Production plants

A. Relevance and sustainability context

A.1 Policy relevance

The indicator provides information about the production activities of Germany in the bioeconomy. Please note that without any additional info (like production capacity) the statement power of this indicator has limitations, as the size of production facilities and hence the production volume could vary significantly.

A.2 Sustainability and / or comparative evaluation options

While the source allows comparison to other EU countries, comparable data for other world regions does not sufficiently exists. And without knowing production capacity the relevance of the production plants is unclear, so the meaning / interpretation of the number in terms of underlying questions is limited.

B. Data availability

B.1 Stage of development

JRC has released an updated dataset in 2025 (originally for 2020).

B.2 Data sources

JRC, https://datam.jrc.ec.europa.eu/datam/mashup/BIOBASED_INDUSTRY/

B.3 Coverage over time and replicability

Only current status, replicability dependent on JRC work.

B.4 Coverage across scales and sectors; compatibility

Some bioeconomy sectors are covered.

C. Considerations for operationalization

C.1 Feasibility: Fit for monitoring

Coverage of plants very hard to judge As no list of facilities is released, it is difficult to assess the accuracy and actuality of the data.

C.2 Institutions

JRC

C.3 Future prospects

Unclear, whether JRC will update it in the future.

C.4 Costs, considerations and reproducibility

Reproducibility difficult.

C.5 Potential for automation

no

C.6 Presentation options and breakdown / sub-indicator needs

Breakdown in product groups provided.

C.7 Potential for scenario integration

Imaginable as a proxy for commercialization.

C.8 Interlinkages and alignment with other monitoring activities

Possibly part of the EU monitoring, or additionally activity by the JRC.

Theme: Economy
Sub-categories: Activities and performance
Tier: I
Development stage: Semi-established
Robustness: Weak
Source: Fraunhofer ISI, Sven Wydra

Legend

Tier

Tier I describes the 30 core, priority indicators defined by the project that are highly relevant to represent a specific thematic area and which together with other Tier I indicators forms a systemic perspective of the various risks, opportunities and trade-offs within the Bioeconomy.

Tier II describes explanatory indicators that are of high priority and help to provide more specific information on trends within specific thematic areas.

Stage of development

Established:
Indicators which are already reported in other official monitoring systems

Semi-established:
Indicators which are developed by e.g. federal research institutes as part of long-term and regularly updated initiatives

New: 
Indicators not previously reported in an official capacity, but well established through research projects

Developing: 
Indicators under development with some reporting in new state-of-the research projects, but not subject to multiple years of revision and replication

Future: 
Indicator gaps requiring research for possible future integration

Robustness

Very robust:
methodologically sound, reliable, and fit for bioeconomy monitoring

Robust:
fit, but with acceptable uncertainty and/or potential challenges

Sufficient:
possibly fit, but with foreseeable challenges

Weak:
currently unfit, but short-term potential

Insufficient:
currently unfit, but with long-term potential