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Bio-based and Applied Economics 13(4): 317-331, 2024 | e-ISSN 2280-6172 | DOI: 10.36253/bae-14563
Ci a ion: Ronzon, T., Gu ia, P.,
Ca us, M., Cingiz, K., El-Meligi, A.,
Ha k, N., Ios , S., M’Ba ek, R., Philip-
pidis, G., an Leeuwen, M., & Wesse-
le , J. (2024). Assessing he bioeconomy’s
con ibu ion o e idence-based policy:
A compa a i e analysis o alue add-
ed measu emen s. Bio-based and
Applied Economics 13(4): 317-331. doi:
10.36253/bae-14563
Recei ed: Ma ch 30, 2023
Accep ed: June 11, 2024
Published: Decembe 31, 2024
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Sho Communica ions
Assessing he bioeconomy’s con ibu ion o
e idence-based policy: A compa a i e analysis
o alue added measu emen s
Té écia Ronzon1,2,*, Pa icia Gu ia2, Michael Ca us3, Ku ay Cingiz2,
And ea El-Meligi1, Nicolas Ha k3, Susanne Ios 4, Robe M’Ba ek1,
Geo ge Philippidis5, My na an Leeuwen6, Jus us Wessele 2
1 Eu opean Commission, Join Resea ch Cen e (JRC), Se ille, Spain
2 Ag icul u al Economics and Ru al Policy G oup, Wageningen Uni e si y, The Ne he -
lands
3 No a-Ins i u GmbH, 50354 Hü h, Ge many
4 Thünen Ins i u e o In e na ional Fo es y and Fo es Economics, Hambu g, Ge many
5 Ag i ood and Technology Resea ch Cen e (CITA), Za agoza, Spain
6 Wageningen Economic Resea ch, In e na ional Policy, The Hague, The Ne he lands
*Co esponding au ho . E-mail: T[email p o ec ed]m
Abs ac . This pape e iews he main app oaches ound in he li e a u e o measu e
he size o he Eu opean bioeconomy. The a ious es ima ions published migh be
con using a i s sigh , epo ing a alue added o he Eu opean bioeconomy wi hin
he la ge ange o EUR 881 billion o EUR 2.3 illion. Howe e , each app oach is bes
sui ed o measu ing a di e en aspec o he bioeconomy. Using he di e en app oach-
es, we es ima e ha ma ke s o bio-based p oduc s and ene gy gene a e EUR 730-790
billion o alue added, he use o biomass wi hin he Eu opean economy gene a es
EUR 670 billion o alue added, and he sou cing o co e bioeconomy indus ies wi h
goods and se ices gene a es EUR 270 billion o alue added. The e is no e idence o
an inc eased use o biomass inpu s in EU indus ies in subs i u ion o ossil esou ces,
no o a dec easing dependence o adi ional bioeconomy indus ies owa ds ossil
esou ces o e he pe iod 2005-2015.
Keywo ds: bioeconomy, alue added, Eu ope, inpu -ou pu ables, bio-based indus-
ies, me hodologies.
JEL code: Q57.
1. INTRODUCTION
As de ined in he Eu opean Commission’s bioeconomy s a egy, he
bioeconomy co e s all sec o s and sys ems ha ely on biological esou ces,
hei unc ions and p inciples (Eu opean Commission, 2012, 2018). The bio-
economy p omo es he ansi ion o a sus ainable economic model de i ed
om he use o biomass and he applica ion o na u al sciences, knowledge,
and echnologies. I s ele ance is well acknowledged by in e na ional o gani-
318
Bio-based and Applied Economics 13(4): 317-331, 2024 | e-ISSN 2280-6172 | DOI: 10.36253/bae-14563
Té écia Ronzon e al.
za ions such as he FAO (FAO, 2021; Gomez San Juan,
Ha ne , & Albinelli, 2022) and he OECD (OECD,
2018). The Eu opean Union (EU) has also s a ed i s
impo ance o he Eu opean economy in i s bioecon-
omy s a egy and ac ion plan (Eu opean Commission,
2012, 2018), ecen ly ollowed by Council conclusions
on he oppo uni ies o he bioeconomy in he ligh o
cu en challenges wi h special emphasis on u al a eas
(Council o he Eu opean Union, 2023). Toge he wi h
he de elopmen o bioeconomy s a egies a ound he
wo ld, he need o ools o quan i ying he bioeconomy
and moni o ing i s de elopmen has become c ucial.
Howe e , he bioeconomy is a complex concep , encom-
passing a b oad ange o economic ac i i ies and hei
associa ed wo ke s and consume s, while being depend-
en on he plane ’s ecological bounda ies and biomass
a ailabili y. Unde s anding and analysing such a mul i-
disciplina y phenomenon equi es implemen ing se e al
heo e ical and concep ual app oaches, using a b oad
ange o me hodologies.
