Assessing the Bioeconomy's Contribution to Evidence-Based Policy: A Comparative Analysis of Value Added Measurements

Abstract

As the bioeconomy has gained importance in European policy agendas, several European research institutes have elaborated ad hoc methodologies to measure the size of the European bioeconomy and aid in the monitoring of its performance. This paper reviews the main approaches found in the literature for such a quantification by comparing the different methodologies and the corresponding quantitative findings. The various estimations published might be confusing at first sight, reporting a value added of the European bioeconomy within the large range of EUR 881 billion to EUR 2.3 trillion. However, the study concludes that each approach is best suited to measuring a different aspect of the bioeconomy. Using the different approaches, we estimate that the markets of bio-based products and energy generate EUR 730-790 billion of value added, the use of biomass within the European economy generates EUR 670 billion of value added, and the sourcing of core bioeconomy industries with goods and services generates EUR 270 billion of value added. There is no evidence of an increased use of biomass inputs in EU industries in substitution of fossil resources, nor of a decreasing dependence of traditional bioeconomy industries towards fossil resources over the period 2005-2015.