Optimal design of the second and third generation biofuel supply network by a multi-objective model

Abstract

The depletion of fossil fuels and their serious environmental concerns have made renewable energy sources much more attractive. One of the more promising renewable energy alternatives is the use of second/third-generation biomass that does not endanger food security, to produce bioenergy. The biomass-to-bioenergy supply chain design is a challenging issue that has attracted the attention of academic and industrial research. In this direction, a multi-objective multi-period MILP model is developed to design the second/third-generation biofuel supply chain using anaerobic digestion and transesterification processes. Three types of biomass (i.e. agricultural residues and livestock manure, microalgae and Jatropha) simultaneously are studied as feedstock to produce clean energy in all climatic and geographic conditions, and even in remote areas. Selection of raw material resources, location of production facilities, location of warehouses, and optimal material flows are the main decisions made by the proposed model to minimize the total cost and maximize the produced energy. The performance of this model is evaluated and validated through conducting a real case study. The results show that considering the amount of produced bioenergy regardless to its type, energy production from microalgae and Jatropha is more viable than bio-wastes. The results also show that production cost (especially biodiesel production cost from Jatropha) and investment cost (especially construction costs of microalgae and Jatropha to biodiesel production sites) have the most effect on the total cost of the supply chain network, respectively.