F om global (FAO, 2021), mac o- egional (Eu opean
Commission, 2022b), o na ional (Fede al Minis y o
Food and Ag icul u e (BMEL), 2014) and egional le el
(Jun a de Andalucía, 2018), guidelines and moni o ing
sys ems a e being de eloped and implemen ed. In he
case o he EU, he indica o s o measu e he p og ess
o he Eu opean bioeconomy a e e y b oad and nume -
ous (Eu opean Commission, 2022a; Muba eka e al.,
2023). Howe e , a smalle numbe o headline indica-
o s is used by policymake s and s akeholde s o analyse
and epo on he bioeconomy. Mos p ominen ly among
hose indica o s ea u es (g oss) alue added, which is
he ocus o he p esen s udy.
The Eu opean Union’s s a is ical di ec o a e gen-
e al, EUROSTAT, does no (ye ) p o ide s a is ics o a
speci ic alue-added indica o o he bioeconomy and
all i s sec o s spanning a b oad ange om p ima y p o-
duc ion (e.g., ag icul u e), ia p ocessing (e.g., wooden
p oduc s) o se ices (e.g., es au an s). He e, a key sci-
en i ic challenge ela es o he sepa a ion o ossil and
bio-based p oduc ion o co ec ly delimi he bioec-
onomy (Ronzon, Pio owski, M’Ba ek, & Ca us, 2017).
O e he las yea s di e en me hodologies ha e been
de eloped o ill his gap ( o example on he EU: Cin-
giz, Gonzalez-He moso, Heijman, and Wessele (2021);
Ios e al. (2019); Ios and Weima (2020); Kuosmanen
e al. (2020); M’ba ek e al. (2014); Po c, Ha k, Ca us,
and Ca ez (2021); Ronzon, Ios , and Philippidis (2022a,
2022b); Wessele and on B aun (2017)). Howe e , hese
me hodologies ha e no been consis en ly used in bioec-
onomy policy making o wo easons: (i) he calcula ion
me hods a e di icul o unde s and by non-specialis s,
and (ii) he di e en me hodologies yield e y di e en
es ima es o he Eu opean bioeconomy’s size, which may
appea con using a i s sigh .
The aim o his pape is o b ing cla i y on he es i-
ma es o he bioeconomy’s alue added size ac oss di -
e en me hodologies al eady published, in o de o
op imize hei use by policy make s and consequen ly
con ibu e o mo e e idence-based bioeconomy policies.
To do so, he pape cla i ies wha a e he concep s meas-
u ed by each me hodology (sec ion 2) and pu s hei
espec i e esul s in o pe spec i e (sec ion 3). Emphasis
is made on poin ing o he di e en aspec s o he bio-
economy measu ed by he di e en me hodologies and
on illus a ing how each o hem can be mobilised o
in o m on speci ic policy ques ions. Finally, conclusions
a e ema ked in he inal sec ion.
2. PRESENTATION OF THE DIFFERENT
METHODOLOGIES
2.1. O e iew
Cingiz, Gonzalez-He moso, e al. (2021) gi e an
o e iew o he di e en quan i a i e app oaches o
es ima ing he alue added gene a ed by bioeconomic
ac i i ies om which ou ypes o me hodologies ma ch
moni o ing equi emen s (i.e., me hodologies based
on s a is ical da abases ha a e ha monized ac oss EU
Membe S a es and upda ed o e ime). Each ype is
illus a ed in his s udy by a pa icula publica ion ha
applies o all Membe S a es o he EU (Cingiz, Gonza-
lez-He moso, e al., 2021; Cingiz, González He moso,
Heijman, & Wessele , 2021; Kuosmanen e al., 2020;
Ronzon e al., 2022a, 2022b).
All ou me hodologies a e based on indus y-le el
s a is ics o quan i ying he con ibu ion o indus y p o
he bioeconomy in e ms o alue added (Vp). The bioec-
onomy being a c oss-sec o ial concep , he size o i s alue
added is hus he sum o he con ibu ion o all indus ies
ep esen ed by NACE1 codes in he Eu opean Sys em o
Na ional Accoun s ha a e indexed by p = 1,…,n. They
comp ise he indus ies ha ully all wi hin he scope o
he bioeconomy indexed by q = 1,…,l, he indus ies ha
pa ly all wi hin he scope o he bioeconomy indexed by
= l+1,…,m, and he indus ies ha do no all a all wi h-
in he scope o he bioeconomy indexed by s = m+1,…,n.2
1 NACE is he F ench ac onym o Economic Ac i i ies in he Eu opean
Communi y.
2 We deno e he e he indus ies by le e s p, q, and s o di e en ia e
wi h he o iginal s udies ha use he same subsc ip s i, j, k wi h
di e ging de ini ions.
