over
80 research units in Montpellier and Languedoc-Roussillon,
including 300 scientists conducting research in 60 countries.
Agropolis International is structured around a broad range of research
themes corresponding to the overall scientific, technological and
economic issues of development:
Agronomy, cultivated plants and cropping systems
Animal production and health
Biodiversity and Aquatic ecosystems
Biodiversity and Land ecosystems
Economics, societies and sustainable development
Environmental technologies
Food: nutritional and health concerns
Genetic resources and integrative plant biology
Grapevine and Wine, regional specific supply chain
Host-vector-parasite interactions and infectious diseases
Modelling, spatial information, biostatistics
Water: resources and management
Agropolis International promotes the capitalization and enhancement
of knowledge, personnel training and technology transfer. It is a hub for
visitors and international exchanges, while promoting initiatives based
on multilateral and collective expertise and contributing to the scientific
and technological knowledge needed for preparing development
policies.
Agropolis International
brings together institutions of
research and higher education
in Montpellier and Languedoc-
Roussillon in partnership with
local communities, companies
and regional enterprises and
in close cooperation with
international institutions.
This scientific community
has one main objective
the economic and social
development of Mediterranean
and tropical regions.
Agropolis International
is an international space open
to all interested socioeconomic
development stakeholders
in fields associated with
agriculture, food production,
biodiversity, environment and
rural societies.
AGROPOLIS
INTERNATIONAL
agriculture food biodiversity environment
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Research skills of Montpellier
and the Languedoc-Roussillon
region in the field
of green technologies
A growing awareness of the need to preserve
the environment has increasingly led to the
desire to develop intervention techniques
and methods aimed at reducing pollution or,
more generally, environmental impact, thus
generating new areas of activity.
The scientific community gathered by
Agropolis International has taken up the
research issues raised by the development of
these new approaches and new investigation
fields. The purpose of this Dossier is to outline
the areas of expertise it has been able to
develop, both in the field of agricultural
techniques as such and in water and waste
recycling and recovery (beyond the pollution
mitigation aspects), product enhancement
in the form of new bio-based materials, and
new forms of bioenergy. This research is not
solely confined to the development of new
technologies but has a broader scope, taking
in as well product and process evaluation and
eco-design, industrial or territorial ecology,
and environmental monitoring. This Dossier
also presents the joint efforts of the research
and business communities, in particular
through competitiveness clusters, to promote
the development and dissemination of
innovations to spur economic development.
The topics presented in this issue are of
particular concern to the nine research units
or teams that have made environmental
technologies an essential part of their work,
comprising some 150 senior scientists
and 100 doctoral students.
Green technologies
4 ForewordGreen technologies
for sustainable development
32 Assessment methods: Life cycle analysis,
eco-design, industrial and territorial ecology
6 Topics covered by the research teams
and innovation partners
8 Green technologies for agriculture
12 Bio-based products and materials
20 Water and waste recycling and recovery
28 Bioenergy
36 Environmental monitoring
46 List of acronyms and abbreviations
40 Innovation stakeholders mobilize
around green technologies
44 Training at Agropolis International
Cover & chapters: from Irish_design Shutterstock

The information contained in this dossier is valid as of 01/12/2012.

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id you know?
Ten years ago the term
green technologies or
environmental technologies was
almost unknown. The concept was
formalized in 2004 by the European
Community in its Environmental
Technologies Action Plan (ETAP)
*
,
which defines environmental
technologies as:
that set of technologies that
provide the same service as
conventional technologies but have
less impact on the environment
(including renewable energy);
end-of-pipe technologies:
pollution and waste treatment;
pollution measurement
technologies.
Another important point is that the
concept of green technologies does
not merely pertain to technological
objects, but includes all processes,
products and services that make for
greater environmental efficiency.
The formalization of that concept,
and the European and national
development plans that ensued,
helped drive a minor revolution
in the field of design/production
and consumption, paving the way
for hitherto neglected innovations
and affording opportunities
Thus, to protect consumers from
greenwashing (a marketing
technique whereby products
are given an artificial veneer of
greenness) and ensure that
they can actually shop in an eco-
innovative way, it is essential for
scientifically valid environmental
assessment methods to be devised.
The development of green
technologies is a challenge
that the Agropolis scientific
community has striven to take up
in its specific fields, namely agro-
biological processes and land use
management, relying on the support
of the EcoTech-LR regional platform
and the strength and vitality of the
regions research efforts.
Prof. Vronique Bellon-Maurel,
Deputy Director of Strategy and Research
at IRSTEA, Director of the EcoTech-LR
regional platform
* European Commission, 2004. Stimulating
technologies for sustainable development: an
environmental technologies action plan of the
European Union. COM (2004) 38, 28 January 2004.
http://ec.europa.eu/environment/index_en.htm
for growth. The result has been
increasing integration of eco-
design methods into product
design and development processes,
not only through the search of
technological approaches or raw
materials whose use is not so
heavy from the environmental
standpoint, but also through system
management optimization; which
has now become possible thanks
to information technology (smart
grids).
Another result has been the
reclassification of much waste,
which is now looked at as a source of
raw materials from which valuable
compounds (e.g., phosphates from
sewage) or energy may be obtained.
At the level of development
(especially for industrial zones)
or process creation (e.g. for
treatment), the crux of this new
vision is an attempt to re-use by-
products and waste as near at hand
as possible in a circular economy
approach: industrial ecology, or
a way of applying the concept of
environmental technology in a
given territory. On the consumer
side, people are becoming more
aware of the environmental impact
of the goods and services they use,
and an actual market is emerging.
For ewor d
Green technologies for
sustainable development
D
Photobioreactors for
controlled production of microalgae.

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Topics covered
by the research teams
and innovation partners
(November 2012)
he various research units
and teams and innovation
partners appearing in the
text of this dossier are shown in the
table below.
1. Green technologies for agriculture
2. Bio-based products and materials
3. Water and waste recycling and
recovery
4. Bioenergy
5. Assessment methods: Life cycle
analysis, eco-design, industrial
and territorial ecology
6. Environmental monitoring
The Page column shows where
the introductory text on the unit
or partner appears. The red dot ()
shows the topic in which the unit
or partner primarily pursues its
activities, while the black dots ()
indicate topics they are also
involved in.
Units page 1 2 3 4 5 6
UMR ITAP - Information/Technologies/Environmental Analysis/Agricultural Processes
(Montpellier SupAgro/IRSTEA)
Director: Tewk Sari, tewk.sari@irstea.fr
http://itap.irstea.fr
8

UMR IATE - Agro-polymer Engineering and Emerging Technologies
(CIRAD/INRA/Montpellier SupAgro/UM2)
Director: Hugo de Vries, devries@supagro.inra.fr
http://umr-iate.cirad.fr
12

IAM Team - Engineering and Macromolecular Architectures
UMR ICGM - Institut Charles Gerhardt, Montpellier
(ENSCM/CNRS/UM2/UM1)
IAM Team Director: Jean-Jacques Robin, jean-jacques.robin@univ-montp2.fr
ICGM Director: Franois Fajula, francois.fajula@icgm.fr
www.iam.icgm.fr
13

UPR CMGD Materials Research Centre
(EMA)
Director: Jos-Marie Lopez Cuesta, jose-marie.lopez-cuesta@mines-ales.fr / cmgd@ mines-ales.fr
www.mines-ales.fr/pages/centre-de-recherche-cmgd-0
14

UMR IEM European Membrane Institute
(ENSCM/CNRS/UM2)
Director: Philippe Miele, philippe.miele@iemm.univ-montp2.fr
www.iemm.univ-montp2.fr
20

UPR Recycling and Risk
(CIRAD)
Director: Jean-Marie Paillat, jean-marie.paillat@cirad.fr
http://ur-recyclage-risque.cirad.fr
21

UR LBE Laboratory of Environmental Biotechnology
(INRA)
Director: Jean-Philippe Steyer, jean-philippe.steyer@supagro.inra.fr
www4.montpellier.inra.fr/narbonne
22

UR Biomass & Energy
(CIRAD)
Director: Rmy Marchal, remy.marchal@cirad.fr
www.cirad.fr/ur/biomasse_energie
28

UPR LGEI Laboratory for Industrial Environment Engineering and Natural and Industrial Risks
(EMA)
Director: Miguel Lopez-Ferber, miguel.lopez-Ferber@mines-ales.fr
http://lgei.mines-ales.fr
36

ELSA cluster Environmental Lifecycle and Sustainability Assessment
(IRSTEA/CIRAD/EMA/Montpellier SupAgro/INRA)
Contact: Vronique Bellon-Maurel, veronique.bellon@irstea.fr
www.elsa-lca.org
32

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Standardized digestibility tests for
various types of waste, to estimate
the potential quantity of recoverable methane.

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Innovation stakeholders page 1 2 3 4 5 6
Institute of Excellence for Carbon-free Energy (IEED) Greenstars
Contact: Jean-Philippe Steyer, jean-philippe.steyer@supagro.inra.fr
www4.montpellier.inra.fr/narbonne/
42

EcoTech LR Platform
Contact: Vronique Bellon-Maurel, veronique.bellon@irstea.fr
www.ecotech-lr.org
42

DERBI Competitiveness cluster Development of Renewable Energy/Building/Industry
President: Andr Joffre
Director: Gilles Charier, contact@pole-derbi.com
www.pole-derbi.com
41

WATER competitiveness cluster

President: Michel Dutang
Director General: Jean-Loc Carr, jl.carre@pole-eau.com / info@pole-eau.com
www.pole-eau.com
40

Qualimditerrane competitiveness cluster
President: Guillaume Duboin
Director: Isabelle Guichard, info@qualimediterranee.fr
www.qualimediterranee.fr
40

Risks competitiveness cluster Territorial risk and vulnerability management

President: Jol Chenet
Director: Richard Biagioni, richard.biagioni@pole-risques.com
www.pole-risques.com
43

Trimatec competitiveness cluster
President: Jrme Blancher
Contact: Laura Lecurieux-Belfond, laura.lecurieux@pole-trimatec.fr
www.pole-trimatec.fr
43

BIONERGIESUD Network
Ofcer in charge: Aurlie Beauchart, beauchart@bioenergiesud.org / beauchart@transferts-lr.org
www.bioenergiesud.org
41

Transferts LR
President: Christophe Carniel
Director: Anne Lichtenberger, direction@transferts-lr.org
www.transferts-lr.org
42

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Green technologies
for agriculture
Investigaciones Agropecuarias (Chile),
Finnish Environment Institute
(Finland), etc.
The UMRs main scientific facilities
include:
a 200-m optical laboratory: optical
sensors, spectrometers (ultraviolet
(UV)/visible/near-infrared),
hyperspectral and multispectral
vision test benches;
a platform for the study of pesticide
sprays and their impacts on the
environment and health (1,600 m):
a large-scale experimental wind
tunnel;
an under-boom patternator;
a laser particle sizer and velocity
sensor;
full metrological gear to evaluate
sprayers.
an LCA software package;
an electronic and mechanical
prototyping platform (300 m).
Reduction in pesticide pollution
through a study of spraying
techniques, from the nozzle to the
transport of pesticides over an entire
watershed or territory, making use
of unique experimental means. As a
reference centre for the assessment
of pesticide application technologies,
keen to reduce their impact on the
environment and human health,
it hosts a team from the Institut
Franais de la Vigne et du Vin (IFV)
[French Vine and Wine Institute],
with whom it is working closely
under the ECOPHYTO 2018 plan.
Eco-assessment and eco-design
through the development of tools
to evaluate the environmental and
social impact of products, processes
and industries based on life cycle
assessment (LCA). The chosen areas
of study are water and land use
management. This UMR formed the
kernel of the Environmental Lifecycle
and Sustainability Assessment cluster
(ELSA, cf. p. 32), Frances largest
group of LCA researchers.
It is also part of LabEx Agro and the
regional platform Environmental
technologies for agro-bioprocesses
(EcoTech-LR, cf. p. 43). It works in
partnership with French private
sector stakeholders such as Pellenc
SA, Pellenc ST, Ondalys, Envilys, etc.)
and scientific researchers (National
Institute of Agricultural Research
[INRA], Centre for International
Cooperation in Agricultural Research
[CIRAD], cole des Mines dAls
[EMA], Montpellier Laboratory
of Informatics, Robotics and
Microelectronics [LIRMM], etc.).
Abroad, it has collaborated, in
particular, with the Instituto
de Investigacin y Tecnologa
Agroalimentaria and the Autonomous
University of Barcelona (Spain),
the international private group
GEOSYS, the Universities of Turin
and Florence (Italy), Talca (Chile),
Sydney (Australia), the Instituto de
Develop green technologies
for sustainable agricultural
production
In order to design green technologies
for more sustainable agro- and
bioprocesses and for environment-
related services, the Joint Research
Unit (UMR) Information-
Technologies-Environmental
Analysis-Agricultural Processes
(UMR ITAP, Montpellier SupAgro/
IRSTEA) develops scientific and
technical baselines for:
Characterization of agro-
ecosystems through the development
of optical sensors (mainly
hyperspectral artificial vision
and near-infrared spectroscopy).
Because of the special properties
of the environments being studied
(optically scattering media, objects
with identical spectral characteristics,
presence of water), the research
topics include the understanding of
radiation-matter interaction and data
processing methods (chemometrics,
analysis of hyperspectral images).
Modelling for agroenvironmental
decision-making through the
development of decision support
systems to diagnose system condition
or through the implementation of
lower-impact precision farming
approaches. Various methodologies
are under review: fuzzy logic, discrete
event systems, geostatistics. The
chosen implementation field is wine-
growing.
The main team
UMR ITAP
Information/Technologies/Environmental
Analysis/Agricultural Processes
(Montpellier SupAgro/IRSTEA)
27 scientists
Other team involved
in this topic
UPR Recycling and Risk
(CIRAD)
13 scientists
Collection
network
Air emissions
Resource
consumption
Waste, sludge,
leachate
Water discharges
WWTP
NH
3
NO
X
N
2
O
CO
2
...
Performance
level Second discharge
to soil, air, water
N, P, ETM, CTO, DBO
5
...
The sanitation system LCA answers the
question What environmental costs for what
discharge intensity? [ongoing endeavour of
ONEMA (French National Agency for Water and
Aquatic Environments) and IRSTEA].
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In the face of more
and more frequent
water shortages
and growing
environmental
degradation,
irrigated agriculture
must now avoid overuse of water resources as well as water and
soil pollution while maintaining excellent performance levels.
At the level of the agricultural plot, the subsurface drip irrigation
(SDI) technique is a recent innovation adopted for field crops
by a growing number of farmers subject to water restrictions.
Water and dissolved nitrogen are supplied close to the roots by
polyethylene tubing buried 35 to 40 cm deep and equipped with
emitters spaced 15 to 50 cm apart that deliver flow rates from
0.5 to 3.0 l/h under a pressure of 0.5 to 1.5 bars. IRSTEA has
for some years now been doing agronomic tests to measure the
hydraulic and agronomic performance of SDI compared to gun
irrigation.
After four years operating the equipment, SDIs watering
uniformity coefficient remains above 95%. When tested on maize
crops, SDI had better agronomic performance than gun irrigation:
depending on the gap between tubes (80, 120 or 160 cm), the
productivity of irrigation water varies from 3.50 to 4.25 kg of
grain produced per m3 of water delivered, as against only 2.70
to 3.20 in the gun irrigation model, or an average improvement
of 18%; nitrogen productivity in 2011 (fertigation) was between
30 and 38 kg of grain produced per unit of nitrogen applied,
as against only 19 to 23 kg in the case of spraying (+60%).
On the economic front, even though some authors concede
better performance is obtained, it is recommended, given its
relatively high sunk costs (between 3,000 and 5,000/ha), that
SDI be introduced only when crops are rotated, with particular
attention to whether high-added-value crops (vegetables) are
involved.
Contact: Patrick Rosique, patrick.rosique@irstea.fr
Subsurface drip irrigation
a proven innovative solution for field crop irrigation
Patrick Rosique (IRSTEA) & Jean-Marie Lopez (CIRAD)
Filtration and fertigation station.
Subsoiler suitable for duct burial.
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ISARD project
greening of agricultural production systems
through waste recycling
Composted poultry litter.
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Organic waste products (OWPs) generated through human activity are constantly
increasing. Farming produces them in great quantities (livestock, agro-industries).
Wastewater production too increases owing to urban growth and denser urban
populations. Wastewater or sludge from wastewater treatment is often spread on
agricultural land on the outskirts of cities. These OWPs are sources of organic
matter that may increase soil fertility and, as a corollary, allow sustainable agricultural
production to be carried on. In studying how best to use them, a number of things need
to be taken into account, viz. the many types of waste and the wide variation in where
they are found and what they can be used for.
The ISARD project is developing a comprehensive approach to the integration of
applied knowledge in this field. Where it breaks new ground is in considering the
organic matter produced by agricultural and other activities. That consideration is at
two organizational levels:
O the first level deals with the OWPs, the soils on which they are used and the crops
grown; the processes studied are essentially the biogeochemical cycles;
O the second level looks at units producing, processing and using organic matter, as
well as stakeholder groups; the processes studied are the transformations and flows
of organic matter, regulations and costs.
At both levels, many tools exist to ensure a timely response to the needs of integrated
management. The project makes use of those tools, with the goal of improving them by
taking into account the risk/benefit ambiguity and by defining helpful indicators.
The project involves nine partners in four areas: the Versailles plain (France), Runion
Island, the Dakar metropolitan area (Senegal), and the Mahajanga region (Madagascar).
Its attention to the situation in developing countries affords a more nuanced view of
the composition of OWPs, treatment facilities, societal demands and existing regulatory
frameworks.
Contact: Herv Saint Macary, herve.saint_macary@cirad.fr
Industrial waste/OM
Pre-processing
Urban waste
Agricultural OM
Agricultural OM
Animal feed, fertilizer,
minerals
LEVEL 2 - TERRITORY
Inow
Gas
discharge
Runoff
Soil interaction
Leaching
Absorption
by plant
Advice, guidance,
decision support
Understanding,
diagnosis,
indicators
Material ows
of value to agriculture
Polluant ows
Green technologies for agriculture
Representation of recycling
systems in ISARD.

