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Knowledge Centre for Bioeconomy

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  • Topic / Tool | Last updated: 14 Feb 2025

Agricultural biomass

Dig into data, visualisations and other resources on agricultural biomass in the EU: how much biomass is produced? What types and where? And much more!

Brief me

Agricultural biomass production within a sustainable and circular Bioeconomy

  • Agriculture has a central role among the biomass producing sectors, providing valuable sources for the EU bioeconomy.
  • Each year, an estimated 956 million tonnes (Mt) of agricultural biomass are produced in the European Union.
  • 54% are primary products, such as grains, fruits, roots and tubers. The remaining 46% are residues, such as leaves and stems.
  • Cereals are the crop contributing the most to both economic and residue production in the EU, with a share of 50% and 74% respectively.
  • A sufficient amount of residues needs to be left on fields to sustain soil conservation and biodiversity, making it challenging to quantify the residues available for competitive uses.
  • More in general, uncertainties associated with residue production estimates are relatively large.

 

Find out more in the brief and explore further other resources!

Brief on agricultural biomass production

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