Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy

This summary presents selected facts, figures and findings from the recent JRC report “Biomass production, supply, uses and flows in the European Union”. It informs policymakers on the trends in biomass supply and demand at EU level and notably on the increasing demand from both primary domestic production and secondary sources, putting pressure on ecosystems.

The Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy published a set of informative leaflets, based on the work of the European Consumer Food Waste Forum, providing useful tips and best practices on food waste prevention actions for various target groups: policymakers, food businesses and schools. The leaflets are available in all EU languages, to be further disseminated throughout the EU Member States.

The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries has released the annual structural and economic overview of the national and European fishing fleets. The report shows the most recent data (2021), with nowcasts for 2022 and 2023, and trend analyses for the years 2013-2021. In addition, it provides regional analysis of the EU fishing fleet by major sea basin.

This report provides data on the installed capacity and planned production of advanced biofuels in Europe. It shows the recent progress of innovative technologies and the main challenges the sector must overcome, including the financial barriers and the availability of sustainable biomass feedstock. In addition, it describes investments in biofuels research and facilities, it quantifies high-value patents, the contribution to the EU GDP and job creation, as well as the international trade for the advanced biofuels sector.

The EU Member States face a true challenge: producing and trading enough biomass for food, feed, energy, construction, and other purposes while increasing their carbon sequestration capacity and protecting biodiversity. This report by the European Environment Agency highlights controversial aspects that need to be carefully tackled and analysed to take advantage of the biomass contribution to reaching the objectives of the European Green Deal.

In its annual flagship publication, FAO focuses on the true cost of food for sustainable agrifood systems. The report introduces the concept of hidden environmental, health and social costs and benefits of agrifood systems and proposes an approach – true cost accounting (TCA) – to assess them. It also provides national assessments on 154 countries and shows that global hidden costs from agrifood systems reached 12.7 trillion USD in 2020, equivalent to 10 percent of global GDP.

Ireland has published its first national Bioeconomy Action Plan, including 33 actions to accelerate support for the development of the bioeconomy. The document contains an overview of the country’s bioeconomy policy strategy and implementation framework, and presents the specific actions according to seven main pillars, with a high focus on bringing sustainable scientific practices, technologies and biobased innovation and solutions into use on farms and by biobased industries in the country.