A workflow is a model of a working process, generally taking
the form of a software package or information system. The
Mildium

workflow was developed by INRA, UMR Vineyard

Health and Agroecology (INRA, Bordeaux Sciences Agro)
and the French National Research Institute of Science and
Technology for Environment and Agriculture (IRSTEA,
UMR ITAP). It sets out how to decide whether, and when,
a fungicide against powdery mildew should be applied. The
decision-making process was mapped using the Statecharts
computer language. The decision is based on information
collected for specific vegetative stages on the plot and on
an expert assessment of local bioclimatic risk.
Over a number of years, in various regions, the experiments
done under the Mildium workflow have shown that the
system is effective in reducing pesticide treatments at plot
level (by 30 to 50% depending on the diseases and situations
encountered). That result was obtained by comparing the
treatments done and the health status of a plot managed
under Mildium and those of a similar plot, nearby, that
was managed in a conventional manner by the same
establishment.
As a modelling specialist, UMR ITAP was also involved in
experiments with its partners on how best to benefit from
feedback and guide theoretical choices with respect to formal
representation. It is also working with Arvalis to develop
workflows for fungicide protection in wheat.
The Mildium workflow provides plot-level decision support.
Research is underway on how to manage an entire
operation. The workflow process also involves knowledge
consolidation. In providing a service that reduces the number
of crop protection applications, the workflow acts as an
environmental technology suited to a sustainable approach to
agriculture.
Contact: Olivier Naud, olivier.naud@irstea.fr
A decision workflow to reduce fungicide
treatments on grapevines
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The Mildium workflow reduces pesticide
treatments on grapevines.
Photo from MorgueFile
Automation (workflow) & variables
Tactical and thresholds described in phases
POD
Strategic principles broken down into tactical phases based
on epidemiology and expertise
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The LipPol-Green
**
platform (an
international partnership) offers
scientific support and very high-
level instruments for studies at the
interface between plant science
and environmental chemistry, in
the fields of lipid biotechnology,
physical chemistry of polymers and
the exploration and use of plants
molecular diversity, to produce
molecules, materials and fuels from
biomass.
UMR IATE is a participant in the
3BCAR Carnot Institute (Bioenergy,
Biomaterials and Biomolecules
from Renewable Carbon) and
LabEx Agro and is also involved in
many partnerships, both academic
and industrial (Alland & Robert,
Panzani, BASF, Michelin), in
particular with partners from the
countries of the South:
The European project
ECOefficient BIOdegradable
Composite Advanced Packaging
(2011-2015) seeks to supply the
food industries with flexible,
biodegradable packaging (funded
by the 7
th
Framework Programme
for Technological Research and
Development [FPTRD].
Since 2008, research activities
on natural rubber in Southeast
Asia have been carried on
under the aegis of the platform
Hevea Research Programme in
Partnership.
The METAGLYC 2 project
(German fund to finance renewable
resources, 2012-2015) is developing
new ways of obtaining glycerol
derivatives by chemical catalysis
and biocatalysis.
scales, on structures and target
functionalities.
Its research activities are organized
into five complementary
multidisciplinary and multi-scale
areas:
Fractioning of agroresources
Structuring of agro-polymers
under stress and powder reactivity
Matter transfers and reactions in
food/packaging systems
Microbial biotechnology and lipid
and agro-polymer
Knowledge representation and
reasoning to improve food quality
and safety
These research foci are concerned
with green technologies in terms
of a way of acquiring knowledge
to design, develop and manage
eco-efficient procedures for
biomass deconstruction to produce
polymers, useful molecules and
synthons from which to regenerate
biomaterials. The research is based
on two platforms and several
technical support centres:
The plant fractioning platform
*

(low to intermediate moisture)
focuses mainly on primary
processing of cereals and
lignocellulosic biomass and on
forming materials from agro-
polymers. It operates in two stages:
first, mechanical separation and
sorting of raw plant materials
(mills, grinders), then forming
of materials by reconstruction and
assembly under pressure (kneading,
rolling).
Physical, physicochemical
and biotechnological
means of processing agro-
molecules, agro-polymers
or complex matrices
The goal of the Agro-polymer
Engineering and Emerging
Technologies UMR (UMR IATE,
CIRAD/INRA/Montpellier SupAgro/
UM2) is to help increase knowledge
of the functionalities of plant
products and their constituents, to
improve their performance in food
and non-food uses.
It conducts research on
physical, physicochemical and
biotechnological means of
processing agro-molecules, agro-
polymers and complex matrices,
in an effort to understand the
impact of these changes, at different
The main team
IAM team Engineering and
Macromolecular Architectures
ICGM - Institut Charles Gerhardt,
Montpellier UMR CNRS 5253
(ENSCM/CNRS/UM2/UM1)
60 scientists
UMR IATE
Agro-polymer Engineering
and Emerging Technologies
(CIRAD/INRA/Montpellier SupAgro/UM2)
49 scientists
UPR CMGD
Materials Research Centre
(EMA)
40 scientists
...continued on page 14
Bio-based products
and materials
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The STOCKACTIF project of the
French National Research Agency
(ANR) (biomaterials & energy
programme, 2011-2014) is looking at
active storage of biomass to facilitate
industrial processing.
The SPECTRE project (international
France-Mexico Programme Blanc
[non-thematic programme], 2011-
2014) focuses on the evaluation and
control of industrial biotechnology
procedures.
The 3BCAR PEACE project (with
the Environmental Biotechnology
Laboratory [LBE], 2011-2013) is
studying the effect of cell wall
composition and thermomechanical
pre-treatment techniques on the
efficiency of the conversion of model
biomass into energy products.
The project on Epoxidation of
Polyphenols by a Chemo-enzymatic
Approach is aimed at obtaining
bio-based epoxy resins (with UMR
Science For Oenology, [INRA,
Montpellier SupAgro, UM1], 2010
2012 .
Various projects supported by the
LipPol-Green and Plant Product
Processing platforms.
order to offer solutions for high-
performance applications. For many
years, too, it has been developing
a chemistry based on simple
and clean processes (emulsion
polymerization, supercritical fluids)
and on sustainable development
(biodegradable polymers, polymer
recycling, optimum use of
agricultural resources). The team
is also recognized for its expertise in
macromolecular chemistry involving
the heteroatoms Si, P and F.
The bio-based polymers theme
was begun more recently, based on
laboratory skills in polycondensation,
thiol-ene chemistry and chain
polymerization. One of the objectives
of the current work is to replace
dangerous molecules with bio-
based ones in the development of
polyurethanes, phenol-formaldehyde
resins, epoxy resins and unsaturated
polyesters. The scientific issues
involved relate to the use of renewable
resources through the development
of a reduction chemistry process that
will enable the use of oxygenated
raw materials and the development
of depolymerization techniques
(natural polymers such as chitosan,
lignin, etc., often have very high

Monomers to polymers:
integrated solutions for
synthetic materials
The Engineering and
Macromolecular Architectures
(IAM) team of the Institut Charles
Gerhardt of Montpellier (ICGM),
UMR CNRS 5253 (ENSCM/
CNRS/UM2/UM1) has since its
inception been developing a
chemistry based on the synthesis
of controlled-architecture
polymers, macromonomers,
telechelic oligomers, graft or
block copolymers, and telomers.
In particular, the team has been
studying particular applications of
such telomers as reactive oligomers
in photocrosslinkable compounds or
as additives for coatings, surfactants
or composite matrices, etc., all
applications where low viscosities
and controlled reactivities are
sought.
The IAM team, whose core
endeavour is the application of
organic chemistry to polymers,
is recognized for its expertise in
developing integrated technological
solutions for materials synthesis,
from monomers to polymers, in
* www.3bcar.fr/~abcar/images/stories/pdf_3bcar/fche_
iate_plateforme_fractionnement_des_vegetaux_v3.pdf
** www.supagro.fr/plantlippol-green

POMEWISO project
solvent-free membrane preparation from biopolymers
Porous polymeric membranes for use in water treatment
are developed on an industrial scale from synthetic polymers
dissolved in an organic solvent (acetone, DMF, NMP...). Porosity
is generated by a phase inversion process, usually induced by
immersion of the homogeneous polymer solution in a bath of
non-solvent (water). Apart from the fact that the raw material
is derived from a non-renewable land resource, large amounts
of organic solvents are used, with the risk of generating
environmental pollution and health problems.
The goal of the POMEWISO project (an IEM/IRSTEA
collaboration) is to develop a new porous membrane
production process that relies on clean, green chemistry,
(i) using polymers from natural rather than synthetic resources
and (ii) substituting water (the solvent for water-soluble
polymers) for traditional organic solvents. Hence, the scientific
problem is to fine-tune the process of developing membranes
from different water-soluble polymers (polyvinyl alcohol
[PVA], cellulose ethers, chitosan) with a low critical solution
temperature (LCST), thereby controlling their morphological
and functional properties. Once the phase inversion is induced
by increasing the temperature (TIPS-LCST procedure),
crosslinking of the polymer chains will be necessary to
strengthen the film thus formed. This crosslinking will preferably
be done by irradiation or heat treatment to avoid the use of
chemical crosslinkers.
A multi-scale analysis will be conducted to better understand
the phenomena of phase separation, structure growth, and
the final morphology of the membranes as well as their
filtration properties. The experimentation will be done using
light scattering methods, optical microscopy, near-infrared and
confocal Raman spectroscopy, and dead-end filtration. It should
be possible, using a modelling approach and solving the modified
Cahn-Hilliard equation, to predict the evolution of structures
over time until the final morphology is obtained.
Contact: Denis Bouyer, denis.bouyer@univ-montp2.fr
LCST
T

vol
Diphasic
Monophasic
Spinodal
region
Binodal
region
Spinodal curve Binodal curve
Influence of temperature rise
during the TIPS-LCST process.
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Life cycle assessment of
polymers and composites:
integration of materials from
recycling and renewable
resource channels into the
development of innovative
materials
The Materials Research Centre
(Internal Research Unit [UPR],
CMGD) is one of three internal
laboratories of the cole des Mines
dAls (EMA), which is a national
public administration (EPA) reporting
to the Ministry of Industry. Because
it places great emphasis on relations
with the economic sector, CMGD
is part of the M.IN.E.S. Carnot
Institute (Innovative Methods for
Business and Society), which brings
together all French coles des Mines
paths to compensate for changes

in biomass composition. Thus,
new ways of accessing bio-based
epoxy resins based on tannins from
forestry or viticulture by-products
have been developed.
In addition, the IAM team has
developed new reactive functional
synthons from vegetable oils
and fatty acids bearing amine,
alcohol or acid functions that give
access to new bio-based polymers
(polyurethanes, polyesters).
Many industrial collaborations
are underway, with national and
international companies. In 2010,
the team was awarded the Pollutec
award Innovative Techniques
for the Environment (cf. project
GreenResins).
molar masses, making it impossible
to use them directly), a return to
polycondensation rather than free
radical polymerization to make
the best use of biomass reactive
functions (acid, alcohol) and
the development of reliable access
GreenResins project
new bio-based epoxy resins free of bisphenol A
Because of their versatility and ease of use, epoxy resins are
very widely used. They include a great variety of materials with
a wide range of physical properties. However, they are mostly
derived from bisphenol A (BPA), a compound classified as CMR
(carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic).
The GreenResins project involves the use of natural, non-toxic
aromatic and polyaromatic compounds derived from renewable
resources as reagents for use in developing thermosetting epoxy
resins as a BPA substitute.
The source of these natural phenolic compounds is tannins from
forestry or viticulture by-products, so there is no competition
with food crops. Among the phenolic compounds being studied
by the IAM (ICGM) team, in collaboration with the UMR
Science for Oenology (INRA, Montpellier SupAgro et UM1),
is catechin, a molecule with four phenolic groups. Catechin
is epoxidized with epichlorohydrin. The phenols in catechins
two aromatic rings display different levels of reactivity, leading
to two products: one molecule with four epoxy groups and
a cyclized by-product with two epoxy groups. The average
functionality is 2.7 epoxy groups per molecule. The mixture is
used unpurified to prepare epoxy resins with amine hardeners
since both products obtained are functionalized and contribute
to network development. Resins derived from functionalized
natural compounds possess thermal and mechanical properties
comparable to those of conventional fossil-fuel-derived resins
such as the diglycidyl ether of BPA.
The possibility of obtaining bio-based aromatic resins that are
more rigid and perform better than aliphatic resins is what
distinguishes this work, which won the 2010 Pollutec Award for
innovative environmental techniques.
Contacts: Sylvain Caillol, sylvain.caillol@enscm.fr
Bernard Boutevin, bernard.boutevin@enscm.fr
& Hlne Fulcrand, fulcrand@supagro.inra.fr
Other teams working
in this area
UMR IEM
European Membrane Institute
(ENSCM/CNRS/UM2)
50 scientists
UR LBE
Laboratory of Environmental
Biotechnology
(INRA)
16 scientists
Diagram of the production of bio-based epoxy resins
from tannin-derived catechin.
Sample T
g
(C) T
d5
(C) T
d30
(C) Char
800

