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.
The former Sankey biomass diagram was published in 2017 and has been used in multiple research activities and publications. Since its publication, the flexibility, analysis capabilities and user experience of the interactive tool have been improved. The new EU Biomass Flows tool was created based on the Energy Flows tool from Eurostat. The EU Biomass Flows tool displays biomass flows in Sankey diagrams and it relies on the methodology to extract and integrate data developed for the former biomass Sankey diagram.
The new tool offers also an increased granularity of data for some biomass types: crop and residue production can now be shown in crop categories, animal- and plant-based food can be disaggregated into their nutrients. It has also significantly improved the visualisation of the data in charts and graphs, as well as enabling visibility of the evolution over time. Finally, users can download the full or a partial set of data.
In this document, we summarise the sources and data transformation steps to create the database used to represent these biomass flows, as well as the main data gaps and challenges encountered. We also briefly discuss the main features and functionalities of the new EU Biomass Flows tool. Finally, we present some insights based on the represented data and potential future research opportunities.JRC.D.4-Economics of Agricultur
