Aiphoria

Aiphoria is an open-sources modelling tool designed to support material flow analysis (MFA) and the assessment of resource use across complex value chains. It enables users to track how materials move through production systems, from primary resources to intermediate products and final applications.

The tool was developed within research collaborations involving the European Forest Institute (EFI) and partners to improve the analysis of wood material flows and carbon storage in the forest-based sector. It allows users to dynamically assess and visualise material flows using interactive diagrams and detailed modelling of production processes and product pathways.

Aiphoria builds on the Open Dynamic Material Systems Model (ODYM) framework and supports both static and dynamic analyses of material stocks and flows over time. By linking production, trade, and consumption data, the tool helps quantify how resources move through value chains, how they accumulate in product stocks such as buildings or other long-lived goods, how they leave these stocks according to product lifetimes, and how material loops and recirculation occur within the system.

The modelling framework also enables the integration of multiple datasets and the development of scenarios that explore different allocations of semi-finished products to end-use markets. Results can be visualised through Sankey diagrams and other graphical outputs, facilitating the interpretation of complex material systems and supporting research on resource efficiency, circular economy strategies, and carbon accounting in the bioeconomy.

Although initially developed for analysing wood flows in the European forest sector, the tool can be applied to other material systems, making it a flexible framework for a wide range of material flow and sustainability assessments.

Sankey diagram

Sankey diagram produced in aiphoria at EU27 level for year 2021. Flow widths are proportional to quantities expressed in Mm3 SWE. Source: Orfanidou, T., Martinez, G.E., Järvikylä, J., Verkerk, P.J., Cardellini, G. Mapping wood flows to final product and energy uses in 2021 in the European Union, submitted in Resources, Conservation & Recycling Advances on August 05, 2025.