(%)
Swelling
(%)
Soluble
(%)
Storage Modulus
(Gpa)
Glassy region Rubbery region
DGEBA 74 209 355 10 17 1 2.8 0.019
75 DGEBA
25 GEC tannins
75 221 337 14 4 1 2.5 0.016
50 DGEBA
50 GEC tannins
73 202 323 18 1 1 2.4 0.014
Comparative thermal and mechanical properties of resins
prepared from the diglycidyl ether of BPA and from tannins.
Bio-based products and materials

and their research association,
ARMINES. The Centre is involved in
various competitiveness clusters and
maintains academic and industrial
collaborations at the national
and international level through
European projects, projects funded
by the Environment and Energy
Management Agency (ADEME),
ANR and FUI.
CMGD is structured into two
research departments, namely
Advanced Polymer Materials (MPA)
and Civil Engineering Materials
and Structures (MSGC). Materials
life cycle assessment is central to
the concerns of both departments,
for with the implementation of
European directives to promote end-
of-life product recycling, advances
are being made in the development
of ever more efficient identification
and sorting technologies, which may
soon enable online identification
of both plastics and their additives.
technological obstacles in order to turn
these products to account in various
application areas, such as packaging,
agriculture, transport and building.
CMGD covers many disciplines,
including chemistry, physical
chemistry, mechanics and process
engineering. In addition to a
platform for the processing of
polymers and concrete materials,
it has a platform for materials
characterization (mechanical,
thermal and thermomechanical
tests under standard conditions, fire
resistance tests, aging tests, scanning
electron microscope observations in
environmental mode, X-ray diffraction,
chemical and physicochemical
analysis).
Thus, CMGD researchers are
supporting the development of, on
the one hand, prototype sorting
equipment, and on the other hand
high-performance plastic alloys
that can be made from high-purity
materials reclaimed from sorting.
Moreover, the growing global
demand for energy, the need to
find an alternative to fossil energy
resources that are being depleted,
and societys determination to reduce
the environmental impacts of human
activity and its carbon footprint are
driving the partial or full integration
of renewable resources (concept
of bio-basing) into materials
development. The compostability
of materials is an added benefit
now being worked on and which,
provided collection channels are
available, should allow for better
end-of-life waste management.
Thus, CMGD researchers are trying
to remove many scientific and
In the building
sector, needs arise
at two levels: first,
to meet market
expectations for
greener products
by paying attention
to sustainable
development
objectives, and
second, to comply with the
Grenelle de lEnvironnement by
making use of more energy-efficient materials to reduce
buildings energy consumption, using renewable resources,
recycling waste and reducing non-recyclable waste.
Thus, CMGD has since 2010 been working with the IAM
(ICGM) team on a project funded by ADEME and supported
by the Montpellier-area INNOBAT company, which won a JEC
Innovation Award in 2011. This project is designed to develop
a new material for joinery profiles, inasmuch as none of the
traditional materials now used (wood, polyvinyl chloride
[PVC], aluminium and polyester/glass composite) can meet the
upcoming 2012 and 2020 thermal regulations while achieving the
required level of mechanical performance level and meeting the
architectural criteria, all with a lower environmental impact.
The new material is a pultruded composite with a thermosetting
matrix derived in whole or in part from plant waste from the
timber and wine industries and from continuous plant fibres. The
project addresses many R&D issues:
synthesis and formulation of thermosetting resins (epoxy and/
or unsaturated polyester) derived in whole or in part from plant
waste;
preparation of flax plant fibres together with batch analysis and
homogenization and possibly surface treatment of fibres;
adaptation of formulas (resin reactivity, fibre tensile strength)
to the pultrusion procedure;
benchmarking of mechanical and thermal performance, fire
retardancy and in-service ageing (humidity, temperature, UV
exposure).
Prototypes are currently available and marketing is planned soon.
Contacts: Anne Bergeret, Anne.Bergeret@mines-ales.fr
& Michel Maugenet, Michel.Maugenet@innobat.fr
For further information: www.innobat.fr
Materials and eco-construction
Joinery strips
of polyester/flax
biocomposite.
M. Maugenet Innobat
15
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In 2006, in order to be more responsive to calls for
proposals and enhance its ability to perform contract
research in partnership with industry, the M.IN.E.S. Carnot
Institute established a NanoMines group, with some
fifty researchers from the various French coles des Mines
working on the nanostructures topic. The aim is to
bring out synergies between research teams by combining
multidisciplinary skills in such areas as the development
of nanomaterials, their characterization, modelling and
application testing.
In this context, in 2011, CMGD and the RAPSODEE Centre
of the cole des Mines dAlbi undertook a project to develop
bionanocomposites made up of nanoparticles in a bioplastic
matrix, to control and improve the matrixs properties.
Production of these bionanocomposites by supercritical
fluid extrusion (CO
2
) enables nanoparticles to disperse
throughout the matrix, forming a foam without the use of
chemical agents, while at the same time making the material
lighter and more insulating.
Bioplastics-based
nanostructured materials
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Controlled lifetime biocomposites
The first generations of bio-based plastics were mainly targeted
for short-lived applications such as packaging. Today, the demand
has changed. What industry needs now are bio-based plastics
with functionality at least equivalent to those of the current
petrochemical-based plastics as regards barrier effect and
mechanical, chemical and thermal resistance over the materials
life cycle. There is a broad consensus to that effect in the
scientific community. Thus, CMGD has been at the forefront of
these developments. Beginning with foamed starch packaging
for undemanding usage conditions, it went on to develop films
and solid or foamed materials based on polylactic acid (PLA), a
polymer obtained by fermentation of corn starch, less sensitive to
moisture than starch and with better mechanical properties.
The COLIBIO project (COntrolled LIfetime BIOcomposites),
funded by ANR and accredited by the Trimatec competitiveness
cluster, aims to develop a biocomposite with very good
mechanical and thermal properties, whose useful life can be
controlled, to meet the requirements of the automobile industry.
The idea was to reinforce a PLA-based matrix with glass fibres
that would break down under normal composting conditions
(temperature, pH, humidity); the scientific and technological
obstacles were the ability to keep the biocomposite functioning
with a high level of mechanical performance throughout its
service life and to ensure end-of-life degradation.
Suitable biodegradable glass-fibre formulations were thus
developed and the durability of the PLA/glass biocomposites
under biomimetic conditions during use and at end of life was
studied. It emerged that there is a strong interdependence
between the alkalinity of the glasses and their mechanical
behaviour under conditions simulating accelerated service use
(immersion in water at 65C) and the rate of their mineralization
in soil, which may be accompanied by soil acidification.
Contact: Anne Bergeret, Anne.Bergeret@mines-ales.fr
Bio-based products and materials
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
20 40 60 80 100
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
0
0.5
1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
S
t
r
e
s
s

(
M
P
a
)
R
e
s
i
l
i
e
n
c
e

(
k
J
/
m

)
E
l
o
n
g
a
t
i
o
n

(
%
)
Conservation of properties from baseline state (%)
biodegradable
PLA/fibreglass
biocomposites (various
glass formulations)
non-biodegradable
PLA/fibreglass
biocomposite
0
50
100
150
200
250
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50
m
g

C
O
2

/

g

C

i
n

t
h
e

c
o
m
p
o
s
i
t
e
Time (days)
No soil acidificaton
PLA matrix
Heavy soil
acidificaton
4.80
4.62
4.24
3.96
3.91
Scanning electron microscope view of a PHBV/clay
bionanocomposite foam made by extrusion assisted
by supercritical CO
2
.

c
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e

d
e
s

M
i
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s

d

A
l
b
i
,
c
e
n
t
r
e

R
A
P
S
O
D
E
E

c
o
l
e

d
e
s

M
i
n
e
s

d

A
l

C
M
G
D
Degree of conservation of mechanical performance
( stress, 4 elongation, + resilience) of biodegradable and non-
biodegradable PLA/fibreglass biocomposites after ageing under
conditions simulating accelerated service use (24 hours immersion
in water at 65C).
Mineralization rates in soil simulating end of life of
biodegradable PLA/fibreglass biocomposites under different
levels of soil acidification.
The bioplastic matrix used in this project is a biodegradable
polymer derived from microorganisms that belongs to
the polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) family, specifically poly(3-
hydroxybutyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate (PHBV). The matrix
was reinforced with montmorillonite clay nanoparticles at a
low uptake rate (less than 3% by mass). Incorporation of the
clay significantly improved the matrixs mechanical and thermal
properties and its fire resistance and helped control its
biodegradation. The foams obtained have a porosity of up to
50%; the cell size homogeneity has yet to be improved through
a study of the operating parameters of the process.
Contacts: Nicolas Le-Moigne, nicolas.le-moigne@mines-ales.fr
& Martial Sauceau, martial.sauceau@mines-albi.fr
For further information: http://cmm.ensmp.fr/Nanomines
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The BIORARE project
Winner of the Investments for the Future national call
for Biotechnologies and Bioresources
The BIORARE project (bioelectrosynthesis to refine residual
waste, IRSTEA/Chemical Engineering LaboratoryFrench
National Centre for Scientific Research/LBE-INRA/Suez-
Environnement) focuses on how to use the concept of
microbial electrosynthesis to biologically refine waste and
effluents. This recent discovery could eventually enable the
production of high-added-value molecules from the organic
matter and energy in waste.
Bioelectrochemical systems technology would be used to
channel the metabolic reactions of the bioprocess into the
production of building-block molecules with high added value
for use in green chemistry. The organic material is oxidized
in a first compartment by complex biomass, which transfers
electrons to an anode. The electrons then go to the cathode,
where they are used in a biological reduction reaction.
By regulating the potential at the cathode to a value derived
from a theoretical calculation (Nernst Law), one can artificially
create thermodynamic conditions that will allow only certain
reactions to occur.
These microbial bioelectrosynthesis systems maintain a physical
separation between a dirty compartment containing the
organic material to be processed and a clean compartment
where the desired molecules are synthesized, metabolic fluxes
are channelled, and oxidation reactions at the cathode are
selected by regulating the potential.

Development of a detailed specification for the application
of microbial electrosynthesis to the biorefining of organic
waste requires the key components to be determined,
together with the relevant specifications for a projected
industrial development strategy. The scientific and technical
basis of microbial electrosynthesis will be firmed up, then
the relationship between the operating conditions and the
molecules actually synthesized will be validated experimentally.
Multidisciplinary approaches will be combined to better
understand and identify the technological potential of these
systems. Environmental assessment of strategies linking
these systems to existing industrial installations will be
carried out based on reference scenarios that will identify
the environmentally sensitive components and provide
guidance for technical and industrial choices. An analysis
of economic, societal and regulatory factors will bring
future industrial development strategies into better focus.
A detailed specification for the implementation of microbial
electrosynthesis systems for organic waste biorefining will
be developed and related measures for the protection of
intellectual property will be taken as necessary.
Contact: Nicolas Bernet, nicolas.bernet@supagro.inra.fr
C
a
t
h
o
d
e
Electroactive microbes
C
+
e
-
DCO
CO
2
CO
2
Waste
Effluent
e
-
A
n
o
d
e
Gas
e
-
e
-
CO
2
CO
2
Organic
molecules
T. Bouchez
Principle of the microbial bioelectrosynthesis system
used in the BIORARE project.
Transmission electron microscope view of clay
dispersal in a PHBV/clay bionanocomposite foam.

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GreenCoat project
new bio-based polyurethanes from vegetable oils
Polyurethanes are among the best-selling polymers in the world,
ranking 6th; world production is over 14 Mt. They are useful
in many areas of everyday life, including thermal insulation
and coatings. They are traditionally produced by reacting an
isocyanate with a polyol oligomer. While the isocyanate is
almost exclusively derived from petrochemical feedstocks, the
polyol can be derived from renewable resources. However,
most isocyanate compounds are highly toxic or even CMR
(carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic) and are on the SIN list
(Substitute It Now!REACH, Annex XVII). The initial aim of the
GreenCoat project is to develop new bio-based polyols, derived
from vegetable oil, with new properties. A subsequent goal is to
develop isocyanate-free bio-based polyurethanes from glycerol.
Bio-based polyols are synthesized from vegetable oil or from
fatty acids or esters through thiol-ene coupling on the double
bonds of the fatty chains. The thiol used has one or more alcohol
functions. The addition reaction is carried out with neither solvent
nor initiator, under UV; the yield is quantitative. This technology
produces bio-based polyols with widely varying structure and
functionality.
The development of isocyanate-free bio-based polyurethanes
relies on the cyclocarbonate ring-opening reaction mediated
by primary amines. Thus, the IAM (ICGM) team has produced
oligomers bearing dicyclocarbonate functions from glycerol
carbonate. Reacting these oligomers with diamines produces
isocyanate-free bio-based polyurethanes.
In both cases, the bio-based polyurethanes obtained have
properties similar to those of fossil-fuel-derived polyurethanes
and can be used in coatings, binders, paints, etc. This project has
received funding from ANR Matepro and is being conducted in
collaboration with the Organic Polymers Chemistry Laboratory
(Bordeaux) and the Rsipoly and SEG companies.
Contacts: Sylvain Caillol, sylvain.caillol@enscm.fr
Rmi Auvergne, remi.auvergne@enscm.fr
& Bernard Boutevin, bernard.boutevin@enscm.fr
Bio-based products and materials
Glycerol
Thiol-ene
(TEC)
1. Transesterication
or amidication
2. TEC
Transesterication
Glycerin
Fatty acids and esters
Glycerin
carbonate
Vegetable oils

