Miscanthus in the European bio-economy: a network analysis

Summarization: There is a need to conceive and support bioeconomy strategies within the context of sustainable development in the European Union. A holistic vision regarding the deployment of research on promising biomass crops, such as miscanthus, for bio-based industries, is therefore required to identify the actors, the drivers and the barriers shaping the sector's development outlook. Despite the large number of research studies on miscanthus, doubts remain about its interest from agronomic, socio-economic and technological aspects. A policy-based analysis is firstly developed to understand the research orientation in the period from 1953 to 2019. Combining literature review with network analysis, a comprehensive approach is performed to investigate the research interactions and orientation. Through analysis of research funding, the key factors in propelling the development of miscanthus sector are also identified. Having been in stand-by for many years, the growth of miscanthus supply chain has recently been accelerated with the rise of biorefinery concept by the end of 2009 as well as with the implementation of climate-energy framework agreed in 2014. Though, regional disparities in terms of number of research studies exist between the North, the Centre and the South of Europe, the creation of research and development support programmes notwithstanding. Furthermore, research orientation and funding mechanisms strongly depend on national strategies and priorities, and the barriers hampering the sector's development. The efforts were generally pushed towards assessing the agronomic, environmental and economic potential and identifying sustainable and cost-efficient biomass conversion technologies as well. Policies, collaborations and research funding are still shaping the sector, thereby coping with existing barriers to bring about competitive and breakthrough technologies.Presented on