The Trans-Scalar Interplay of Paper Manufactures in the Framework of the Implementation of “Climate and Energy” Policy: The Case of Aquitaine

Résumé 0

In 2008, climate change forecasts led the European Union to establish the “Climate and Energy Package” in order to increase the share of renewable energy in the energy supply and thereby reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Following this, France launched a call for Energy Regulation Commission (CRÉ) bids in the aim of bringing together under the aegis of EDF a collection of industrial electricity production projects based on cogeneration – that is, the use of biomass to jointly produce heat and electricity. Yet such a policy is hardly limited to the development of forest sub-products and would ultimately strain the wood supply, calling into question current models of forestry. This new energy strategy involves the redefinition of relations that have been stabilized upstream within an industry resembling a network of independent actors organized around wood as a resource. We here focus on the paper industry and the manner in which it has problematized the question of wood energy and climate change at the European, national and sub-national levels in order to position itself as an indispensable actor in the development of wood-energy. ■