Biomass Supply Chains For Bioenergy And Biorefining

Biomass Supply Chains for Bioenergy and Biorefining highlights the emergence of energy generation through the use of biomass and the ways it is becoming more widely used. The supply chains that produce the feedstocks, harvest, transport, store, and prepare them for combustion or refinement into other forms of fuel are long and complex, often differing from feedstock to feedstock. Biomass Supply Chains for Bioenergy and Biorefining considers every aspect of these supply chains, including their design, management, socioeconomic, and environmental impacts. The first part of the book introduces supply chains, biomass feedstocks, and their analysis, while the second part looks at the harvesting, handling, storage, and transportation of biomass. The third part studies the modeling of supply chains and their management, with the final section discussing, in minute detail, the supply chains involved in the production and usage of individual feedstocks, such as wood and sugar starches, oil crops, industrial biomass wastes, and municipal sewage stocks. Focuses on the complex supply chains of the various potential feedstocks for biomass energy generation Studies a wide range of biomass feedstocks, including woody energy crops, sugar and starch crops, lignocellulosic crops, oil crops, grass crops, algae, and biomass waste Reviews the modeling and optimization, standards, quality control and traceability, socioeconomic, and environmental impacts of supply chains

The success of lignocellulosic biofuels and biochemical industries depends upon an economic and reliable supply of quality biomass. However, research and development efforts have historically focused on the utilization of agriculturally-derived, cellulosic feedstocks without consideration of their low energy density, high variations in physical and chemical characteristics and potential supply risks in terms of availability and affordability. This Research Topic will explore strategies that enable supply chain improvements in biomass quality and consistency through blending, preprocessing, diversity and landscape design for development of conversion-ready, lignocellulosic feedstocks for production of biofuels and bio-products. Biomass variability has proven a formidable challenge to the emerging biorefining industry, impeding continuous operation and reducing yields required for economical production of lignocellulosic biofuels at scale. Conventional supply systems lack the preprocessing capabilities necessary to ensure consistent biomass feedstocks with physical and chemical properties that are compatible with supply chain operations and conversion processes. Direct coupling of conventional feedstock supply systems with sophisticated conversion systems has reduced the operability of biorefining processes to less than 50%. As the bioeconomy grows, the inherent variability of biomass resources cannot be managed by passive means alone. As such, there is a need to fully recognize the magnitude of biomass variability and uncertainty, as well as the cost of failing to design feedstock supply systems that can mitigate biomass variability and uncertainty. A paradigm shift is needed, from biorefinery designs using raw, single-resource biomass, to advanced feedstock supply systems that harness diverse biomass resources to enable supply chain resilience and development of conversion-ready feedstocks. Blending and preprocessing (e.g., drying, sorting, sizing, fractionation, leaching, densification, etc.) can mitigate variable quality and performance in diverse resources when integrated with downstream conversion systems. Decoupling feedstock supply from biorefining provides an opportunity to manage supply risks and incorporate value-added upgrading to develop feedstocks with improved convertibility and/ or market fungibility. Conversion-ready feedstocks have undergone the required preprocessing to ensure compatibility with conversion and utilization prior to delivery at the biorefinery and represent lignocellulosic biomass with physical and chemical properties that are tailored to meet the requirements of industrially-relevant handling and conversion systems.

This handbook brings together recent advances in the areas of supply chain optimization, supply chain management, and life-cycle cost analysis of bioenergy. These topics are important for the development and long-term sustainability of the bioenergy industry. The increasing interest in bioenergy has been motivated by its potential to become a key future energy source. The opportunities and challenges that this industry has been facing have been the motivation for a number of optimization-related works on bioenergy. Practitioners and academicians agree that the two major barriers of further investments in this industry are biomass supply uncertainty and costs. The goal of this handbook is to present several cutting-edge developments and tools to help the industry overcome these supply chain and economic challenges. Case studies highlighting the problems faced by investors in the US and Europe illustrate the impact of certain tools in making bioenergy an economically viable energy option.

Biomass to Biofuel Supply Chain Design and Planning under Uncertainty: Concepts and Quantitative Methods explores the design and optimization of biomass-to-biofuel supply chains for commercial-scale implementation of biofuel projects by considering the problems and challenges encountered in real supply chains. By offering a fresh approach and discussing a wide range of quantitative methods, the book enables researchers and practitioners to develop hybrid methods that integrate the advantages and features of two or more methods in one decision-making framework for the efficient optimization of biofuel supply chains, especially for complex supply chain models. Combining supply chain management and modeling techniques in a single volume, the book is beneficial for graduate students who no longer need to consult subject-specific books alongside mathematical modeling textbooks. The book consists of two main parts. The first part describes the key components of biofuel supply chains, including biomass production, harvesting, collection, storage, preprocessing, conversion, transportation, and distribution. It also provides a comprehensive review of the concepts, problems, and opportunities associated with biofuel supply chains, such as types and properties of the feedstocks and fuel products, decision-making levels, sustainability concepts, uncertainty analysis and risk management, as well as integration of biomass supply chain with other supply chains. The second part focuses on modeling and optimization of biomass-to-biofuel supply chains under uncertainty, using different quantitative methods to determine optimal design. Proposes a general multi-level framework for the optimal design and operation of biomass-to-biofuel supply chains through quantitative analysis and modeling, including different biomass and waste biomass feedstock, production pathways, technology options, transportation modes, and final products Explores how modeling and optimization tools can be utilized to address sustainability issues in biofuel supply chains by simultaneously assessing and identifying sustainable solutions Presents several case studies with different regional constraints to evaluate the practical applicability of different optimization methods and compares their performance in real-world situations Includes General Algebraic Modeling System (GAMS) codes for solving biomass supply chain optimization problems discussed in different chapters