Diagram of bio-based
polyurethane production from
vegetable oil and derivatives.
Synthesis by thiol-ene
coupling of new bio-based
polyols from vegetable oils.
Isocyanate-free bio-based
polyurethane production.
Over the past ten years, many types of biodegradable food
packaging have been developed, the main goal being to imitate
petrochemical plastics; however, no real evaluation has been
done of their environmental benefits, economic viability or
potential impact on the quality and safety of packaged foods.
These packaging systems quickly bogged down, especially in the
food industry, as a result of a number of major controversies
(diversion of food resources, overly complicated recycling/
recovery routes, for example). A more holistic, systemic approach
is needed in developing such biodegradable packaging in order
to restore the trust and consumers and users and to pique their
interest.
The European EcoBioCAP project aims to supply European
Union food industries with modular biodegradable packaging
tailored to the requirements of perishable foodstuffs, with direct
benefits for the environment and for European consumers
in terms of food quality and safety. This new generation of
packaging will be based on the multi-scale development of
composite structures all of whose constituent parts will be from
food industry by-products.
Production techniques and all the properties of the materials
developed in the course of the project will be optimized through
demonstration activities with industrial partners before industrial
use is begun. The EcoBioCAP technology will be made available
to all industry players through development of a decision
support tool. Finally, outreach activities will be undertaken, not
just to inform the scientific community of the project results, but
also to make sure consumers and end-users know the benefits
of such biodegradable packaging and how to use it.
The EcoBioCAP project has a budget of 4.2 million, financed
by Europe (to the tune of 3 million over four years under the
seventh Framework Programme for Research and Development.
It brings together 16 partners from eight different countries,
including six private companies.
Contact: Nathalie Gontard, gontard@univ-montp2.fr
For further information: www.ecobiocap.eu
EcoBioCAP project
Eco-efficient Biodegradable Composite
Advanced Packaging
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I
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A
Biodegradable packaging developed under the project.
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the use of bio-based products
and materials: the development of
membranes from bio-polymers;
the development of biodegradable
membranes; fractionation for
by-product recovery;
water and waste recycling and
recovery: effluent concentration and
production of pure and ultra-pure
water; degradation of pollutants
in wastewater using membranes
combined with photocatalysed
biological or physico-chemical
reactions; sorption; a combination
of membranes and enzymatic
reactions.
Regional collaborations have been
put in hand, in particular with the
ELSA cluster (cf. p. 32), to integrate
LCA and eco-design aspects into
research projects dealing with the
development of new processes
for the solvent-free production
of membrane materials (ANR
POMEWISO project, cf. p. 13) or
the implementation of intensive
processes combining membranes
and sorption on functionalized
polymers (ANR Copoterm
Copolymers for Water Treatment
and Metal Recovery).
IEM comprises three research
departments:
design of membrane materials and
multifunctional systems;
polymer interfaces and physical
chemistry;
membrane process engineering.
The Institutes green-technology-
related activities are based on
process intensification and have
three main foci, with the general
objectives of increasing process
efficiency and moving towards
sustainability (less consumption
of energy and solvents, waste
minimization, optimum resource
use):
development of multifunctional
reactors combining different
functions within the same
technology;
development of new processes,
new materials for use in traditional
processes, or new operating
conditions;
use of modelling to gain a
better understanding of reaction
and transfer mechanisms, which
can then be used to improve the
efficiency of existing processes.
The work the Institute carries out
under this approach, through the
activities of its Membrane Process
Engineering department, relates
mainly to:
Seeking durable materials
and membrane processes
The European Membrane
Institute (UMR IEM, ENSCM-
CNRS-UM2), founded in 1998,
is an internationally-recognized
reference laboratory for membrane
materials and processes. Its research
objectives are in keeping with a
multidisciplinary and multi-scale
approach:
the development and
characterization of novel membrane
materials;
their implementation in membrane
processes having applications in,
for example, sewage treatment, gas
separation, and biotechnology as it
relates to food and health sciences.
The main teams
UMR IEM
European Membrane Institute
(ENSCM/CNRS/UM2)
50 scientists
UPR Recycling and Risk
(CIRAD)
13 scientists
UR LBE
Laboratory of Environmental
Biotechnology
(INRA)
16 scientiques
...continued on page 22
Water and waste
recycling and recovery
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DIVA project
characterization of digestate
and its agricultural upgrade processes
Significant progress in anaerobic digestion of organic waste has propelled the emergence
of new industrial processes such as the methanation of agricultural and household waste.
Thus, new types of uncharacterized or poorly characterized digestate (the residues
generated by anaerobic digestion of organic matter) have made their appearance, and they
end up being disposed of in a more or less inappropriate manner, generally on the ground.
More knowledge is needed, therefore, to see that such digestate is properly managed and
that France can make up its serious technological deficit in this area relative to Scandinavia
and Germany.
As for the most part the ultimate beneficiary of the upgrade is agriculture, there is a
significant demand for (a) characterization of all types of digestate products currently on
offer in France and (b) development of processing methods so that the new products
agricultural value can be better realized. In addition, such emerging environmental issues
as energy efficiency, recycling of raw materials and control of gaseous emissions from
land-farming raise a number of issues that must be considered today in preparation for
tomorrows management processes. Thus, with the participation of the UMR IEM in the
collaborative (IRSTEA, Armines, Gotexia, IEM, INRA, Suez, Solagro) DIVA project, it is
expected that membrane-based or other post-processing techniques will be proposed in
an effort to achieve and maintain the correct product status. This scientific approach
separate, upgrade, standardizepromises the best possible way of promoting the
sustainable development of digestates.
Contact: Marc Heran, marc.heran@univ-montp2.fr
Separation unit: membrane filtration.
Controlling the
environmental risk of
recycling organic waste
The UPR Recycling and Risk
(CIRAD) conducts activities on the
cusp of the analytic and systemic
approaches in the field of organic
waste recycling. The central
hypothesis is that some of these
products are sources of energy
and/or organic matter that could
support sustained and sustainable
agricultural production. The
objective is to find solutions and
agricultural practices involving
controlled agro-environmental
risks, with optimal use of processing
technologies and the purifying power
of soil and plants.
The unit addresses this problem
by delving into the biophysical
processes of organic waste
transformation, the transfer of
elements in the water/soil/plant/
atmosphere system, and taking
into account the management of
stocks and material flows within a
territory. It produces knowledge and
tools for the assessment and design
of integrated recycling solutions
units, development agencies and
businesses. The unit has two main
sites, in Montpellier and on Runion.
Under a strategic partnership with
the European Centre for Research
and Education in Environmental
Geosciences (CEREGE) at Aix-en-
Provence, the unit is located on
the Centres premises. Innovative
partnerships are maintained with
private companies, especially
the Frayssinet Group, the leading
manufacturer of organic fertilizer in
France.
On Runion the unit works closely
with local authorities, and primarily
with the Runion region. In Senegal,
one of the units researchers is
assigned to the Laboratory of Microbial
Ecology of Tropical Soils and Agro-
systems (LEMSAT). The units financial
resources come mainly from the
public sector (ANR, ministries other
than Higher Education and Research,
Environment and Energy Management
Agency). The resources devoted to
activities on Runion come from
the European Community and local
authorities. The private sector and
expert assessments also contribute to
the units financial stability.

that combine respect for natural

resources and the environment with
economic efficiency.
The units research is along two
scientific lines:
Under territorial organic waste
transformation and management of
organic waste products, it develops
models to simulate composting- and
methanation-based organic waste
processing technology, as well as
ways of evaluating the environmental
impact of recycling. Two levels
of organization are considered:
the smallholding (individual
management) and organized farm
groups (collective management).
Under dynamic of the interactions
of organic waste products with water,
soils and crops, it investigates the
dynamic of how organic matter,
nitrogen and metallic trace elements
interact with the cropping system
and soil type. Environmental risk
indicators are developed for the
region, the plot and the laboratory (at
molecule and rhizosphere level).
Both lines of research work
are based on analytical and
experimental platforms, as well as
partnerships with other research
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Other teams working
in this area
IAM team
Engineering and Macromolecular
Architectures
ICGM - Institut Charles Gerhardt,
Montpellier UMR CNRS 5253
(ENSCM/CNRS/UM2/UM1)
60 scientists
UMR ITAP
Information/Technologies/Environmental
Analysis/Agricultural Processes
(Montpellier SupAgro/IRSTEA)
27 scientists
UPR CMGD
Materials Research Centre
(EMA)
40 scientists
UPR LGEI
Engineering Laboratory for Industrial
Environmental Engineering and Industrial
and Natural Risks
(EMA)
29 scientists
UR Biomass & Energy
(CIRAD)
12 scientists
There are six research areas, covering
a broad spectrum of disciplinary
skills: microbiology, microbial
ecology, bio-engineering, process
engineering, modelling, automation,
LCA, project engineering, industrial
transfer:
O research into the generic
characterization of organic matter
and associated by-products;
O knowledge and role of biotic/
abiotic parameters with respect to
the services rendered;
O means of action and control of
processes and ecosystems, to
take an active stance, no longer a
passive one;
O assessment and management
of the fate of the products of the
treatment processes and their
environmental and health impacts;
O descriptive/explanatory/predictive
engineering and ecological models;
O process engineering and eco-
design.
LBE is among the worlds leading
laboratories in the field of anaerobic
digestion (ranking first among
publishing laboratories as referenced
in the Web of Science with the entry
term anaerobic digestion). Its
facilities cover 4,757 m, including
an experimental centre of 1,882 m,
and it boasts high-performance
experimental and scientific
equipment including more than
50 digesters (capacity from 1 litre to
several cubic metres), in operation
24/3/365. LBE relies on research
excellence, a variety of study topics
and a multidisciplinary approach,
but also possesses know-how in
technology transfer and innovation
(6 patents, 11 licence agreements,
and Pollutec innovation awards in
2007, 2009 and 2010).
residues, household waste and
sewage sludge), or such specific
biomass types as micro- or macro-
algae. Its pollutant transformation
processes depend on microbial
communities that are complex by
virtue of their composition, diversity
and functional dynamics.
These communities characteristics,
together with the fact that they can
be established only in an open
environment, have led the laboratory
to seek a type of processing/
upgrade wherein the microbial
responses are influenced by changes
in the operating conditions of
the bioprocess. In performing the
upgrade, great care is taken to
observe health safety constraints
(e.g. those related to the presence of
pharmaceutical residues, detergents
and/or pathogens).
Hence, the pollutant transformation
processes are studied:
at the whole process level,
by characterizing kinetics, key
physiological systems and dynamics
of microbial populations;
at the level of individual
procedures, by developing innovative
procedures, optimizing the
hydrodynamics or functioning of
the bioreactors, and implementing
physicochemical co-processing
techniques.
Research activities have always
been done with due regard for both
levels as they relate to sustainable
industries, in an effort to develop
means of pollution control or effluent
and waste recovery that comply with
economic and regulatory constraints
and to achieve simple, efficient,
reliable and scalable bioprocesses.
Ecosystems for and in
processes as part of an
environmental biorefinery
concept
The Laboratory of Environmental
Biotechnology (Research Unit [UR]
LBE, INRA) located in Narbonne,
is part of the INRA departments of
Environment and Agronomy and
Microbiology and the Food Chain.
For more than 25 years, LBE research
has focused on processing and/
or upgrading the waste products
of human activity, be they liquid
effluents (especially from the agri-
food sector), solid waste (agricultural
A birds-eye view of INRAs Environmental
Biotechnology Laboratory in Narbonne, with
a lagoon for microalgae production in the
foreground.

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PETZECO project
combined ozone/zeolite treatment of petrochemical effluent
Pollution of water and sediments by polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons (PAHs) is indisputably happening, and poses
real risks to the environment and health; this has led the
European Commission to classify PAHs as priority substances.
The conventional countermeasures, chemical oxidation or
adsorption on activated carbon, have limitations in terms of
cost and implementation. Advanced oxidation processes can
degrade bioresistant or toxic compounds through the use
of hydroxyl radicals. The work proposed in the PETZECO
collaborative project (with ICGM, Chemical Engineering
Laboratory, National Institute of Applied Sciences in Toulouse,
Total) aims to develop an advanced technique for the
treatment of resistant industrial wastewater.
The main idea is to use ozone combined with innovative
zeolitic materials, the ozone serving to break down the waste
into hydroxyl radicals which are then adsorbed onto the solid
zeolites. This combination should increase degradation rates
synergetically. The use of a solid, porous mineral should ensure
good resistance to oxidative attack and maintain long-term
catalytic and adsorptive properties. The development phase of
this new solid, mesoporous zeolitic adsorbent/catalyst is one of
the projects challenges, as very few studies exist in this area.
Another of its challenges is to implement this ozone/catalyst
combination in an efficient and inexpensive way. Its reactive
and mechanical properties will be the subject of careful
study so that in synthesizing the zeolites the most valuable
functionalities can be targeted. An in-depth study is underway
of the sizing parameters of the oxidation process in various
configurations (from fluidized beds to membrane separation of
the catalyst). The projects ultimate goal is to use monolithic
materials containing the new catalyst on real petrochemical
effluents.
Contact: Stephan Brosillon, stephan.brosillon@univ-montp2.fr
The Opportunit (E)
4
programme (Environmental, Ecological,
Ethical and Economic) outlines an innovative process of chemical
enhancement of phytoextraction technologies and of waste
contaminated with metallic trace elements. The project takes
advantage of certain plants remarkable adaptive ability to
hyperaccumulate Zn
2+
, Ni
2+
, Mn
2+
, Cu
2+
and/or Al
3+
cations in their
aerial parts; its design is based on the direct use of metal species
of plant origin as Lewis acid catalysts for organic chemical
reactions on mining waste (tailings and slag) or combustion
by-products.
The programme draws on public and semi-public research
laboratories and three private private companies, all of which
pool their phytoextraction skills for the environmentally
sustainable remediation of mine sites in the department of Gard
and in New Caledonia while respecting local biodiversity. Plant
waste and bound metals are directly recovered and transformed
into green catalysts, then spread and stabilized on comminuted
mining waste. These unique polymetallic systems are used
as heterogeneous catalysts in synthetic transformations that
give access to high-added-value molecules (aromatic building-
block molecules, heterocyclic compounds and biologically
useful oligomers). The process design allows for recycling
simply through filtration; it is also suited to the new economic
constraints and represents a concrete solution to the critical
non-renewability of mineral materials.
This scientific programme is carried out with local stakeholders
from the communities and State bodies. It engages in sustained
recovery actions involving industry groups working in
complementary application areas (restoration ecology, mining
and chemical industries). It now rests on a solid foundation of
scientific results, so that specific objectives are sure to be met; as
a result, funding has been approved for an ANR project, a CNRS-
IRSTEA project, a project of the European Regional Development
Fund, two industrial contracts, ten confidentiality agreements,
two thesis funding agreements and a collaboration with a private
company specializing in technology transfer. This interdisciplinary
research workapplied, industrial researchis intended as an
engine of environmental and socio-environmental reconstruction
of sites scarred by industrial and mining activities.
Contact: Claude Grison, claude.grison@cefe.cnrs.fr
For further information: www.agence-nationale-recherche.fr/programmes-de-recherche/
environnement-et-ressources-biologiques/ecotechnologies-ecoservices/fiche-projet-ecotech/?tx_
lwmsuivibilan_pi2%5BCODE%5D=ANR-11-ECOT-011
Seeking a new green channel within a circular economy:
from phytoextraction to bio-based chemical catalysis and back again
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Upgrading of organic waste
by anaerobic digestion
and composting in hot regions
In hot regions, where average
temperatures are high, biological
upgrading processes for organic
waste are particularly effective. Unlike
thermochemical processes, they save part
of the organic material, which can then
be recycled to preserve soil fertility.
Methanation, or anaerobic digestion, is fermentation in the complete absence of oxygen.
Degradation of organic matter leads to the formation of a gasbiogaswhich is rich in methane
(CH
4
). Biogas can be used directly as fuel. The final residue of anaerobic digestion, called methanogenic digestate, can be used directly
as fertilizer or composted to improve its properties. Since the late 1970s, with its African partners, CIRAD has been developing
various biogas technologies suited to local conditions. Thus, the TRANSPAILLE process will methanate solid waste such as manure,
dung materials, cassava peelings or coffee pulp. The AGRIFILTRE

process will filter liquid effluents rich in organic matter so they can
soak into straw before anaerobic digestion.
Composting is a biodegradation of organic matter in the presence of oxygen, producing carbon dioxide and water vapour. The
reaction is exothermic (raising the temperature of the medium). Because composting is often done in the open air in piles or
windrows, it is difficult to control. In creating a model of the composting process, we must formalize the relationship between
the physicochemical characteristics of organic waste and the gaseous, liquid and solid outputs. This modelling is used to set the
parameters of flow models (operation, area) for an environmental assessment.
Contacts: Jean-Luc Farinet, jean-luc.farinet@cirad.fr
& Jean-Marie Paillat, jean-marie.paillat@cirad.fr
For further information: www.cirad.fr/innovation-expertise/produits-et-services/equipements-et-procedes
Equivalence
1 m
3
of methane
9.7 kWh of electricity
1.3 kg of coal
1.15 l of petrol
1 l of fuel-oil
2.1 kg of wood
0.94 m
3
of natural gas
1.7 l of fuel alcohol
A 40-m
3
TRANSPAILLE
digester in Senegal.
Composting test on Wallis.

