Biomass Supply Chain in Asian and European Countries

Abstract

Nowadays, biomass is considered as one of the main sources of energy for both developed and developing countries. With the reduction of global oil reserves, developing renewable energy has become an important issue for each country. Biomass power is an important kind of clean energy, as it has abundant resource and is environmentally friendly. Utilization of biomass for bioenergy production is a beneficial alternative to meet the increasing energy demands, reduce the carbon dioxide emission, global warming and climate change. In the past few years, the biomass power industry has developed rapidly, accompanied with some problems. They are currently making small profits or suffering losses, and the entire biomass supply chain does not function well, which not only poses a challenge for the stable operation of enterprises but also may impact the smooth development of the biomass power industry. Lack of optimization biomass residue makes the countries still low in utilization of biomass therefore most of industries are not aware this benefit and they are reluctant to take the risk on utilization of biomass for power generation. This paper summarized the bioenergy production potential of various categories of biomass used and their conversion processes adopted in different part of the world; specifically in Asian and European countries. A brief description of the processes for conversion of identified biomass feedstock to energy and fuels has also been included. In addition, the sustainability issues related to supply chain management concerning operational, economic and social aspects of the utilization of biomass have been addressed based on the secondary data from available literature. Finally, this paper offered several recommendations for future development on the relevant fields, such as cost, strategic planning, and policy implication. This project has specific importance and very few studies have been done which reviews the biomass supply chain of Asian and European countries.