Eco-Activities

With Europe’s largest cultivated forest, huge potential for solar and hydraulic energy and plenty of available land for development, the Bordeaux region boasts all the assets required to develop a sector of excellence in eco-activities.

Structured around two competitiveness clusters – Xylofutur for wood-paper and Avenia for energy – and also regional clusters such as green building->http://www.creahd.com/], Wind Energy and Solar Systems, eco-activities have seen strong growth .

The region is N°1 in France for the creation of green jobs (Trendéo 2009-2010).

The higher-education facilities are among the richest in France, offering several courses adapted to the needs of these new sectors at the University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux Polytechnic Institute and a new engineering school, the National School for the Environment, Georesources and Sustainable Development Engineering (ENSEGID).

In research, the Bordeaux region has attracted major investments and been awarded Institut Carnot accreditation for two establishments - ISIFOR (Sustainable Engineering in Fossil Resources) and IRSTEA (Research institute in Environmental Sciences and Technologies), plus pre-selection of an Institute of Excellence in Carbon-Free Energies: INEF 4.

Renewable Energies

Thanks to the port facilities of the Maritime Port of Bordeaux and adapted rail and sea transport facilities for over-sized items, industrialists in the wind energy and photovoltaic sector can find everything they need to grow their activities.

Wind energy: a large range of industrial and technological know-how forms a fast-growing cluster. Thanks to the presence of innovative companies, particular skills have been developed in blades, nacelles, energy storage, fabric cutting, energy park installation, specialised engineering offices, maintenance, insurance and certification…

Leading companies: EADS Astrium, Valorem, Valeol, Epsilon Composite, Plastinov, Arkema, Filhet Allard Energy…

The expertise acquired by subcontractors in traditional sectors – aeronautics, space, defence, yacht building and automobiles – guarantees a good supply of qualified labour that can be immediately operational in the wind energy sector.

Photovoltaic: in the top three French regions in photovoltaic energy in France (Fonroche, Exosun, Solarezo, Polyrise…), the Bordeaux region boasts extensive expertise in this field – silicon manufacture, thin-layer technologies, trackers for solar panels.
The SYSOLIA® cluster contributes a comprehensive “system” approach to the process thanks to its engineering experience in sectors such as aeronautics, photonics and construction and public works.

It also enjoys the benefit of active R&D by a network of experts in organic and hybrid photovoltaics (materials, nanomaterials and organic electronics…) and focuses mainly on three strategic axes:

• BIPV (Building PV Integration) with the launch of “PARA’ SOL”, the Aquitaine Platform for Research in Solar Architectures
• Thermodynamic solar systems with demonstrators
• Key R&D projects (new-generation active organic layers, storage, recycling, etc.)

Green Building

In the heart of Europe’s largest cultivated forest, in a region rich in raw materials, sand, slate, granite, limestone, pebbles… green building can rely on the support of a building and public works sector among the largest in France.

Aquitaine is already the 2^nd French region for High Environmental Quality construction and the leader in wood-framed houses.

The construction sector benefits from the attractiveness of the region, driving strong growth in building of homes and tourist residences.

The many projects underway, such as the LGV high-speed rail link, the campus development operation, the new Bordeaux Euratlantique district and eco-districts, plus the objective of building 50,000 new homes in the Bordeaux conurbation, are set to make the Bordeaux market a booming one over the next twenty years.

The presence of the “XyloFutur” competitiveness cluster in wood technologies and eco-development and the “Construction, Development and Sustainable Housing” cluster provide considerable technological and scientific resources for the development of the sector.

The Forest Cellulose Wood-Construction and Furnishing Technology Institute, an Industrial Technical Centre, aims to promote technical progress and to contribute to improving productivity and quality guarantees in industry.

Selected in the 1^st call for projects of the IEED (Institute for Excellence in Carbon-Free Energies), the INEF 4 – Factor 4 National Institute for Excellence: Sustainable Rehabilitation and Construction – aims to provide support for players in the building sector as they try to gain access to the contracts generated by the Factor 4 objective.

This project proposes to create a genuine campus for innovation in sustainable construction and rehabilitation at the heart of Bordeaux University.

A large number of sites for eco-activities are currently under development for companies wishing to set up in the region: Blanquefort Ecoparc, the Environmental Intelligence Park in Bègles or the Green Building Park in Floirac.