Feasibility of locating biomass-to-bioenergy conversion facilities using spatial information technologies: A case study on forest biomass in Queensland, Australia

Abstract

There are large volumes of forest biomass available, distributed over extensive geographic areas in Australia. However, it is largely a low-value resource sensitive to high procurement costs. Transportation cost is typically the biggest factor in the cost of a forest biomass supply chain and is a critical factor in the planning of profitable bioenergy conversion facilities. This study presents an example of using geographical information systems (GIS) to 1) evaluate the feasibility of setting up new bioenergy facilities, 2) evaluate the location of existing bioenergy facilities, and 3) optimize the locations of facilities in Queensland, Australia. This study uses forest biomass availability estimated from 5-year harvest log volumes. The log volumes are refined to biomass energy (PJ) using a model that considers forest type, sustainable retention of residues on sites, residue proportions of total above-ground biomass and energy conversion factors. The strategic locations of bioenergy conversion facilities are defined using cluster and outlier analysis of biomass energy distribution and transportation distance using the local index of spatial autocorrelation (LISA) in a GIS environment. The tactical selection of bioenergy conversion facilities is then established based on the required number of facilities and capacity, together with the maximal distance for transporting the forest biomass. This study uses Queensland, Australia as the study area to demonstrate the effectiveness of modern GIS tools to achieve more scientific planning in bioenergy conversion facility networks and supply chain.