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The amilies o me hodologies di e on h ee main
aspec s:
(i) The se o indus ies q. All me hodologies concu in
conside ing he biomass p oducing indus ies ully
pa o he bioeconomy (i.e., ag icul u e, o es y and
ishing). Howe e , di e gences occu on he addi ion-
al indus ies ha comple e he se q wi hin he ull
scope o indus ies conside ed (p), see Table 1.
(ii) The le el o he con ibu ion o indus ies o he o al
bioeconomy’s alue added. Di e en quan i ica ion c i-
e ia a e conside ed: he biomass con en o p oduc s
and ene gy p oduced o he bioeconomy ele ance o
he se ices deli e ed conside ing a gi en policy de ini-
ion o bioeconomy (see sec ion 2.2.1); he use o bio-
mass; o he p o ision o inpu s o indus ies q.
(iii) The inclusion o exclusion o he indus ies p o-
iding inpu s o indus ies q in o he bioeconomy
agg ega e (p).
The di e en app oaches aken ega ding poin s (ii)
and (iii) p o ide dis inc measu es o he bioeconomy’s
alue added and in o m on a a ie y o aspec s o he
bioeconomy. Measu emen p inciples a e cla i ied in sec-
ions 2.2 o 2.5 while measu ed aspec s a e p esen ed in
sec ion 3.
2.2. The “ou pu -based” app oach
2.2.1. App oach
The “ou pu -based” app oach quan i ies he alue add-
ed gene a ed by an indus y p in p opo ion o he biomass
con en o angible (i.e., me chandise) ou pu s o o he
bioeconomy ele ance o in angible (i.e., se ices) ou pu s.
The biomass con en is calcula ed in d y ma e con en
(Ronzon e al., 2022a). The ‘bioeconomy ele ance’ c i e-
ion is de i ed om a policy de ini ion o he bioeconomy.
In he con ex o he EU Bioeconomy S a egy, i co e s he
se ices associa ed o a bio-based p oduc (e.g., anspo ,
ade, epai ), he ma ke ed ecosys em se ices (e.g., na u e
ou ism), he gene a ion o knowledge in bioeconomy
ields (e.g., esea ch and de elopmen in li e sciences) o
suppo o bio-based ma ke s (e.g., ma ke esea ch, public
adminis a ion) (Ronzon e al., 2022b).
The ou pu -based app oach quan i ies he alue add-
ed o he bioeconomy (VBE_O) a a gi en poin in ime
and space as:
VBE_O = ∑q Vq + ∑ δ .V (1)
wi h δ = biomass con en sha e o bioeconomy ele ance
sha e o indus y (Figu e 1). Vq and V a e he alue
added o indi idual indus ies q and (see Annex 1).
In o he e ms, he o al alue added o he bioec-
onomy is he sum o he alue added gene a ed by hose
indus ies whose ou pu is biomass (e.g., ag icul u e,
o es y, ishe ies, ood and be e age manu ac u ing)
o whose ou pu is pa ially made o biomass (e.g. bio-
based ex ile indus y, biochemical indus y) o whose
ou pu is ully o pa ially bioeconomy ele an (e.g.,
ood se ices, e e ina y ac i i y, esea ch).
Indus ies q=1,…,l comp ise he biomass p oducing
indus ies (A01, A02, A03), he manu ac u ing o ood
(C10) and be e age (C11), wa e supply, sewe age and
managemen 3 (E36-E38) o hei ull biomass con en , as
well as ood and be e age se ice ac i i ies (I56) and e -
e ina y ac i i ies (M75) o hei bioeconomy ele ance.
Indus ies s=m+1,…,n comp ise mining indus-
ies (B05-B09), he manu ac u ing o coke and pe o-
leum p oduc s (C19), o mine al o me allic p od-
uc s (C23-C25), o elec onic o elec ical equipmen
(C26-C27), o machine y and mo o ehicles (C28-C30,
C33), he wholesale, e ail ade and epai o mo o
ehicles (G45), he indus ies o in o ma ion and com-
munica ion (J59-J63), o inancial, insu ance and eal
es a e ac i i ies (K64-K66, L68) and o managemen ,
employmen , human heal h and social wo k ac i i ies
(M70, N78, Q86-Q88).
Indus ies =l+1,…,m comp ise all o he NACE
indus ies.