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Seeking better-quality end-of-life sorting
and recycling/upgrading of electrical and electronic waste
The recycling
of waste
electrical and
electronic
equipment
(WEEE) is at
the centre
of numerous
research
projects, as its
annual volume
(about 24 kg
per capita)
is constantly increasing (3-5%). When WEEE is discarded,
the plastics it contains remain as a source of pollution. That
is very wasteful, as the industrial plastics in WEEE still have
good potential uses after their first life cycle. Although many
scientific studies conducted in developed countries involve
recycling, use of such recycled plastics is not widespread,
in part because of the poor quality, to date, of the material
available (which is dependent on sorting quality and the main
additives). With improved sorting, identification and separation,
high-quality recycled plastics will become available for
applications in various industrial sectors.
Deposits of WEEE plastics are highly complex: many plastics
are incompatible with one another, and a large percentage
are dark in colour, making some sorting and identification
techniques ineffective, or incorporate brominated flame
retardants, requiring separate sorting.
CMGD has been working on WEEE recycling and upgrading for
ten years, and, since 2008, conducting two projects:
The REDEMPTIR project (ADEME funding) seeks to
maximize the recovery rate and the purity of sorted plastics
by online near-infrared spectroscopy using actual light-coloured
WEEE deposits, to monitor their polymer and flame retardant
content.
The TRIPLE-VALEEE project (Single Interministerial Fund
(FUI) is split into two development foci:
O The TRIPLE project aims to provide a standardized
methodology for sampling and analysis of plastics deposits
derived from WEEE processing and to implement efficient
sorting patterns.
O The goal of the VALEEE project is to identify the different
ways WEEE may be incorporated into industrial products,
taking the place of all or some of the virgin materials that
would otherwise be used, according to specifications setting
out the desired polymer types or performance.
Contacts: Didier Perrin, didier.perrin@mines-ales.fr
& Rodolphe Sonnier, rodolphe.sonnier@mines-ales.fr
The polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste used in industry
comes primarily from the recovery and sorting of bottles.
At present, PET recycling is mainly (75%) in the form of fibre
(quilt batting, sweaters). Other applications arising from
research may be targeted. Here is one example:
PET bottles are first ground to the desired size, then washed
to remove contaminants as far as possible (paper, glue, PVC,
etc.). The PET chips thus obtained (photo O) are then dried and
undergo an initial transformation, called glycolysis. This results
in a lower molecular weight product in the form of a green
paste (photo O). After chemical treatment, an unsaturated
polyester is obtained; much more fluid, transparent and slightly
yellow in colour (photo O). This product then undergoes a
photopolymerization reaction with reactive diluents, resulting
in a transparent, flexible material. The flexibility of the material
can be controlled through the choice of reactive diluent
(photo O). One possible application for this type of product is
wood coatings (photo ), as initial testing has shown that it is
easily applied and adheres well to wood.
Contact: Rmi Auvergne, remi.auvergne@enscm.fr
Adding value by chemical waste recycling: the example of PET
O PET flakes from the recycling
industry.
O PET depolymerized in an
extruder.
O Product after laboratory
reaction.
O Material obtained after
photopolymerization
(thickness 0.50.7 mm).
Application in the coatings
sector.
O O
O O
O
Trial of near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) to sort/
separate WEEE plastics.

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To optimize methane production through anaerobic digestion
of organic waste, it is essential to know in advance the potential
methane value, for which purpose the Biochemical Methane
Potential (BMP) test is performed, consisting of at least one
months fermentation. That is too long a period in an industrial
context, as it generates inventory management constraints and
risks a loss of bacterial population in the reactors should the
waste prove not very biodegradable.
To optimize industrial-scale methane production processes,
near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is an innovative way of
rapidly determining the wastes BMP: it can analyse the overall
organic matter after a quick sample preparation and calculate
the methane potential within a few minutes. Hence, there is less
risk of methanating waste with little biodegradability, and the
co-digestion process will be better controlled.
The EcoTech-LR platform allowed UMR ITAP, LBE and LGEI to
jointly develop a methodology whereby freeze-dried, triturated
waste is analysed by reflection using NIRS. The predicted
BMP results are very accurate, particularly in the light of the
complexity of the medium studied: a prediction error of 10%
(28 ml CH
4
.g
-1
of volatile matter [MV]) out of 70 representative
samples of household waste (values between 89 and 357 ml
CH
4
.g
-1
MV), a good repeatability error (about 7 ml CH
4
.g
-1

MV) and no bias between the prediction for the calibration
batch and the test batch. Interpretation of the spectra and the
prediction model also provides characterization data on the
waste, such as the presence of hydrocarbons, lipids and proteins,
which improve BMP, and of other compounds that will impair it
because they are not degraded during anaerobic digestion (e.g.,
fibre or plastics).
The next step is to move to industrialization of the method,
which promises strong growth and substantial economic benefits,
given the significant need for agricultural and household waste
treatment. For that purpose, as the spectral response is very
sensitive to the type of medium studied, calibration will be
required for each type of waste.
Contacts: Jean-Michel Roger, jean-michel.roger@irstea.fr
ric Latrille, latrille@supagro.inra.fr
& Catherine Gonzalez, gonzalez@ema.fr
This research, as embodied in the thesis of Mr. Lesteur, a PhD student at the ECOTECH-LR
Regional Technology Platform, received the ADEME award for innovative technology at the 2009
Pollutec salon. It then led to a technology transfer to Ondalys under the MethaNIR project.
Evaluating the methane potential of organic waste
through near-infrared spectrometry
Water and waste recycling and recovery
Autosampler connected to a gas
chromatograph for analysis of volatile fatty
acids produced during anaerobic digestion.

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0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
400
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
Calibration
Validation
Repeatability SE
Measured BMPs (ml CH
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.g
-1
MV)
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B
M
P
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(
m
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C
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.
g
-
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M
V
)
Comparison of measured and predicted values.
The diagonal represents a 1:1 ratio.
Prediction error: 28 ml CH
4
.g
-1
MV ;
Repeatability error: 7 ml CH
4
.g
-1
MV . R=0.8.
Slurry impeller for open-air
microalgae cultivation.

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Bioenergy
O How energy biomass processes
are to be implemented: the research
concentrates on an evaluation of
the environmental impacts of the
processes, development scenarios
at the local, national and regional
levels, the definition of an ex ante
and ex post methodology to assess
the viability of systems for energy
production from biomass, with an
integrated approach to technical,
economic and environmental
factors.
The unit works in partnership with
the International Institute of Water
Engineering and Environment
(Burkina Faso), with which a
common platform for research into
biomass energy has been developed,
the Forest Products Laboratory
(Brazil) with which research on
energy recovery from forest and
tree-farm waste is being conducted,
and the Centro Agronmico de
Investigacin y Enseanza (Costa
Rica), with which work is being done
on energy biomass development
scenarios and their impacts.
The units main scientific facilities
include a 200 m platform of semi-
industrial pilots, a motor and burner
test bench for biomass-derived fuels,
and laboratories to analyse products
and by-products of the conversion
reaction.
The objective of the research
being done by the UR Biomass &
Energy (CIRAD) is to develop
and optimize processes for energy
production from biomass and to
analyse how such processes may be
developed in the countries of the
South. Target applications include
the production of heat, electricity
and motive power. The unit focuses
in particular on thermochemical
biomass conversion processes
involving pyrolysis, gasification
and combustion. The knowledge
thus acquired also contributes to
longer-term development of second
generation biofuels produced by
thermochemical means.
The focus of the research work is
twofold:
O How biomass fuels react
under pyrolysis, gasification and
combustion, and how to design
innovative conversion processes: the
research focuses on the influence
of biomass type on the reactions,
the factors that control conversion,
the quality of the products obtained
and their optimum use, and, in
general, the optimization of recovery
processes. The unit relies on
experimental devices ranging from
laboratory scale to semi-industrial
pilots. Models for the behaviour
of biomass during the various
transformation phases are also being
developed.
Develop and optimize
processes for energy
production from biomass
The great majority of rural people
in the countries of the South lack
access to energy. Biomass, though
often abundant there, is used only
to supply basic household energy.
Today, economic development
demands access to production-
grade energy, which is essential to
raw material processing and food
preservation and, more generally,
to the development of economic
activities that will generate jobs and
income.
The main teams
Trimatec Competitiveness cluster
on green technologies
DERBI Competitiveness cluster -
Development of Renewable Energy/
Building/Industry
BIONERGIESUD Network
UR Biomass & Energy
(CIRAD)
12 scientists
Other teams working
in this area
UMR IATE
Agro-polymer Engineering
and Emerging Technologies
(CIRAD/INRA/Montpellier SupAgro/UM2)
49 scientists
UR LBE
Laboratory of Environmental
Biotechnology
(INRA)
16 scientists
The BioViVe project (wine-growing biomass for glass melting)
seeks to feed a glass furnace directly with syngas derived from
the woody by-products of the pruning and grubbing-up of
vines, to replace fossil fuels. This gas will be specifically tailored
to the needs of glass melting and will be tested in Verallias
furnace in Oiry (Marne), so the project partnersSaint-Gobain
Emballage, GDF SUEZ, XYLOWATT, CIRAD and the Comit
Interprofessionnel du Vin de Champagnewill be doing laboratory
research, semi-industrial combustion cell tests and long-term
tests on the Oiry industrial furnace under normal production
conditions. This project will also lead to the creation of an
ongoing biomass collection industry in the Champagne vineyards.
The projects ultimate goal is to achieve about a 7% replacement
of fossil fuels with biomass. In addition, the knowledge and
experience gained thereby will enable partners to consider more
significant development of the sector and a transition to a 50%
replacement rate.
The UR Biomass & Energy is particularly involved in
two project tasks, which it coordinates. The first is the
characterization and mobilization of the waste vine-wood
resource. The second concerns the projects research aimed at
understanding and optimizing the staged gasification process,
to achieve an increase in the heating value of the syngas.
Gasification research is Biomass and energy research units
core activity, to provide an effective biomass recovery solution to
facilitate access to energy in the South.
Contact: Laurent Van De Steene,
laurent.van_de_steene@cirad.fr
Biomass of the Champagne vineyards,
a renewable energy source for bottle production
Pilot reactor for continuous fixed-bed biomass
pyrolysis and gasification, CIRAD.

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Improving biofuel combustion for the rural South
One glass (20 cl)! Thats how much diesel or biofuel, on
average, a rural family in the South (Africa, Pacific, Amazon)
needs to have electricity for 4 to 8 hours a day. But the
primary need is to have a little power, occasionally or
intermittently, for energy services. In Africa, this takes the
form of grain milling, water pumping and handicrafts using
powered hand tools. Throughout the rural developing world,
the requisite power is obtained from small gasolineor most
often dieselengines. Lister type diesel engines have been
widespread on all continents for decades.
In Africa, the development of multifunctional platforms (United
Nations Development Programme/MFP) has encouraged their
commercialization. These 5- to 15-hp engines are found under
various names in the various countries and regions (Peter
Lister, Rhino, Fieldmarshal, Imex, Elephant, Jumbo, Goldstar).
They are manufactured in India from a model that has long
been obsolete in England. They are hardy, undemanding engines
and, especially, cost much less than newer diesels of equivalent
power. They are widespread among millers and for water
pumping, and attempts to adapt them to use local biofuels
were made in the early 80s.
But problems of combustion chamber fouling arose right
from initial testing, discouraging any decision to use local
pure vegetable oils in rural areas. CIRADs objective is to
provide an appropriate technology solution to allow the use
of alternative fuels from local oilseeds. The study and recent
development of a very inexpensive part50that is easy to
fabricate and install locally will enable hundreds of thousands
of these engines to use biofuel in place of diesel. As of today
palm, cottonseed or jatropha oil are the favoured types.
Contact: Gilles Vaitilingom, gilles.vaitilingom@cirad.fr

The DANAC project
activated anaerobic digestionbiomimicry for anaerobic digestion
Today, industrial technologies are being used to produce the
various biochemical processes of anaerobic digestion within
a single reactor. Over this past decade, pre-processing or
co-processing anaerobic digestion methods have appeared
whose purpose was to make the matter to be digested more
readily available. To date, however, none of these technologies
has been able to exceed the threshold of 60% degradation of
the organic matter, and so biogas production has been limited.
It should be noted that anaerobic digestion is a very common
process, especially in living beings gastrointestinal tract.
In these ecosystems, its may digest 61 to 76% of the organic
matter.
These results suggest that the living world has developed
systems that overcome the obstacle of organic matter
availability and so optimize the transformation of matter into
energetic compounds. The objective of the DANAC project
is to thoroughly analyse living beings digestion processes and,
by mimicry, to develop new processes for producing biogas
from waste, with a better than 70% rate of organic matter
degradation. LBE is coordinating this project in partnership
with the UR Hydrosystems and Bioprocesses (IRSTEA),
the Paris Sud-Ouest proteomic analysis platform (INRA),
the UMR Biogeochemistry and Ecology of Continental
Environments (AgroParisTech, CNRS, ENS, IRD, Universits
Paris 6 and Paris 12) and Suez Environnement.
Contact: Jean-Jacques Godon, jean-jacques.godon@supagro.inra.fr
An example of an 8-hp Lister Rhino diesel engine installed
on a multifunctional platform, here coupled to a power generator
and a husker. 2IE, Burkina Faso, 2011.

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The DANAC projects objectives: through biomimicry,
to seek novel technological solutions for the optimization
of solid waste treatment.
0
100
200
300
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DCO
/m
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.j
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500 million years
of evolution
100 years
of research
???
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SYMBIOSE project
study and optimization of anaerobic bacteria/microalgae
coupling for bioenergy production
Many research and development programmes are looking
into the use of microalgae for energy production or the
capture of CO
2
of industrial origin. The SYMBIOSE project,
coordinated by Naskeo (in collaboration with LBE [INRA] /
UMR Ecology of Coastal Marine Systems [UM2-IRD-CNRS-
UM1-French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea
(IFREMER)] / Biological Control of Artificial Ecosystems
team [National Institute for Research in Computer Science
and Control] / Laboratory of Physiology and Biotechnology
of Algae [IFREMER]) seeks to explore a parallel and often
complementary approach to the conventional energy production
technologies using these microorganisms: coupling microalgae
cultures that capture industrial CO
2
through an anaerobic
digestion process in order to recycle crop nutrients and
produce methane. The project builds on recent advances in the
control of microalgae cultures and anaerobic digestion processes
by including lagoon ecosystem ecology and an eco-design
approach, and aims to explore new avenues of research:
identification and characterization of photosynthetic
ecosystems capable of withstanding extreme growing
conditions;
use of anaerobic co-digestion in a two-step process in order
to control the flow of nutrients;
modelling and control of two biological systems;
integration into a single process through an eco-design
approach.
This project aims to exploit mechanisms that occur in natural
aquatic environments while controlling them to optimize light
and CO
2
capture efficiency and crop sustainability. Most projects
concerned with mass microalgae production will benefit from
these advances. Expected benefits from these results:
less use of external nitrogen and phosphorus on
photosynthetic biomass crops;
simultaneous purification of gaseous effluents and organic
waste;
lower costs and increased energy efficiency;
improved system resilience;
prospect of a new model for sustainable energy production.
Contact: Jean-Philippe Steyer,
jean-philippe.steyer@supagro.inra.fr
Lignocellulosic biomass must be pre-processed to achieve
efficient enzymatic hydrolysis of cell wall polysaccharides, a key
step in the production of ethanol and methane. Four research
units (UMR IATE, UR LBE, UR Biomass & Energy, UMR Institut
Jean-Pierre Bourgin) came together to form the 3BCAR Carnot
Institute
*
in order to study and develop an original method for
straw pre-processing that would be energy-efficient and have
a positive mass/energy balance after ethanol fermentation and
methanogenesis.
As a first step, the biomass is subjected to moderate
heat treatment, which degrades its mechanical properties.
To optimize this treatment, it is combined with chemical
impregnation to allow embrittlement and structural
modification of the cell wall architecture to destructure the
core material and increase its reactivity. The heated material is
then finely triturated in high-speed mills designed to produce
powders with a particle size of less than 50 m. The powders
obtained undergo enzymatic post-processing to open up those
parts of the cell wall that resisted the first pre-processing steps,
and are then used as substrates for ethanol fermentation and
methanation tests. The samples are analysed at all stages to
provide clues to the relationship between their composition,
properties and behaviour under the processing employed.
Processes are observed in detail to establish energy balances.
The overall result will be compared with existing methods.
Contacts: Xavier Rouau, Xavier.Rouau@supagro.inra.fr
& Claire Dumas, Claire.Dumas@supagro.inra.fr
* Bioenergy, Biomolecules and Biomaterials from Renewable Carbon: www.3bcar.fr
PEACE project
production of Energy from Agro-resources
by Energy-efficient Conversion
The Algotron, a fully instrumented pilot project of the SYMBIOSE project,
combining cultivation of microalgae and anaerobic digestion, on the LBE (INRA) site.

