Page 308 - Biofuels for a More Sustainable Future

274 Biofuels for a More Sustainable Future

scenario where at least a 50% chance of limiting the average global temper-
ature increase to 2°C by 2100) (IEA, 2017).
To accelerate the adoption of biofuel, it is critical to produce and deliver
biofuel in a cost-effective, robust, and sustainable way (Yue et al., 2014;
Daoutidis et al., 2013; Marquardt et al., 2010). The economic feasibility,
environmental impacts, and social implications of biofuel highly depend
on the design and operation of the entire biofuel supply chain (BSC)
(Awudu and Zhang, 2012; Sims et al., 2010; Iakovou et al., 2010). BSC usu-
ally involves a broad range of activities ranging from biomass production and
transportation to biorefinery, and distribution to final end-use customers.
Therefore it is challenging to design the entire BSC from a system perspective.
Compared to traditional supply chains in the manufacturing industries, BSC is
more complex given the large uncertainties and variabilities related to feed-
stocks (Awudu and Zhang, 2012; Santoso et al., 2005; Kim et al., 2011), con-
version technologies (Iakovou et al., 2010; Kim et al., 2011; Rentizelas et al.,
2009a; McKendry, 2002), and transportation network (An et al., 2011a).
Intensive efforts have been made in the past decades by researchers and
the industry to develop optimization and simulation models for BSC to solve
practical design problems in producing and delivering biofuel. This chapter
reviews the literature related to BSC design to highlight the key issues, chal-
lenges, and status quo in BSC design.

2 Structure of BSC
BSC consists of three basic stages, including biomass production, biomass
conversion and biofuel production, and distribution to customers. This sec-
tion briefly discusses the major features and technology options in each stage
of BSC.

2.1 Biomass production

Biomass production includes activities related to the cultivation and harvest
of biomass, transportation and storage, and preprocessing. The first three
activities are included in almost all BSC design cases, while preprocessing
is optional. The common types of preprocessing include torrefaction and
pelletization, and they have been explored in different BSC design cases
(Bergman and Kiel, 2005; Pirraglia et al., 2013; Lamers et al., 2015; Kenney
et al., 2013). Previous studies showed that adopting preprocessing sites in
BSC may improve the logistic stability, feedstock quality, and biorefinery