The Social Profile of Biogas Farmers in their Respective Territories: Research, Design and Methodology

Owing to public support, renewable energies are playing an ever-increasing role in European energy systems, most notably Biogas which is connected to another major industry: agriculture. The aim of this article is to focus on the socio-economic transformations in the agricultural industry, as a result of the development of renewable energies and to understand which party takes advantage of these changes and which party could suffer as a result of them. This study presents the theoretical background, methodology and preliminary results of research conducted on the biogas industry in France and forms a multi-disciplinary approach linking geography and sociology. In particular, it is based on a territorialized approach to social structuring. In this instance, the methodological framework is depicted in a quantitative survey. Primarily, results show that biogas farmers are a specific population with higher resources and share key features with each other. Further data exploration could sharpen these results through differentiation of subpopulations within our survey and complementary field research.