Biomass flows in the European Union : the Sankey biomass diagram - towards a cross-set integration of biomass

The Sankey biomass diagram is a representation of harmonised data from the various Joint Research Centre (JRC) units contributing to the BIOMASS Assessment study of the JRC. It represents the flows of biomass for each sector of the bioeconomy, from supply to uses including trade. The diagram enables deeper analysis and comparison of the different countries and sectors across a defined time series. This report includes illustrations for the 28 EU Member States and the EU-28 aggregation. Multiple data sources have been used to quantify biomass for each category and Member State. All relevant data from the different sources have been integrated into a single database. The Sankey biomass diagram represents the categories and flows of this database. The diagram is hosted in the JRC DataM Portal, in the Bioeconomy visualization area. It can be accessed directly in the following link: https://datam.jrc.ec.europa.eu/datam/mashup/BIOMASS_FLOWS/index.html# As a pioneer work, the diagram suffers from existing data gaps that hampered the complete estimation of the biomass. Due to the conversions and transformations performed on the original data to enable categorization and comparison across sectors, data quality checks are also difficult to perform in the absence of other data of reference with which to compare our numbers. The current version of the diagram only represents the dry matter content of biomass, not the economic, nutritional or other values of the bioeconomy. Further research will be done in the future to include these aspects in the diagram so a broader view of the bioeconomy can be presented. In this document, we explain where the data used for the diagram was sourced, as well as the main data gaps and challenges encountered. We also briefly discuss the main features and functionalities of the Sankey biomass diagram. Finally, we present some insights based on the represented data and potential future research opportunities.