Transportation system analysis of empty fruit bunches biomass supply chain based on delivery cost and greenhouse gas emissions

Abstract

The future of sustainable energy supply and production is moving toward the use of renewable sources like biomass. It is important to develop sustainable biomass supply chain (BSC) by enhancing energy security, decreasing air pollution, and reduction of total cost. The main barriers in the sustainable development of BSC are transportation cost and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that represent substantial proportion of the total cost of the BSC. This paper aims to examine the delivery cost and GHG emissions of different transportation modes (train and truck) of oil palm empty fruit bunches (EFB) biomass supply chain. To achieve this goal, we used the data of three EFB suppliers in Malaysia as a case study. We then developed a dynamic simulation model using AnyLogic software to predict the delivery cost and greenhouse gas emissions. Results showed that the highest GHG emissions were associated with train transportation mode while it was lowest with truck. Cost analysis showed that highest cumulative transportation cost is associated with truck while train has the lowest cumulative transportation costs. These results highlight the opportunity for decision makers to minimize the delivery cost and GHG emissions by optimizing the transportation systems for BSC.