2.2.2. Da a sou ces
The ou pu -based app oach builds on a a ie y o
da a sou ces. Indus y-le el da a on alue added (Vq
and V ) a e e ie ed om he Eu os a S uc u al Busi-
ness s a is ics (Eu os a , 2020a, 2020b, 2020c) and om
Eu os a ’s na ional accoun s (Eu os a , 2020d) o he
indus ies no ep esen ed in he o me da abases. O h-
e Eu os a da abases a e mobilised o he compu a ion
o he biomass con en sha e o o he bioeconomy el-
e ance sha e δ (Ronzon e al., 2022a, 2022b). In addi-
ion o o icial da a, he ou pu -based app oach elies
on li e a u e, ma ke epo s and expe insigh s o he
es ima ion o he biomass con en o he 875 bio-based
p oduc s lis ed in he Eu os a da abase on he p oduc-
ion o manu ac u ed goods (Eu os a , 2021). As δ can-
no be quan i ied wi h p ecision wi h a ailable Eu os a
da a and expe knowledge o all indus ies , a mini-
mum and maximum h eshold alue o δ is de e mined
ha consequen ly gene a es a minimum and a maxi-
mum alue o bio-based amoun o V .
3 The d y ma e con en o wa e is conside ed 100% biomass (i.e.,
o ganic ma e and mic o-o ganisms).
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Té écia Ronzon e al.
Time se ies da a o V a e a ailable om 2008 ( he
la es e ision o he NACE classi ica ion), up o he
mos ecen common yea o da a sou ces used, ypically
eleased wi h a ime lag o wo yea s.
2.2.3. Da a in e p e a ion
This app oach has been coined “policy-d i en” in
he sense ha he bioeconomy ele ance o indus ies in
se p ollows he concep o bioeconomy as de ined in he
EU bioeconomy s a egy. Indeed, by ocusing on he bio-
economy na u e o indus ies’ ou pu s, he ou pu -based
app oach p o ides lowe and uppe h esholds o domes-
ic bio-based ma ke s (min VBE_O - max VBE_O). O e
ime, ma ke de elopmen s in he bioeconomy’s alued
added, o o an indi idual bio-based indus y’s alue
added, gi e insigh on p og ess owa ds policy objec i es
o bio-based ma ke up ake. Also, he di e ence be ween
an indus y’s bio-based ou pu sha e δ a ained in one
coun y compa ed wi h ha o ano he coun y, o com-
pa ed wi h a 100% δ sha e, gi es an indica ion o he
emaining po en ial o bio-based ma ke de elopmen .
2.3. The “inpu -based” app oach
2.3.1. App oach
The “inpu -based” app oach quan i ies he alue
added gene a ed by an indus y p in p opo ion o i s
bio-based inpu cos sha e. Among he di e en a i-
an s o inpu -based app oaches published in he scien-
i ic li e a u e (E ken, Di ksmeye , K eins, & Knech ,
2016; Heijman, 2016; Ios e al., 2019; Ios & Weima ,
2020; Kuosmanen e al., 2020; Mees e s, an Dam, &
Bos, 2013; Robe , Jonsson, Chudy, & Camia, 2020), only
Kuosmanen e al. (2020) p opose quan i ica ions o he
EU agg ega e. Thei me hodology, also coined Funda-
men al Indus y Le el Model (FILM), is hus p oposed
he e as a benchma k o he amilies o “inpu -based”
app oaches while a ia ions om o he inpu -based
app oaches a e b ie ly discussed.
The FILM inpu -based app oach elies on he use o
mone a y lows o inpu -ou pu ables (IOTs) o quan-
i ying he alue added o he bioeconomy (VBE_I) a a
gi en poin in ime and space, such as:
VBE_I = ∑q Vq + ∑ γ .V (2)
wi h q being he biomass p oducing indus ies (ag i-
cul u e, o es y and ishing) and γ being he biomass
inpu cos sha e o indus y (Figu e 1 and equa ion 3).
γ = (3)
Thus, Iq is he cos o inpu s om he se o biomass
p oducing indus ies q o indus y ; I ’ is he cos o
inpu s om indus y ’ o indus y wi h ’ = l+1,…,m; γ ’
is he bio-based inpu cos sha e o indus y ’ (equa ion 4);
M is he cos o impo ed inpu s o indus y ; γM is he
bio-based inpu cos sha e o impo ed inpu s o indus y
; and Ip is he cos o inpu s om all indus ies o indus-
y . No e ha in a-indus y ade is cap u ed when ’ = .
γ ’ = (4)
Tha is, he o al alue added o he bioeconomy is
he alue added gene a ed om biomass p oducing ac i -
i ies, and om he use o biomass in all o he ac i i y
sec o s, including om impo ed p oduc s and se ices.
2.3.2. Da a sou ces
The FILM app oach is sys ema ic ac oss all indus-
ies. The da a sou ce is he Eu os a IOTs (Eu os a ,
2020e) eleased e e y i e yea s wi h some Membe
S a es also p o iding annual es ima es. This da a does
no o e a comple e co e age o all EU Membe S a es
bu does p o ide comple e da a o he EU28 agg ega e.