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disseminate those methodologies
by developing collaborations with
industrial partners, consultants
and local communities, and the
State;
provide training to students and
professionals;
brief the scientific community
through seminars, conferences, etc.
With a current staff of
30 researchers, half of them
permanent, the ELSA cluster has had
very strong growth over the past four
years. In 2012, ELSA was involved in
21 research projects (9 ANR projects,
4 FUI, 3 ADEME, and 4 international
projects).
In the area of science facilitation, the
ELSA cluster organizes two to three
events a year; since its inception it
has held two research symposia (one
international and one national),
two international seminars and
four awareness days. Since 2011,
the ELSA cluster has extended its
international reach through the
Interreg EcoTech-Sudoe project (an
international life cycle analysis and
eco-design network for innovative
environmental technologies),
which has enabled networking and
exchanges between eight French,
Spanish and Portuguese laboratories.
The ELSA cluster is open to any
new collaborator or institution
wishing to take advantage of the
arrangement, upon acceptance by
the administrators.
ELSA cluster: life cycle
analysis of process
sustainability
The Environmental Lifecycle and
Sustainability Assessment cluster
(ELSA) is a multidisciplinary
research group dedicated to the
environmental and social life
cycle analysis of processes and to
industrial ecology. ELSA brings
together researchers, teachers and
students from several institutes of
research and higher education in the
Languedoc-Roussillon (LR) region.
Its members thus benefit from the
pooling of other members expertise
and knowledge.
ELSA was founded in 2008, with
the Regions support, as part of the
EcoTech-LR platform, which brings
together five organizations: INRA,
CIRAD, EMA, Montpellier SupAgro,
and IRSTEA. ELSAs role within
that platform is the cross-cutting
task of environmental and social
assessment of the processes under
study, whether in agriculture, water
and waste management, biomass
energy production, or land use
planning.
ELSA members work together to:
advance the methodology
of environmental and social
assessments;
The main team
ELSA cluster
Environmental Lifecycle
and Sustainability Assessment
(IRSTEA/CIRAD/EMA/
Montpellier SupAgro/INRA)
30 scientists
Other teams working
in this area
UMR ITAP
Information/Technologies/Environmental
Analysis/Agricultural Processes
(Montpellier SupAgro/IRSTEA)
27 scientists
UPR LGEI
Engineering Laboratory
for Industrial Environmental Engineering
and Industrial and Natural Risks
(EMA)
29 scientists
UPR CMGD
Materials Research Centre
(EMA)
40 scientists
UPR Recycling and Risk
(CIRAD)
13 scientists
UR LBE
Laboratory of Environmental
Biotechnology
(INRA)
16 scientists
UR Biomass & Energy
(CIRAD)
12 scientists
Assessment methods:
Life cycle analysis, eco-design,
industrial and territorial ecology
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On Runion island, the management of a number of growing
organic waste dumps (sewage sludge, manure, green waste, food
waste) poses serious problems, mainly because of siloing of the
various industries, even while these organic materials could be
of great service in agriculture. The project Integrated Organic
Waste Management through Agricultural Enrichment on
Runion (GIROVAR), being conducted by a consortium of seven
partner organizations (co-ordinated by the UPR Recycling
& Risk in collaboration with the UR Renewable Resource
Management and Environment) in the conurbation of towns
in the west of Runion, is looking into the service potential of
organic waste recycling. A participatory research method is
used to identify integrated land management scenarios whereby
the potential benefit could be realized, the aim being to make
possible all current and planned developments in the various
sectors concerned without endangering the regional systems
sustainability. It is essential for the scenarios identified to be
rigorously and objectively evaluated from an environmental,
logistical, regulatory, economic and social standpoint.
As regards the environmental aspect, territorial ecology
research has produced ways of assessing the effect in terms
of island-wide eco-efficiency (through a study of the islands
metabolism). However, these methods cannot determine
what services could emerge or what environmental impacts
these scenarios may ultimately have. By coupling the territorial
ecology approach with a systemic evaluation framework
(Driver-Pressure-State-Impact-Response), the environmental
assessment seeks to produce a spatio-temporal analysis of the
changes in environmental impacts that would be generated by
the management scenarios being considered, to estimate how
great the change of state might be in the various environmental
areas (land, air, water), and to gauge the risk of harm or the
likely benefit of these impacts.
Contact: Tom Wassenaar, tom.wassenaar@cirad.fr
info@girovar.re
For further information: http://girovar.com
GIROVAR Project
participatory modelling for the co-construction
and evaluation of scenarios for integrated organic waste management
Turning over green waste
compost on Runion.

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The logic behind
the GIROVAR project
and its stages.
DEPART project
from waste management to the circular economythe emergence
of new partnership practices in port areas
In industrial ports, massive amounts of matter and energy
are exchanged and transformed. Hence, ports are gradually
assimilating the principles and tools of industrial and territorial
ecology in order to optimize their matter and energy flows and
to foster collaborative practices of recycling and recovery of
liquid, solid or gaseous industrial wastes. Such actions are now
seen as essential in maintaining competitiveness in industrial
and port activities and in reducing the pressure exerted on
the environment. However, the adoption of such practices
does not depend only on the intrinsic characteristics of the
matter and energy flows (quantity, quality, variability, etc.); The
cultures of cooperation of the various territorial actors and
their understanding of the major issues and problems in the
study area are all fundamental in mobilizing stakeholders to
engage in territorial resource management. Before deploying
and generalizing this type of approach, the first requirement is
to establish a diagnosis, to characterize and evaluate the above
criteria.
The DEPART project (2010-2012) was co-funded by ADEME
and involved six partners (Auxilia, Mydiane, Vianova System,
Systmes Durables, EMA, Universit Toulouse II). Its goal has been
to innovate in its methodological approach to industrial and
territorial ecology by proposing and validating the adoption of
a methodology based more on stakeholders perceptions, the
skills available and the needs felt than merely a flow analysis.
Its specific context is port areas. A range of tools (territorial
analytical grid, geographic information system, territorial
intelligence tree, etc.) were developed and used to optimize
the collection and use of territorial data drawn from existing
documents and databases but also from targeted interviews
with key players in the territory and/or the areas of activity
under study. These tools were iteratively tested and developed
at the ports of Fos-sur-Mer and Le Havre.
Contact: Guillaume Junqua, guillaume.junqua@mines-ales.fr

European Directive 2001/42/EC proposes the establishment
of a procedural tool, a Strategic Environmental Assessment
(SEA), which must be applied right from the first stages of
the development of plans and programmes likely to have
a significant influence on the environment. This includes
programmes related to local areas and their management
(e.g., in France, territorial coherence plans, local urban
planning). However, there is no formal process for making
such assessments.
Methodological developments are needed so that a
comprehensive assessment may be done of environmental
impacts within a territory and development choices endorsed.
A current thesis at UMR ITAP, within the ELSA cluster
(co-direction by ITAP/EMA/UMR TETIS [AgroParisTech/
CIRAD/IRSTEA] with the collaboration of the Syndicat Mixte
du Bassin de Thau) aims to develop an environmental analysis
methodology as a tool for optimizing development choices in
a particular area.
Environmental assessment
methodology for activities
distributed over a broad area
The main methodological barriers
to LCA implementation within a territory.
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Assessment methods...
Timber harvesting in Amazonia generates a significant amount
of waste: in the Brazilian state of Par, for 2.5 million m
3
of
sawn timber produced in 2010, 4 million m
3
of waste was
generated. That biomass, now little regarded, could be a
valuable input for an energy generation industry; but, given
woods low energy density and how scattered the resource
is (in Par, forestry operations take place in more than a
thousand sawmills), the distances over which transport is
feasible are limited, for economic and environmental reasons.
This makes the undertaking a difficult one. Fast pyrolysis, a
process of biomass preconditioning resulting in a liquid fuel
known as pyrolysis oil or bio-oil, can significantly enhance the
energy/mass ratio of the wood waste, so reducing the cost of
transport. As bio-oils are liquid fuels, homogeneous and pure,
they afford more recovery possibilities than raw biomass:
co-refining with petroleum feedstocks; combustion in boilers,
diesel engines, and extraction of molecules for simultaneous
chemical upgrading.
The work of the UR Biomass & Energy (CIRAD), in collaboration with the University of Braslia (UnB) and the Brazilian Forest
Service, aims to quantify, by means of an LCA, the environmental benefits of the incorporation of fast pyrolysis into biomass supply
chains. The ultimate goal is to determine the contexts where fast pyrolysis is most relevant and most favours the emergence of
a biomass-based energy production process, and to optimize the environmental benefits of the use of sawmill waste. This work
is being undertaken as part of a doctoral programme co-supervised by CIRAD and UnB and the research project Multi-resource
Adaptation to Gasification (AMAZON), co-funded by ANR, France / Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientfico e Tecnolgico,
Brazil.
Contacts: Anthony Benoist, anthony.benoist@cirad.fr
Franois Broust, francois.broust@cirad.fr
Armando Caldeira Pires, armandcp@unb.br
Thiago Oliveira Rodrigues, thiagoefl@gmail.com
& Patrick Rousset, patrick.rousset@cirad.fr
Study of the environmental impacts of the insertion
of preconditioning by fast pyrolysis
in biomass energy supply chains
Sawmills activities generate a large quantity
of waste that can be converted into energy. Brazil.

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Tolerance of
ecotopes
Water use
inventory
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At present a number of different tools may be used for
these assessments (LCA, material flow analysis, input-
output analysis, exergy, emergy, ecological footprint,
environmental risk analysis). Of these, LCA has been
identified as a potentially promising tool for local decision
support. However, LCA is originally a product/service
oriented approach. It has been proposed that the scale of
the systems under review be expanded by incorporating an
analysis of territorial systems. To date, no studies have been
done for one entire territory. This may be explained by the
presence of certain methodological obstacles:
(i) definition of functional unit(s) and reference flow,
(ii) selection of system boundaries, (iii) system modelling,
and (iv) development of appropriate local decision support
indicators. Accordingly, recommendations will be made on
how to adapt the LCA methodological framework to the
environmental assessment of whole territories. The work
proposed by the thesis will be applied to the study of land
use scenarios within the territory of Thau Lagoon (France).
Contact: Elonore Loiseau, eleonore.loiseau@irstea.fr
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Environmental monitoring
purpose, one area for improvement
is the functionalization of
materials whose origin is biological
(biopolymers), mineral or synthetic,
with different molecular structures
(composites, nanostructures) or
different packaging (encapsulation),
and the use of biological processes in
purification;
study of processes for resource
re-use and recycling, considered in
terms of quality and use.
In support of these issues, LGEI
has access to laboratory equipment
(HPLC/MS/MS, GC/MS/MS, ICP,
extractors) as well as a test centre
for experiments on a semi-industrial
pilot scale. These facilities are open
to academic and industrial teams of
the regional technology platforms.
In addition, LGEI has been a
stakeholder in the Ecotech LR
platform (cf. p. 43) since its inception
and is actively involved in the ELSA
cluster, cf. p. 32). LGEIs particular
responsibility, within that cluster, is
the industrial ecology focus. Finally,
LGEI is part of the M.IN.E.S. Carnot
Institute, whose accreditation has
been renewed, showing LGEIs key
role in relations with the economic
sector. The Laboratory is active in a
number of clusters: Water, Trimatec,
Territorial Risk and Vulnerability
(cf. p. 43), and Eurobiomed.
To meet these objectives, LGEI is
developing multidisciplinary research
covering a wide scope of applications
based on complementary disciplines
such as: process engineering,
analytical chemistry and metrology,
microbiology, molecular biology,
hydrology, hydrogeology, geomatics,
geostatistical methods, information
technology and computer modelling,
simulation and decision support
tools.
Those applications relate to
proposed diagnostic and monitoring
tools to assess resource quality
(detection and measurement of
physicochemical and biological
parameters), integrated
environmental management of
resources in a region or on an
industrial site (pollutant flow,
matter, products), risk management
and control (hazard, impact and
vulnerability analyses).
As regards environmental
technologies, its development foci
are:
development of measurement
methods for the quantification of
organic and metallic pollutants in
different matrices (water, sediment,
liquid and gaseous effluents),
biosensing and bioassay system
development (assessing pollutant
effects);
development and improvement
of processes for the treatment of
liquid or gaseous effluents. For that
Resource management,
impact reduction and
risk management
The Laboratory for Industrial
Environment Engineering and
Industrial and Natural Risks
(UPR LGEI) is one of three internal
laboratories of the cole des Mines
dAls [EMA, having the status of a
national public administration (EPA)
reporting to the Ministry of Industry].
LGEI focuses its research on resource
management, impact reduction, and
risk management to meet industrial
and societal demand. These research
foci are congruent with the field
of environmental technologies as
technologies, processes, products
and services aimed at reducing the
impact of human activity on the
environment.
The main team
UPR LGEI
Engineering Laboratory for Industrial
Environmental Engineering and Industrial
and Natural Risks
(EMA)
29 scientists
Other teams working
in this area
UMR ITAP
Information/Technologies/Environmental
Analysis/Agricultural Processes
(Montpellier SupAgro/IRSTEA)
27 scientists
UPR Recycling and Risk
(CIRAD)
13 scientiques
On Runion, the increasing production of organic waste (water
treatment plant sludge, fermentable fraction of household
waste, green waste, manure and agri-food waste), referred to as
exogenous organic matter (MOEx), goes hand in hand with the
increase in both population and animal husbandry. The islands
insularity and isolation make it impossible to export the MOEx;
it must be locally managed. There are two possible ways of
recovery: O to maintain and enhance soil fertility,
O to produce renewable energy. The choice of the most
appropriate recovery mode can be eased if a typology of
MOEx is drawn up, to assess value vs. risk (e.g., with respect
to greenhouse gas emissions). The development of MOEx
characterization tools represents a scientific challenge: to
decide how it should be managed in a context of sustainable
development.
Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), a qualitative and quantitative
technique, is the tool used. Calibration is required to convert an
observed spectrum into a valuable parameter (e.g. concentration
of a particular component) using statistical tools. The model
developed is then used to predict the parameter in question
from NIRS spectra of samples of a nature similar to those in
the calibration range. NIRS is used to compile baseline data
sets in the field or in the laboratory: transformative potential of
nitrogen and carbon (humus potential), combustion potential,
methane potential. This technique, when applied to MOEx in the
raw state or during processing (e.g. composting and anaerobic
digestion), should allow data to be generated reliably, quickly and
at low cost so as to evaluate different scenarios for using these
resources.
Contact: Laurent Thuris, laurent.thuries@cirad.fr
Choice of waste recovery mode based
on waste characterization by near-infrared spectroscopy
Use of a near-infrared field spectrometer
for agricultural and energy characterization
of poultry litter.
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ECODREDGE project
method and technique for global and local management of harbour dredging products
In France, 50 million cubic metres of sediment is dredged
annually, including 17,500,000 m/year in French Atlantic
coast ports, while the volume dredged is lower on the
Mediterranean coast. Small ports and marinas produce nearly
a quarter of all sludge from marine sediment dredging in
France. In this context, the Grenelle de la Mer made a number
of commitments for the reduction of marine pollution from
dredging, including a ban on the dumping of polluted sludge at
sea and implementation of sludge treatment processes.
ECODREDGE-MED, a collaborative project initiated by the
independent management board at Port-Camargue, offers an
innovative approach to sustainable management of harbour
sediment. with two goals in mind: first, to institute dredging
and materials processing technology that does not rely on
temporary storage on land and, second, to find local recovery
processes to meet the demand for materials. This project
has been accredited by the Water cluster under thrust 2
(concerted management of resources and resource use),
to which it belongs.
Its scientific objectives are:
to develop ways of better evaluating the recovery potential
of the dredged sediment while respecting environmental
constraints;
to define constraints on materials formulation for recycling
purposes;
to monitor the effects of dredging on the mobilization and
ecotoxicity of metals and organic compounds;
to develop tools for tracing pollution sources.
ECODREDGE-MED has the support of qualified firms (BEC,
BRL-I SOLS Med) and the research laboratories Armines-LGEI
(EMA), UMR HydroSciences Montpellier (CNRS, IRD, UM1,
UM2), UMR Coastal Marine Systems Ecology (CNRS, IFREMER,
IRD, UM1, UM2). EMCC, a company specializing in dredging and
owned by the Vinci Group, rounds out the consortium. This
project is financially supported by the Single Interministerial
Fund, the European Regional Development Fund, OSEO and the
Languedoc-Roussillon region.
Contacts: Michel Cavailles, m.cavailles@portcamargue.com
Catherine Gonzalez, catherine.gonzalez@mines-ales.fr
& ric Garcia-Diaz, eric.garcia-diaz@mines-ales.fr
Technological developments currently underway at LGEI aim
to develop new detection systems focused on one target
pollutant or one type of induced effect and to improve
instrumentation in terms of accuracy, reliability, speed
of measurement, automation, miniaturization and cost,
emphasizing in situ validation of new sensors (including
passive sensors and biosensors) to demonstrate their
potential for resource monitoring, diagnosis and management.
These sensors would enable screening to be done for
persistent organic pollutants (pesticides, PCBs, PAHs) and
resource monitoring to be carried out (water, sediment, for
example), to judge how contaminated the resources are and
whether or not to re-use or recycle them. These research
foci are directly related to the concerns of the Water
cluster, including: sensor miniaturization, sensor network
improvement, data transmission...
What technologies
for what kind of
pollution? pollution?