The long-held tenets of the energy sector are being rewritten in the twenty-first century. The rise of unconventional oil and gas and of renewables is transforming our economies and improving our understanding of the distribution of the world’s energy resources and their impacts. A complete knowledge of the dynamics underpinning energy markets is necessary for decision-makers reconciling economic, energy, and environmental objectives. Those that anticipate global energy developments successfully can derive an advantage, while those that fail to do so risk making poor policy and investment decisions. Focused on solving the key challenges impeding the realization of advanced cellulosic biofuels and bioproducts in rural areas, Biomass and Biofuels: Advanced Biorefineries for Sustainable Production and Distribution provides comprehensive information on sustainable production of biomass feedstock, supply chain management of feedstocks to the biorefinery site, advanced conversion processes, and catalysts/biocatalysts for production of fuels and chemicals using conventional and integrated technologies. The book also presents detailed coverage of downstream processing, and ecological considerations for refineries processing lignocellulosic and algal biomass resources. Discussions of feedstock raw materials, methods for biomass conversion, and its effective integration to make biorefinery more sustainable – economically, environmentally, and socially – give you the tools to make informed decisions.

The chapter discusses the biomass supply chain, which is responsible for supplying an energy conversion plant with the correct quantity and quality of biomass at the correct time. The chapter first categorizes the biomass and waste streams and presents analytically the biomass supply chain, discussing its structure and characteristics. It then reviews the latest advances in biomass supply chains. The issue of integrating biomass energy conversion into waste management systems is tackled and the advantages and limitations of using biomass, in supply chain terms, are presented. The chapter concludes with future trends in biomass supply chains and logistics, and proposes sources of further information.

In the modern world, the competitiveness of bioenergy- and/or bioresources-related activities heavily depends on the effectiveness of supply chain management. A large number of multidisciplinary topics are involved in the bioresources and bioenergy production fields. Although the technical issues that are related with the topic are well-discussed and do not represent major barriers, supply chain management issues, such as design of the network, collection, storage or transportation of bioresources, are still considered as fundamental questions that need to be answered to enable the optimal exploitation of bioenergy and bioresources. Moreover, modeling of material and energy flows; identification of the dynamic character of the supply chains; available reverse logistics (waste management) alternatives; economic, social and environmental sustainability of bioresource supply chains; novelty in the applied business models; and decision support frameworks towards efficient supply chain management for bioenergy and bioresources present critical operational sustainability issues and business-making potential. This Special Issue, entitled “Supply Chain Management for Bioenergy and Bioresources”, seeks to contribute to the bioenergy and bioresources agenda through enhanced scientific and multi-disciplinary knowledge that may boost the performance efficiency of supply chain management and support the decision-making process of stakeholders. To that end, the Special Issue includes one extensive review on yellow and woody biomass supply-chain management, together with six original papers which span a number of innovative, multifaceted, technical developments that are related to all different echelons of supply chain management for bioenergy and bioresources.

Modeling and Optimization of Biomass Supply Chains: Top Down and Bottom Up Assessment for Agricultural, Forest and Waste Feedstock provides scientific evidence for assessing biomass supply and logistics, placing emphasis on methods, modeling capacities, large data collection, processing and storage. The information presented builds on recent relevant research work from the Biomass Futures, Biomass Policies and S2Biom projects. In addition to technical issues, the book covers the economic, social and environmental aspects with direct implications on biomass availability. Its chapters offer an overview of methodologies for assessing and modeling supply, biomass quality and requirements for different conversion processes, logistics and demand for biobased sectors. Case studies from the projects that inspire the book present practical examples of the implementation of these methodologies. The authors also compare methodologies for different regions, including Europe and the U.S. Biomass feedstock-specific chapters address the relevant elements for forest, agriculture, biowastes, post-consumer wood and non-food crops. Engineers in the bioenergy sector, as well as researchers and graduate students will find this book to be a very useful resource when working on optimization and modeling of biomass supply chains. For energy policymakers, analysts and consultants, the book provides consistent and technically sound projections for policy and market development decisions. Provides consistent ratios and indicators for assessing biomass supply and its logistical component Explores assumptions behind the assessment of different types of biomass, including key technical and non-technical factors Presents the existing modeling platforms, their input requirements and possible output projections