2.3.3. Da a in e p e a ion
By ocusing on biomass inpu cos sha es, he FILM
me hodology epo s on he alue added (VBE_I) gene a ed
om he use o biomass ac oss all indus ies o an econo-
my. The 5-yea ime s ep e olu ion o VBE_I gi es insigh
on he inc easing (dec easing) mobilisa ion o biomass –
measu ed in alue e ms - by he economic sys em con-
side ed. The bio-based inpu cos sha e γ gi es an indi-
ca ion o he deg ee o dependence o indus y owa ds
non- enewable biological esou ces: he smalle γ is, he
highe he dependence. The de elopmen o γ o e ime
indica es p og ess owa ds he objec i e o subs i u ing
non- enewable esou ces wi h bio-based equi alen s.
2.3.4. Va ia ion o he FILM app oach
While he FILM app oach is homogeneous ac oss all
NACE indus ies and employs da a om a single sou ce,
Ios e al. (2019) and Ios and Weima (2020) adap he
inpu -based app oach o e lec he bioeconomy concep
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Bio-based and Applied Economics 13(4): 317-331, 2024 | e-ISSN 2280-6172 | DOI: 10.36253/bae-14563
as de ined in he p e ious Ge man Bioeconomy S a egy
(BMEL, 2014). Fi s , he delinea ion o he bioeconomy’s
indus ial scope is es ic ed o a selec ion o bio-based
indus ies ha includes only a ew bio-based se ices (i.e.,
joine y ins alla ion and e ec ion o ames and cons uc-
ional imbe wo ks, ood and be e age se ice ac i i-
ies and esea ch and expe imen al de elopmen on bio-
echnology). Second, se e al sou ces o Ge man s a is ics
a e employed o hey o e mo e p ecise in o ma ion
han IOTs (AGEB, 2015; DESTATIS, 2018). Thi d, pe
policy de ini ion, he bio-based sha e o esea ch indus-
ies (M7219) is no de e mined acco ding o i s biomass
inpu cos sha e bu a he om he sha e o pe sonnel
cos incu ed in bioeconomy- ela ed esea ch disciplines
on o al cos s (DESTATIS, 2016). Da a on alue added a e
e ie ed om EUROSTAT’s s uc u al business s a is ics.
2.4. The “Weigh ed Inpu -Ou pu based” app oach
The “weigh ed Inpu -Ou pu based” app oach p o-
ides a middle g ound quan i ica ion o he bioecono-
my’s alue added, aking in o accoun he pa ame e s
δp and γp quan i ied by he ou pu -based and he inpu -
based app oaches (Figu e 1). I quan i ies he alue add-
ed o he bioeconomy (VBE_W) a a gi en poin in ime
and coun y as:
VBE_W = ∑p θp.Vp (5)
whe e θp is he weigh ed a e age o he inpu -based and
ou pu -based coe icien s. Wi h ha pu pose, he ou pu
bio-based sha e δp is weighed wi h he a io o alue added
on g oss ou pu , and he inpu bio-based sha e γp is weighed
wi h he a io o o al cos o inpu s on g oss ou pu :
θp = (δp.Vp + γp.Ip) / Op (6)
The o al alue added o he bioeconomy is he alue
gene a ed om he u iliza ion o biomass and bio-based
inpu s, as well as hei con e sion in o bioeconomy ou -
pu s h ough u he p ocessing.
The da a sou ces used a e he same as hose
employed in he ou pu -based and inpu -based
app oaches (see sec ions 2.2.2 and 2.3.2).
2.5. The “Ups eam & Downs eam” app oach
2.5.1. App oach
The “ups eam & downs eam” app oach quan i ies
wo di e en aspec s o he bioeconomy (Figu e 1, Cin-
giz, Gonzalez-He moso, e al. (2021)):
– ∑ D , he “downs eam e ec ” o he bioeconomy
which co esponds o he alue added size o he
indus ies ha use bio-based inpu s in p opo -
ion o hei espec i e bio-based inpu cos sha e β
om indus ies q. q ep esen s he biomass p oduc-
ing indus ies, he manu ac u e o ood, be e age,
obacco, wood and pape p oduc s, and p in ing.
– ∑ U , he “ups eam e ec ” o he bioeconomy
which co esponds o he alue added size o he
indus ies ha sou ce indus ies q in p opo ion o
hei espec i e ou pu cos sha e α .
In sum, he “ups eam & downs eam” app oach
quan i ies he alue added o he bioeconomy (VBE_UD) a
a gi en poin in ime and space as4:
VBE_UD = ∑q Vq + ∑ (D + U ) (7)
In o he wo ds, he o al alue added o he bioeconomy
is he alue gene a ed by ac i i ies conside ed co e o he
bioeconomy (i.e., biomass p oducing, he manu ac u ing o
ood, be e age, obacco p oduc s, wood p oduc s, pape and
p in ed p oduc s) as well as he alue gene a ed by he use o
he ou pu s o he o me ac i i ies (downs eam e ec ) and
he use o inpu s by hem (ups eam e ec ).
