Measuring the Political Legitimacy of Biorefineries in Europe

Abstract: It is likely that a high degree of political support will be required to realise the biorefinery concept in reality, as capital intensive technology development and stimulation of the most promising technologies for biorefineries requires that government will need to invest heavily before industry has the confidence in biorefinery technologies and bio-based product markets to invest fully. However, among the many problems facing such an innovative business concept as biorefineries, their relative lack of 'political legitimacy' is especially critical, as both entrepreneurs and crucial stakeholders may not fully understand the nature of biorefineries, and their conformity to established institutional rules (cultural norms and laws) may still be in question. Following a school of institutional thought that has existed explicitly since the 1990s, Aldrich and Fiol (1994) advocate that lack of political legitimacy translates into a lack of access to 'capital, (product) markets and governmental protection', thereby hindering the progression from the founding of the completely new activity, in an institutional void, through to its development as a legitimate industry. Whether the massive complexity and lack of clarity surrounding what biorefineries actually are, will hinder the future of biorefineries in Europe is a subject that warrants research. There is a great deal of work required in many areas to understand the mechanisms that will allow the biorefinery to progress beyond its current formative (research) phase. Therefore, one area truly worthy of early attention is to delineate the level of cognitive and political legitimacy of biorefineries (i.e. the level of understanding, acceptance, and support of biorefineries). Undertaking such a complex task could require a vast amount of resources and the work that will follow on from this thesis (part of a Pan-European research activity) does not have access to such resources. Therefore, a short, succinct, cost effective and 'streamlined' approach to understanding whether political legitimacy is a key barrier for the progression of biorefineries needs to be undertaken. In order to do this, it necessary to first understand the key areas of political interest or tension surrounding biorefineries, and the governmental structures that will have an influence on their progression. Thus, the author perceived it necessary to first understand 'what' to measure; hence this thesis establishes the political importance and implications of the production and use of biorefinery products, and the cognitive essence of the biorefinery concept (i.e. the technicalities of what a biorefinery is or could be). The author perceived that it was also necessary to determine 'who' to measure; hence this thesis identifies the target audience that will have the greatest impact on the progression of biorefineries within the European political sphere. Once these critical factors were identified, a method for determining 'how' to go about measuring political legitimacy was required; hence, the focus problem for this thesis lies in understanding how existing knowledge, indicators and literature can be used to determine a logical and streamlined way to measure the 'political legitimacy' of biorefineries in Europe. By gaining a measure of the political acceptance for implementing biorefineries in Europe, we can better understand the manner in which this new area of business and industrial activity can emerge and many of the benefits associated with CO2 emission reductions, energy security, rural development etc, anticipated by the proponents of biorefineries can be achieved. Thus, a matrix that describes an approach to devising questions around each of the key areas identified to be important to gaining political legitimacy for biorefineries has been developed. It is envisaged that these questions will underpin the development of a set of questionnaires and in-depth interviews within a Pan-European esearch activity, the answers to which will enable the political legitimacy of biorefineries in Europe to be determined.