Field biosensing kit.

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Aerial view of the port
of Port Camargue.
Michel Cavailles
Soil, being the 2nd largest
carbon (C) sink after the oceans
and rocks, and much more
important than biomass, is a
major storage channel for C. In
the spirit of the Kyoto Protocol,
farmers could be paid for this
storage service under two types
of contract: remuneration of
good practices or generation
of carbon credits. The second
approach is the most effective
but requires a means of
measuring sequestered carbon
accurately and inexpensively.
An international consortium
(UMR ITAP, UMR Eco & Soils
[INRA/Montpellier SupAgro/
CIRAD/IRD], INRA Orlans,
University of Sydney; financial
support from ADEME and the
Ministry of the Environment)the INCA projectwas set up
through an exchange of researchers funded by the Languedoc-
Roussillon Region via the EcoTech-LR platform, to develop
equipment and a method for measuring the concentration
of C in soil by volume. That method, based on NIRS, must
be implemented in the field to avoid the costs of sample
preparation & extraction and to allow repeated measurements.
Several methodological and
technological obstacles remain:
How can the concentration of
carbon by volume be predicted?
How can soil/infrared radiation
interactions be modelled, to
optimize the optical interface
and improve measurement
reliability? How much do
outdoor influence quantities
(temperature, humidity)
influence measurements)?
How can measurements be made
reliable? How can a database of
spectra measured from dried,
triturated samples (taken from
the soil sample collection of the
national soil quality network) be
used and applied to samples in
the field? How can the accuracy
and reliability of calibration be
improved, in particular by reducing
systematic error in doing the calibration through alternative
chemometric approaches?
These issues are being addressed through experimental
modelling approaches in the laboratory. Spectral bases will be
built by combining existing data and newly acquired spectra and
data. This project will have to validate a planned portable sensor
for field use.
Contact: Alexia Gobrecht, alexia.gobrecht@irstea.fr
Assess carbon sequestration
in soils by near-infrared
spectrometry
Laboratory soil measurement by NIRS: to record spectra the
measuring head is applied to triturated screened soil samples.
There are currently two main development goals:
Development of passive sensors for polar herbicides
(study of kinetic retention models, optimization of receiving
phases, laboratory and in situ calibration). As part of a thesis
prepared in co-direction with BRGM Orlans, these sensors are
used to monitor water resources (surface and groundwater).
These screening tools are also being used to evaluate potential
contamination sources in the aquatic environment during
dredging (ECODREDGE-MED project, cf. p. 38).
Development of biosensors based on a molecular
(antibody) recognition system kept immobile on a newly devised
(biopolymer) medium, connected to a signal processing system,
to quantify the level of pollution. This system is integral to
the development of an instrument for continuous biological
multiparametric pollutant measurement (ANR COMBITOX).
Finally, this work has helped to develop a field detection kit for
environmental toxins.
Contacts: Catherine Gonzalez,
catherine.gonzalez@mines-ales.fr
& Ingrid Bazin, ingrid.bazin@mines-ales.fr

Passive sensors deployed on site.

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Innovation stakeholders
mobilize around
green technologies
The Water cluster, a global competitiveness cluster that received its
accreditation in May 2010 when the green technology clusters call
for projects was issued, brings together businesses, local authorities,
training organizations and research institutions involved in the water
sector in the Provence-Alpes-Cte dAzur, Languedoc-Roussillon
and Midi-Pyrnes regions It also coordinates Frances other water
clusters: (Ple DREAM Eau & Milieux, Ple de lEau Alsace/Lorraine
HYDREOS). Its objectives are twofold: to create value and economic
development through innovative and collaborative projects, and to
spur the export of French technological products, services and know-
how while making French research internationally known. Its strategic
thrusts are as follows:
identification and mobilization of water resources;
concerted management of water resources in a context of rapid
global climate change;
re-use of water from every source;
institutional and societal approaches.
The Water cluster belongs to the Green Technologies network
*
set
up by the Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy to
generate a cooperative sectoral dynamic based on 14 competitiveness
clusters.
At the national level it helps coordinate a working group on
environmental metrology and instrumentation. Apart from the
ECODREDGE-MED project (cf. p. 38), the majority of projects
accredited by the Water cluster relate to:
green technologies for agriculture (irrigation): the MAISEAU and
IRRIS projects, funded by FUI [the Single Interministerial Fund] and
the environmental industry, respectively;
recycling and recovery of urban water: LAGUMEM and NEOPHIL
(FUI) and NOWMMA (environmental industry);
bioenergy via gasification of urban sewage sludge mixed with other
wastes: ADWASTE2GAS project (FUI);
environmental monitoring: FISHBOX (FUI), KRHU (FUI), SIRHYUS
(FUI), SMARTPIX (FUI), FRESQUEAU (ANR-funded) projects.
The Water cluster is financed by the State and by the Languedoc-
Roussillon, Midi-Pyrnes and Provence-Alpes-Cte dAzur regions as
well as the Montpellier Urban Community.
Contact: Jean-Loc Carr, info@pole-eau.com
For further information: www.pole-eau.com
* www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/Le-reseau-Eco-technologies-une.html
WATER cluster
global competitiveness cluster
The Qualimditerrane cluster seeks to develop innovation at
agri-food companies in the Mediterranean region. The cluster has
two strategic foci: competitive and sustainable Mediterranean
agriculture and commercialization of new products from agriculture
and the associated processes.
Green technologies are addressed, in particular, through projects
focusing on limiting the impact of conventional pesticides, whether
in the environment (open fields) or in storage facilities (silos).
The answers it comes up with relate to the development of
new treatment solutions based on the use of natural extracts
(FUI, PHYTOMARC or GREENPROTECT projects) or on the
development of solutions to optimize conventional treatment
through automation or traceability (TICSAD project). Other
solutions are based on the development of prevention models to
establish the best times for treatments using meteorological data.
Meanwhile, life cycle analysis (LCA) is a tool increasingly used
to compare the environmental impact of different processes
or to improve these through an eco-design approach. LCAs
are integrated into projects like FLONUDEP (ANR), on the
sustainability of the fruit and vegetable sector, or NOVINPACK
(FUI), which seeks to design new types of packaging for wine.
Contact: Nicolas Nguyen The, nguyen-the@qualimediterranee.fr
For further information: www.qualimediterranee.fr
The Qualimditerrane competitiveness cluster
innovating in Mediterranean agriculture and food
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BIONERGIESUD is a network of 90 industrial and academic
stakeholders focused on the issues that arise in developing
bioenergy processes: new cultures and technological roadblocks.
Financed by the Languedoc-Roussillon Region, the Regional
Directorate for Business, Competition, Consumer Affairs,
Labour and Employment (DIRECCTE), ADEME and Europe, the
BIONERGIESUD network brings its players together to foster
new innovation and industrial development projects. It now has
more than 90 member organizationsranging from technological
and industrial enterprises, to energy producers and distributors,
competitiveness clusters, and research agencieswith common
issues and objectives.
BIONERGIESUDs missions revolve around six areas of expertise
in which green technologies are ubiquitous:
Biomass pre-treatment: biochemical and biotechnological
processes, thermochemical and catalytic processes;
methanation: as it relates to the environmental biorefinery
concept, comprising organic waste treatment, digestate
recovery, water recycling and the uses of biogas;
3rd-generation biofuels: mass algaculture, extraction and
separation processes;
gas analysis and separation: separation and purification
technologies;
measurement and process control: innovation in sensors, online
analysis method;
channels and impact studies: new Mediterranean energy crops,
societal and environmental analysis of bioenergy channels.

To serve its members, BIONERGIESUD offers them custom-
tailored activities: technical seminars and coordination of working
groups, general and targeted technology watches, coaching in
setting up projects and in the search for funding and partners;
and greatly enhances their visibility. Hence, BIONERGIESUD
is well positioned both to meet the technological issues faced
by bioenergy and advanced biofuels channels and to anchor the
development of such new industries in the Languedoc-Roussillon
Region; in addition, it will seek to expand its scope to all countries
of the South.
Contact: Aurlie Beauchart, beauchart@bioenergiesud.org
For further information: www.bioenergiesud.org
BIONERGIESUD
the mass effect of the Languedoc-Roussillon region
DERBI, a nationally-oriented competitiveness cluster, seeks, at
the regional, national and international level, to foster innovation,
research, training, technology transfer, development and
entrepreneurship in the field of renewable energy as it is used in
building and industry.
The topics it focuses on are in the following strategic areas:
self-powered buildings based on an intelligent holistic design,
optimized envelope performance and integration of renewable
energies (solar thermal, photovoltaic, geothermal, small wind
turbines), with special reference to the Mediterranean climate;
network management and energy storage (electricity, heat, cold)
interconnecting dwellings, activity clusters and energy generation
sites;
offsite energy production (electrical power plants, hydrogen,
biofuels...) from sun, wind or biomass, whether for remote sites or
grid-connected systems.
Many green technologies are under development within the cluster
as part of accredited, supported projects (151 R&D projects) and in
line with the strategic foci.
In particular:
The THPE [very high energy efficiency] Monitoring project
being conducted by an SME, Pyrescom, funded by FUI, the Single
Interministerial Fund, in 2006, is focused on developing the
concept of building monitoring. a building monitoring system that
meets a demand flowing from environmental and economic issues.
It comprises instruments, analytical tools, and monitoring and
simulation tools. Its support service stands ready to resolve any
concerns regarding overconsumption or discomfort. The findings
are based on the actual data provided by the building (energy, air
quality, comfort, water, etc.).
The SALINALGUE project, being carried out by the Compagnie du
Vent (FUI financing, 2010), seeks to culture and harvest microalgae
and to turn them into bioproducts. The ultimate markets for the
projects products, following the thorough biological refining of the
microalgae, are diverse: bioenergy, food, nutraceuticals, cosmetics.
The cluster strives to bring together all renewable energy
channels, but particularly concentrating solar plants. It is deeply
involved in the rehabilitation of the THEMIS power station, the first
thermodynamic power station to be built, dating from the 1980s. The
THEMIS site (Cerdagne, Pyrnes-Orientales) is now an innovation
platform where new French technologies are being developed for
concentrating solar plants. It is the only such site in France.
Contact: Gilles Charier, contact@pole-derbi.com
For further information: www.pole-derbi.com
DERBI Cluster
development of Renewable Energy / Building / Industry

GreenStars, winner of the Institutes of Excellence for Carbon-
free Energy (IEED) call for projects, is a set of collaborative
platforms bringing together France-based stakeholders in the
microalgae value chain. Microalgae are recognized as being
extraordinarily rich in proteins, lipids, fibre, vitamins, minerals and
pigments. Because they are such a rich source of these substances,
microalgae offer great potential for innovation in the areas of
energy, chemicals, human and animal nutrition and cosmetics; and
are emerging as a promising solution for the future and a possible
source of major economic developments.
GreenStars is seeking, between now and 2020,
to develop useful compoundsin particular, high-
performance biofuels and high-value-added moleculesfrom
microalgae, using CO
2
emissions and waste substances from human
activities. GreenStars is supported by INRA and brings together
45 partners (research organizations and universities, local authorities,
competitiveness clusters, and business people). The project budget
is 160 million over 10 years. It boasts three major assets: a strong
capacity for innovation; expertise and technologies drawn from the
best teams in French public research, innovative SMEs and major
industrial groups; and quality infrastructure possessing substantial
technological means.
GreenStars
looking to a new generation
of microalgae-derived biofuels and products
Innovation stakeholders around environmental technologies
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An association founded in 2005 at the initiative of the LR Region and
the State, Transferts LR supports business competitiveness through
innovation and technology transfer in the Languedoc-Roussillon
region. To that end, it supports the regions companies in project
structuring, the identification and mobilization of technological,
human and financial resources, and develops strong partnership with
regional, national and European centres of expertise in innovation.
Transferts LRs work is at the interface between research and
business; it is accredited as a technology dissemination centre by
the Ministry of Research.
Transferts LR is active in six areas related to green technologies
air, water, noise and waves, soil, energy, and wastethrough its
efforts to develop natural resource management technologies. These
efforts depend on close working relationships between research
laboratories and dynamic, frequently networked, eco-businesses of
Languedoc-Roussillon.
Transferts LR supports numerous innovative projects involving
individual firms or consortia of varying size. Support is provided
right from the preparation stage and continues through prototyping,
piloting and the construction of an industrial-scale demo. These
projects, lasting 6 to 36 months, represent a significant investment
(several million euros). For example:
ECODREDGE-MED (cf. p. 38).
Phyteau BV Mod (ERDF, OSEO, and LR Region funding), a
collaborative regional R&D project to develop an integrated tool
to deal with the issue of the use of plant protection products in
agricultural watersheds. It draws on the expertise of UMR LISAH
(INRA/IRD/Montpellier SupAgro) and the companies Envilys and
Eurofins IPL Sud.
The technological feasibility project Design, Fabrication and
Testing under Real Operating Conditions of a Prototype Geophysical
Observatory Device Integrated into Drilling Operations,
conducted by the ImaGeau company with the scientific support of
UMR Geoscience (CNRS/UM2) and a grant from the Languedoc-
Roussillon Region.
Contact: Anne Lichtenberger, direction@transferts-lr.org
For further information: www.transferts-lr.org
Transferts LR
transfer of innovative technology and know-how in Languedoc-Roussillon
The EcoTech-LR regional platform was created with
the support of the LR Region to stimulate research
and the industrial transfer of environmentally sound
technologies for agro-bioprocesses, drawing on the
areas of expertise of four applied research laboratories with diverse
and solid industrial relationships: LBE (INRA), Biomass & Energy
(CIRAD), UMR ITAP (IRSTEA/Montpellier SupAgro), LGEI (EMA).
The platforms structure comprises four technological facilities with
one cross-cutting focus:
the TraitPol facility, on effluent and waste treatment;
the BioFuel facility, on energy production from biomass;
the MesurPol facility, on pollution measurement;
the ReducPol facility, on reduction of phytosanitary pollution;
the ELSA cluster on tools and methods for eco-evaluation,
eco-design, LCA (cf. p. 32).
With a view to stimulating innovation, the EcoTech-LR platform
develops internal multi-laboratory research projects, in preparation
for industrial transfer, and specific industry-related activities:
provision (under certain conditions) of the experimental
equipment used by each of the strata;
performance of testing and research;
training;
joint research projects, including CIFRE theses (Industrial
Agreements for Training through Research);
assistance in the creation of innovative businesses and business
hosting.
One example of such joint research (IRSTEA/EMA/INRA) has been
a project to predict BMP (BioMethane Potential) by UV and NIR
spectroscopy (cf. p. 26), which won a Pollutec award for innovative
technology and resulted in an industrial transfer to a regional startup.
Contact: Vronique Bellon-Maurel, veronique.bellon@irstea.fr
For further information: www.ecotech-lr.org
EcoTech-LR
a regional platform: Environmental Technologies for Agro-bioprocesses
The Institutes main facilities will be at three sites: Montpellier-
tang de Thau (headquarters), Narbonne, and Nice-Plaine du Var.
GreenStars will help train the engineering resources that will
be needed tomorrow and should be able to create jobs and
new opportunities in numerous industrial sectors. This IEED will
endow France with an industrial vision of the whole production
chain and make the country a major player in this field at the
international level. Within five to ten years, GreenStars hopes to
be among the worlds major centres of excellence in the field of
microalgae biorefining.
Contact: Jean-Philippe Steyer,
jean-philippe.steyer@supagro.inra.fr
For further information: www4.montpellier.inra.fr/narbonne
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Production of m
icroalgae in reactors, FU
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project Salinalgue.