Simila ly o equa ion (2), D = β .V (8)
U = α (1- β ) V (9)
whe e α is he ou pu cos sha e o indus y o indus-
ies q. α is mul iplied by (1- β ) o a oid double coun -
ing wi h he downs eam e ec .
α = (10)
whe e F deno es he inal demand o indus y and E
deno es he expo s o indus y .
2.5.2. Da a sou ces
Simila ly o he FILM app oach, he “ups eam &
downs eam” app oach is sys ema ic ac oss all indus-
ies. The wo e ec s a e compu ed om he OECD’s
IOTs wi h annual da a se ies om 2005 o 2015 o he
28 p e-B exi EU Membe S a es (OECD, 2021). EU28
da a a e calcula ed as he sum o IO ma ix en ies
ac oss he 28 coun ies.
4 No a ions ha e been changed compa ed o Cingiz, Gonzalez-
He moso, e al. (2021) o he sake o ha moniza ion ac oss he a ious
me hodologies p esen ed in he pape .
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Té écia Ronzon e al.
2.5.3. Da a in e p e a ion
Compa ed o he o he h ee app oaches, he
“ups eam & downs eam” me hod adds in o ma ion on
how much he bioeconomy is in eg a ed wi h he es o
he economy, in pa icula o non-bioeconomy sou cing
indus ies.
The downs eam componen ∑ D p o ides simila
in o ma ion as he inpu -based app oach (see sec ion
2.3.3). Addi ionally, he ou pu cos sha e α used o he
quan i ica ion o he ups eam componen U illus a es
he in e connec ion be ween indus y and he co e bio-
economy indus ies q. The highe α is, he la ge is he
sou cing ole o indus y . Mo eo e , he de elopmen
o he o al ups eam and downs eam e ec s o e ime
(∑ U and ∑ D ) in o ms whe he an inc easing (dec eas-
ing) alue c ea ion om he use o enewable biological
esou ces (∑ D ) is concomi an o no wi h a g ow h
o he economic size o bioeconomy sou cing indus ies
(∑ U ). Finally, he a io o bioeconomy alue added on
GDP (VBE_UD/GDP) desc ibes how much he bioecono-
my is in eg a ed in o he whole economy.
As a summa y, Figu e 1 g aphically illus a es he
concep s o lows quan i ied in he ou app oaches
and hei ela ed equa ions. Table 1 compa es he main
pa ame e s o he ou app oaches.
3. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The ou me hodologies p esen ed abo e yield e y
di e en es ima es o he alue added size o he EU bio-
economy in 2015, anging om EUR 881 billion o EUR
2.3 illion5 (Figu e 2). Such a la ge ange may be puz-
zling a i s sigh o may e en con use policy make s. In
ac , di e ences in numbe s e lec he di e en aspec s
o he bioeconomy cap u ed by each app oach. This sec-
ion summa ises he main esul s and illus a es how he
speci ic aspec s o each me hodology can be mobilised o
answe ele an policy ques ions.
3.1. Agg ega ed esul s and complemen a y in o ma ion on
di e ences
In o de o p o ide an o e iew o main esul s, we
ocus he ea e on he compa ison o he agg ega es o p i-
5 The EU 2015 is he only common scope o he app oaches commen ed
a sec ion 3. The ou pu -based app oach om Ronzon e al. (2022a and
2022b) p o ides da a a coun y and EU le el om 2008 o 2019, The
inpu based app oach published by Kuosmanen e al. (2020) p o ides
da a o he EU and he yea 2015. The ups eam and downs eam
app oach published by Cingiz e al. (2021a) p o ides coun y and EU
le el da a om 2005 o 2019.
Figu e 1. Fou me hodological app oaches o de e mining he bio-based sha e o indus y p. No e: I s ands o Inpu , O o Ou pu and V
o Value added, all h ee a e measu ed in mone a y e ms.
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ma y, seconda y and e ia y economic sec o s6 as illus a -
ed by Figu e 2. Fo each o hese agg ega es, we highligh
he easons leading o di e ences in alue added es ima es.
The weigh ed inpu -ou pu app oach is no commen ed
hough, as i always p o ides an in e media e quan i ica ion
be ween he inpu -based and he ou pu -based app oaches.
All quan i ica ions om he “ups eam and downs eam”
app oach a e aken om he online da abase published by
Cingiz, González He moso, e al. (2021)7.
Es ima ions o alue added o he bioeconomy
indus ies o he p ima y sec o a e con e gen (EUR
207 o 216 billion) in spi e o me hodological di e enc-
es and sligh a ia ions om he di e en da a sou ces
employed by each app oach. The ou pu -based app oach
only conside s hose indus ies ha p oduce biomass
(EUR 216 billion) while he o he h ee app oaches also
conside a p opo ion o he bioeconomy alue added
coming om he mining indus ies. F om an inpu -
based pe spec i e, EUR 1 billion o alue added is gene -
a ed om he use o biological ma e ial in mining ac i i-
ies such as o bioleaching. Mo eo e , he ups eam
e ec U calcula ed in he “ups eam and downs eam”
app oach e eals ha EUR 1.2 billion o alue added a e
gene a ed om he sou cing o co e bioeconomy indus-
ies q by mining indus ies.
6 The p ima y sec o e e s o NACE sec ions A and B (biomass
p oduc ion and mining and ca ying), he seconda y sec o o NACE C
o F (manu ac u ing), and he e ia y sec o o NACE G o T (se ices).
7 Al hough he me hodological commen s exposed in sec ion 2.5 we e
de i ed om Cingiz, Gonzalez-He moso, e al. (2021).
The alue added o he bioeconomy indus ies ope -
a ing in he seconda y sec o di e s mo e om one
app oach o he o he han in he case o p ima y sec-
o indus ies: EUR 299 billion (inpu -based app oach)
o EUR 573 billion (ou pu -based app oach). The bio-
mass inpu cos sha e γ (inpu -based app oach) is sys-
ema ically smalle han he biomass con en δ o he
ou pu s o he manu ac u ing indus ies (ou pu -based
app oach), excep o hose indus ies s conside ed non
bio-based in he ou pu -based app oach (γ anging
be ween 0.6% and 2.5%, Table 2). As a ma e o exam-
ple, only 55% o he inpu s o he manu ac u ing o ood,
be e age and obacco a e bio-based inpu s while ha
Table 1. Summa y compa ison o he ou app oaches in oduced a sec ions 2.2 o 2.5.
App oach “ou pu -based” “inpu -based”
(FILM) “weigh ed Inpu -Ou pu ” “ups eam & downs eam”
Quan i ica ion c i e ia
Biomass con en o angible
ou pu s, bioeconomy
ele ance o in angible
ou pu s
Biomass inpu s (biomass
inpu cos sha e)
See he wo p e ious
columns
Biomass inpu s (biomass
inpu cos sha e) and
sou cing o indus ies q
(ou pu cos sha e)
Equa ions VBE_O = ∑q Vq + ∑ δ V
Equa ion (1)
VBE_I = ∑q Vq + ∑ γ V
Equa ion (2)
VBE_W = ∑p θp Vp
wi h
θp = (δp Vp + γp Ip) / Op
Equa ions (5) and (6)
VBE_UD = ∑q Vq + ∑ (D +
U )
Equa ion (7)
Indus ies q
(NACE codes)
A01-A03, C10-C12, E36,
I56, M75 A01-A03 A01-A03 A01-A03, C10-C12,
C16-C18
Indus ies s
(NACE codes)
B05-B09, C19, C23-C30,
C33, G45, K64-K66, L68,
M70, N78, Q86-Q88.
None None None
Da a sou ces Expe knowledge and
many Eu os a sou ces Eu os a ’s IOTs See he wo p e ious
columns OECD’s IOTs
In e p e a ion o he esul s Bio-based ma ke size Use o biomass
Middle g ound pe spec i e
be ween he p e ious wo
columns
Use o bio-based inpu s and
in eg a ion o he wide
economy
-
500
1.000
1.500
2.000
Ou pu Inpu Up- &
Down-
s eam
Weigh ed
Inpu -
Ou pu
Te ia y sec o s (max)
Te ia y sec o s (min)
Seconda y sec o s (max)
Seconda y sec o s (min)
P ima y sec o s
Figu e 2. Es ima ion o he alue added size o p ima y, second-
a y and e ia y ac i i ies o he EU28 bioeconomy acco ding o he
ou quan i a i e app oaches p esen ed in he s udy
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Té écia Ronzon e al.
indus y gene a es ully bio-based ou pu s (Table 2). The
p opo ion (α (1- β )) o ou pu s ha seconda y sec o ’s
indus ies sell o bioeconomy indus ies q anges om
0.3% o 5.3%.
The e ia y sec o shows a high di e gence in e ms
o alue added size es ima es om one app oach o he
o he : EUR 370 billion (inpu -based app oach) o EUR
1,488 billion (ou pu -based app oach). The ou - old
di e ence is due o ela i ely small biomass inpu cos
sha es (γ = 1-5%, excep o accommoda ion and ood
se ices whe e γ = 35%) compa ed wi h high biomass
con en o bioeconomy ele ance o e ia y ou pu s
(maximum δ = 12-100% in eigh ou o ou een e -
ia y indus ies, Table 2). While he app oaches based
on IOTs (inpu and “up and downs eam” app oaches)
a e sys ema ic and p ecise, he ou pu -based app oach
su e s om bo h a lack o cla i y abou he de ini ion
o a bioeconomy se ice and a lack o in o ma i e da a
Table 2. Ou pu bio-based sha es (a), biomass inpu cos sha es (b), combined ups eam and downs eam sha es (c) and weigh ed Inpu -
Ou pu sha es (d) a he sec o ial le el and o he EU28 in 2015.