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The Trimatec competitiveness cluster contributes to the
development of innovative R&D projects on green technologies, in
four topic areas:
Algal biomass production and enhancement, a largely unexplored
resource that constitutes an appropriate response to environmental
imperatives (conservation of natural resources, conversion of
CO
2
). Algae enhancement has great potential in the production
of biofuels, proteins, high value-added molecules for cosmetics,
pharmaceuticals
The use of separation (ultrasonic, microwave) and membrane
technologies: ecological processes that enable separation to be done
in the liquid or gaseous phase with minimum energy consumption,
zero greenhouse gas emissions, and a reduction in the volume of
final waste.
Supercritical fluids applications: when substituted for traditional
organic solvents in the extraction and purification processes,
supercritical fluids leave the products treated and the environment
unaffected. Other possible applications are nanopowder synthesis,
impregnation of materials, or degreasing.
Control of confined environments to respond to the imperatives
of protecting persons, goods and the environment. The technologies
developed have applications in areas such as health, nuclear, and
micro-nanotechnology.
Trimatec brings together a network of 249 members and partners
in the Languedoc-Roussillon, Provence-Alpes-Cte dAzur and
Rhne-Alpes regions. At the end of 2011, the cluster had accredited
158 projects valued at some 725 million. As the environmental
technologies sector is characterized by a multiplicity of emerging
industries and an array of SMEs with varying levels of visibility,
Trimatecs approach is to foster or create structured ecosystems in
each of its topic areas. In addition, Trimatec is actively involved in the
national network of 14 EcoTech clusters set up by the Ministry of
Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy.
Contact: Laura Lecurieux-Belfond, laura.lecurieux@pole-trimatec.fr
For further information: www.pole-trimatec.fr
Trimatec
a competitiveness cluster on green technologies
The competitiveness cluster Risk management and territorial
vulnerabilitiescommonly called the Risk clusterhas since 2005
been bringing together companies, major groups, research laboratories,
technical centres and training institutions, seeking to innovate and
offer concrete management solutions for natural and industrial risks,
among others.
It aims also to boost the economic growth of regional businesses and
to develop their R&D. With nearly 230 members spread over two
areas of activity (the Provence-Alpes-Cte dAzur and Languedoc-
Roussillon regions), the Risk cluster supports 91 R&D projects
(totalling 168 million, with more than 62 million worth of aid)
in four strategic areas:
Environmental monitoring and risk management systems
Training in major risk management
Risk management in CO
2
storage
O Technological risk management in industrial waste treatment
Innovation and civil security
Since 2010, the Risk cluster has been responsible for the DFiRisq
mission: Defining Emergent Risks. That mission, jointly funded by
the State, the Languedoc-Roussillon Region, the cities of Nmes and
Als and the Conseil Gnral du Gard, is focused on four priority areas:
nanoparticles, agricultural practices, drug residues and indoor air
quality. Each of these areas affords development opportunities for local
companies and laboratories.
The cluster is also much involved in the EcoTech network, comprising
14 ecotechnology-focused competitiveness clusters. Developed by the
Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, it enables the
Risk cluster to take action in a strategic area, namely environmental
impacts: water, air, soil, noise, odours and adaptation to climate change.
Contacts: Ple Risques Alice Letessier, alice.letessier@pole.risques.com
& DFiRisq Lucile Lallie, lucile.lallie@pole.risques.com
For further information: www.pole-risques.com
Risk cluster
innovative risk management solutions
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Agropolis International
training and education
in the area of green technologies
gropolis International,
through its member
institutions (universities,
engineering schools and specialized
training institutions) offers
comprehensive training, covering
more than 80 diploma courses
(from Bac+2 to Bac+8: technician,
engineer, licence, masters,
specialized masters, PhD...) as
well as some one hundred training
modules (existing or custom).
The tables below detail the
training given in the area of green
technologies. They specify the
degree levels, course titles and
institutes responsible.
A
Degree courses entirely focused on the theme of green technologies
Level Degree Training Institution(s)
Bac +5
Ingnieur
Engineering
Agronomy engineerspecialization Chemistry and bioprocesses for
sustainable development (green chemistry, sustainable chemistry)
Montpellier SupAgro,
ENSC.M
Bac +3
Licence
professionnelle
BSc with
professional
scope
Chemical analysis applied to the environment UM2
Green technologies for remediation UPVD
Maintenance applied to the treatment of pollution UPVD
Disciplines involved in environmental risks and impacts Univ. Nmes
Bac +2
DUT
(University
Diploma of
technology)
Biological Engineering, specialization environmental engineering UPVD
Chemical engineering, process engineering,
specialization bioprocesses
UPVD
Degree programmes focused on other topics
including significant components relating to the theme of green technologies
Level Degree Training Institution(s)
Bac +8
Doctorat
(PhD)
Process Sciences, Food Sciences (ED 306 SPSA)
Montpellier SupAgro,
UM1, UM2, Univ.
Avignon
Bac +5
Ingnieur
Engineering
Agronomy engineerspecialization Management of water,
cultivated lands and the environment
Montpellier SupAgro
Polytech EngineerWater sciences and technologies UM2
Master
(MSc)
Biology of plants and microorganisms, biotechnology,
bioprocesses, specialization Food and Environment
Bio-engineering specialization Agri-food and Environmental
Science and Processes curriculum
Montpellier SupAgro,
UM2
Water, specialization Water and Agriculture
AgroParisTech,
Montpellier SupAgro,
UM2
Short courses
Institution(s) Training
Montpellier SupAgro
Environmental Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) (3 days)
Re-use of wastewater for irrigation (2 days)
CIRAD
Agricultural and environmental impact of organic matter management.
Application to the South (5 days)
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ChemSuD
European Chair of New Chemistry for Sustainable Development
The European Chair of New
Chemistry for Sustainable
Development (ChemSuD) is located
at the cole Nationale Suprieure de Chimie Montpellier (ENSC.M).
It was created with the support of CNRS and the Languedoc-
Roussillon Region and under the patronage of the French
Academy of Technologies.
The ChemSuD Chair is a locus of exchange, meetings, education
and research for the emergence and development of a new
chemistry that can effect the harmonious co-evolution of the
human species and the planet. It has a corporate foundation, the
ChemSuD Foundation, with the following founding members:
Arkema, BASF, Colas, Firstsolar, Solvay and Tecsol.
The actions of the ChemSuD chair are threefold:
Teaching: through academic education and continuing
training, to train responsible chemists, active in sustainable
development and eco-design, ChemSuD develops educational
content and organizes courses, seminars and conferences for
the students and researchers involved, including those working
in social sciences and the humanities, in an exemplary spirit of
openness to the European space.
Research, to meet sustainable development criteria, generate
innovation and stimulate business development in support
of the laboratories of the Carnot Institute on Chemistry,
Environment and Sustainable Development (CED2) and the
Balard cluster. ChemSuD is thus working to promote research
and development in chemistry in accordance with sustainable
development criteria and the new regulations. This research
relates to chemical products and processes but also to
chemistrys contributions to various human activities (energy,
housing, transport, agriculture, health, etc.), in close collaboration
with the companies concerned.
Scientific mediation, to educate the public about this
new chemistry through lectures, discussions and appropriate
publications.
Contact: Sylvain Caillol, sylvain.caillol@enscm.fr
For further information: www.ChemSuD.fr ou www.enscm.fr/ChemSuD
This training, a joint undertaking of Montpellier SupAgro
and the cole Nationale Suprieure de Chimie in Montpellier
(ENSCM) begun in 2008, is offered to engineering students
of both schools. Its objective is to provide students with the
scientific knowledge and methodological tools they need to
achieve a thorough grasp of the field of sustainable production
of biomolecules, materials and fuels from agricultural raw
materials (green chemistry).
The courses include: raw materials production and quality
control; biological, physical and chemical processing
technologies; tools to study industries environmental impact;
a socio- economic analysis of their sustainability; and the
regulatory framework to which they are subject.
This comprehensive approach is required to develop sustainable
innovation strategies.
Hence, the courses are built around four main subjects:
upstream: control of the properties of agricultural raw
materials and their sustainable production;
core subject, biorefining: fractionation, microbial and
enzymatic bioconversion, clean chemistry, mining, water
and energy management;
downstream: products and application areas;
in a global approach, socio-economic integration and sectoral
sustainability: markets, institutional policies, public and
industrial strategies, environmental assessment, production
management, management, regulation.
The training consists of six months of courses (September
to March) based on case studies and visits and involving
many professional stakeholders, together with an engineering
internship (March to September) in France or abroad.
This training will equip engineers to work in any of the
aspects of the production chain with an awareness of
how their work fits into the global issues and to work
closely with different units (R&D, procurement, production,
marketing, commercialization...) in the agribusiness, chemicals,
pharmaceuticals and cosmetics sectors, to name a few
They may also work for eco-assessment and industrial
ecology consultancy firms and services, organizations that set
orientation or incentive policies at the regional, national or
international level, or research organizations.
Contacts: ric Dubreucq, eric.dubreucq@supagro.inra.fr
& Rmi Auvergne, remi.auvergne@enscm.fr
Engineering,
specialization Chemistry and Bioprocesses for Sustainable Development

E
N
S
C
.
M
One-day Chemistry
grows on you! session organized
by ENSC.M and Montpellier
SupAgro students, 08/03/11.
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List of acronyms
and abbreviations
3BCAR Carnot Institute Bioenergy, Biomolecules and Biomaterials from Renewable Carbon
(France)
ADEME Environment and Energy Management Agency (France)
ANR National Research Agency (France)
CIRAD Centre for International Cooperation in Agricultural Research for Development
(France)
CMR Carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic
CNRS National Centre for Scientic Research (France)
EC European Community
ELSA Environmental Lifecycle and Sustainability Assessment
EMA cole des Mines dAls (France)
ENSC.M cole Nationale Suprieure de Chimie, Montpellier (France)
ERDF European Regional Development Fund
FPTRD Framework Programme for Technological Research and Development
FUI Single Interministerial Fund
ICGM Institut Charles Gerhardt, Montpellier (France)
IEED Institutes of Excellence for Carbon-free Energy
IFREMER French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea
INRA National Institute for Agricultural Research (France)
IRD Institut de recherche pour le dveloppement (France)
IRSTEA National Research Institute of Science and Technology for Environment and
Agriculture (France)
LCA Life cycle analysis
LR Languedoc-Roussillon (France)
M.IN.E.S. Innovative Methods for Business and Society
NIRS Near-infrared spectrometry
PVC Polyvinyl chloride
R&D Research and Development
SMEs Small and medium enterprises
UM1 Universit Montpellier 1 (France)
UM2 Universit Montpellier 2 (France)
UMR Joint Research Unit
UPR Internal Research Unit
UR Research Unit
UV Ultraviolet
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This document was published with the support
of the French government
and Languedoc-Roussillon Region.
Member organizations and partners
of Agropolis International involved
in this Dossier:
Members
CIRAD
CNRS
EMA
ENSCM
INRA
IRSTEA
Montpellier SupAgro
UM1
UM2
Partners
BIONERGIESUD
DERBI Cluster
Qualimditerrane
Risk cluster
Transferts LR
Trimatec
Water cluster
Publication director: Bernard Hubert
Scientific Coordinator: Vronique Bellon-Maurel (IRSTEA)
Agropolis International Coordinators:
Fabien Boulier, Claudine Soudais, Nathalie Villemjeanne
Scientific Editor: Isabelle Amsallem (Agropolis Productions)
Design, layout and computer graphics:
Olivier Piau (Agropolis Productions)
info@agropolis-productions.fr
Contributors to this issue: Rmi Auvergne, Ingrid Bazin,
Aurlie Beauchard, Vronique Bellon-Maurel, Anthony Benoist,
Isabelle Berger, Anne Bergeret, Nicolas Bernet,
Johanna Bismuth, Bernard Boutevin, Catherine Boutin,
Denis Bouyer, Stefan Brosillon, Franois Broust, Sylvain Caillol,
Armando Caldeira Pires, Michel Cavailles, Gilles Charier,
Laurent Deliere, Hugo de Vries, ric Dubreucq, Claire Dumas,
Jean-Luc Farinet, Jean-Michel Fatou, Catherine Faur,
Hlne Fulcrand, ric Garcia-Diaz, Jean-Jacques Godon,
Alexia Gobrecht, Nathalie Gontard, Catherine Gonzalez,
Claude Grison, Marjolaine Hamelin, Marc Heran,
Guillaume Junqua, ric Latrille, Laura Lecurieux-Belfond,
Nicolas Le-Moigne, Elonore Loiseau, Jos-Marie Lopez Cuesta,
Miguel Lopez-Ferber, Michel Maugenet, Philippe Miele,
Sylvie Mouras, Patricia Mottin, Olivier Naud, Jean-Marie Paillat,
Didier Perrin, Sandra Pignon, Jean-Jacques Robin,
Thiago Oliveira Rodrigues, Jean-Michel Roger, Patrick Rosique,
Xavier Rouau, Patrick Rousset, Philippe Roux, Andr Rouzire,
Herv Saint Macary, Martial Sauceau, Rodolphe Sonnier,
Jean-Philippe Steyer, Nathalie Tanchoux, Laurent Thuris,
ric Trably, Gilles Vaitilingom, Laurent Van De Steene,
Tom Wassenaar,
Translation: Paul Cowan
Illustrations: we thank all contributors to this dossier
and also Shutterstock

& MorgueFile
Printing: Les Petites Affiches (Montpellier)
ISSN: 1628-4240 Copyright: February 2013
Also available in French and Spanish
enscm
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