nace (a)
min – max (b) (c) (d)
min– max
A01_A03 Ag icul u e, o es y, ishing 100% 100% 100% 100.0% 100% 100%
B05_B09 Mining and qua ying 0.0% 0.0% 1.4% 3.0% 0.6% 0.6%
C10_C12 Food, be e ages and obacco p oduc s 100% 100% 54.8% 100.0% 66.4% 66.4%
C13_C15 Tex iles, wea ing appa el and lea he p oduc s 35.6% 46.5% 40.9% 6.0% 38.4% 42.8%
C16 P oduc s o wood and co k 99.7% 99.7% 45.7% 100.0% 61.7% 61.7%
C17_C18 Pape p oduc s and p in ing 60.8% 98.9% 30.7% 100.0% 37.3% 53.2%
C19 Coke and e ined pe oleum p oduc s 0.0% 0.0% 0.6% 3.7% 0.5% 0.5%
C20_C21 Chemicals and pha maceu icals 25.6% 27.1% 4.3% 8.4% 12.1% 12.6%
C22 Rubbe and plas ics p oduc s 3.3% 3.9% 4.6% 9.1% 4.1% 4.4%
C23 O he non-me allic mine al p oduc s 0.0% 0.8% 2.5% 5.5% 1.6% 1.9%
C24 Basic me als 0.0% 0.0% 0.9% 1.5% 0.7% 0.7%
C25 Fab ica ed me al p oduc s 0.0% 0.0% 1.5% 4.4% 0.9% 0.9%
C26 Compu e , elec onic and op ical equipmen 0.0% 0.0% 1.4% 1.7% 0.9% 0.9%
C27 Elec ical equipmen 0.0% 0.0% 1.6% 2.1% 1.0% 1.0%
C28 Machine y and equipmen , nec 0.0% 0.0% 1.1% 2.7% 0.7% 0.7%
C29 Mo o ehicles, aile s and semi- aile s 0.0% 0.0% 1.5% 1.2% 1.1% 1.1%
C30 O he anspo equipmen 0.0% 0.0% 1.5% 1.4% 1.1% 1.1%
C31_C33 Manu ac u ing nec; epai and ins alla ion o machine y and equipmen 8.8% 17.8% 8.3% 9.8% 8.4% 11.3%
D35_E39 Elec ici y, gas, wa e supply, sewe age, was e and emedia ion se ices 24.0% 25.4% 1.3% 5.6% 10.2% 10.6%
FCons uc ion 5.3% 5.6% 3.4% 4.4% 3.9% 4.0%
G45_G47 Wholesale and e ail ade; epai o mo o ehicles 24.8% 39.8% 3.7% 11.0% 15.0% 23.0%
H49_H53 T anspo a ion and s o age 20.1% 32.2% 0.9% 3.9% 8.9% 14.0%
I55_I56 Accommoda ion and ood se ice ac i i ies 76.5% 76.5% 34.7% 34.3% 57.7% 56.4%
J58_J60 Publishing, audio isual and b oadcas ing ac i i ies 0.0% 32.1% 4.6% 12.3% 2.4% 19.1%
J61 Telecommunica ions 0.0% 0.0% 0.9% 2.1% 0.5% 0.5%
J62_J63 IT and o he in o ma ion se ices 0.0% 0.0% 0.9% 2.7% 0.5% 0.5%
K64_K66 Financial and insu ance ac i i ies 0.0% 0.0% 0.6% 3.3% 0.3% 0.3%
L68A Real es a e ac i i ies 0.0% 0.0% 0.9% 2.2% 0.2% 0.2%
M69_N82 P o essional, scien i ic and echnical ac i i ies, adminis a i e and
suppo se ices 4.0% 11.8% 2.1% 4.9% 2.0% 9.8%
O84 Public adminis a ion and de ence; compulso y social secu i y 10.5% 15.9% 2.6% 4.7% 0.9% 11.5%
P85 Educa ion 2.2% 4.9% 4.3% 6.7% 0.9% 3.5%
Q86_Q88 Human heal h and social wo k ac i i ies 0.0% 0.0% 5.4% 5.6% 1.8% 1.8%
R90_S96 A s, en e ainmen and ec ea ion and o he se ice ac i i ies 0.2% 47.1% 3.8% 6.9% 1.6% 27.1%
T97_T98 Ac i i ies o households as employe s 0.0% 100.0% 0.0% 0.0% 0.0%
Sou ces: Cingiz, González He moso, e al. (2021); Kuosmanen e al. (2020); Ronzon e al. (2022a, 2022b).
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