Coal Supply Chain Research Articles

Green logistics optimization for coal supply in a power plant connecting maritime port

This study addresses the coal transportation and flow distribution challenges within a “port-before-plant” type thermal power plant, with a strong emphasis on green logistics principles. Despite significant advancements in clean energy, coal remains a dominant energy source in China, necessitating optimization in its usage and management to mitigate environmental impacts. This paper introduces an integrated optimization model grounded in green logistics and employs an Improved Particle Swarm Optimization (IPSO) algorithm to efficiently manage the coal supply chain from unloading at ports to loading into generators. The model incorporates new parameters and constraints that not only reflect the operational realities of coal logistics but also emphasize minimizing carbon emissions and energy consumption. Numerical experiments demonstrate the algorithm’s superior performance compared to traditional solvers like Gurobi, particularly in handling large-scale instances. Sensitivity analysis reveals the importance of prioritizing efficient and environmentally sustainable unloading and loading equipment, suggesting strategies for optimizing green coal transportation routes. Overall, this research provides valuable insights for policymakers and industry operators to enhance operational efficiency while ensuring environmental sustainability through the implementation of green logistics

Performance linkage in renewable energy supply chain: A comparative analysis with coal power and the entire industry

Establishing an efficient renewable energy supply chain is crucial for mitigating climate change, contingent upon policy influence and market complementarity. Accordingly, this study 1) Draws on the characteristics of “market mechanism” and “price regulation” within China's renewable energy industry to compare the supply chain with the entire industry and the coal power industry, laying the groundwork for an analytical framework to assess performance linkage. 2) Examines the role of markets and policies in moderating performance linkage within the renewable energy supply chain based on cash flow inflow and final commodity pricing. Empirical findings indicate that: 1) China's renewable energy supply chain exhibits weaker market circulation mechanisms than the overall industry, but it has not yet shown zero-sum game characteristics akin to the coal power supply chain. 2) Cash flow inflow and final commodity pricing are identified as pivotal factors enabling China's renewable energy industry to circumvent zero-sum games while still lacking a robust positive cycle. This research aids policymakers in dynamically assessing market-based circulation levels within the renewable energy supply chain and facilitates quantifying price regulation and market funding roles in updating industrial policies.

Enhancing Supply Chain Resilience in Coal Mining: A Review of Managing Disruptions

Objective – Coal mining operations encounter substantial risks and uncertainties that originate from a wide array of sources, encompassing but not limited to natural calamities, supplier disruptions, market volatilities, regulatory modifications, and geopolitical instability. This study aims to conduct a comprehensive literature review on supply chain resilience in the coal mining industry and pinpoint potential avenues for further investigation. Methodology – A systematic literature review (SLR) was utilized to examine a total of 115 studies in the field of management and the coal mining supply chain. The studies were published from 2010 to 2023. The vulnerabilities and resilience strategies within the coal mining supply chain are the focal points of our research. We have integrated viewpoints from the domains of management and the coal mining supply chain to support our analysis. Findings – Challenges such as resource distribution, government policies, and maintenance are prevalent, pointing to the need for strategies that enhance performance through dynamic optimization and incentivizing integration. Practitioners must identify vulnerabilities in the coal mining supply chain to proactively anticipate and effectively manage potential disruptions, thus bolstering operational resilience. Novelty –This study fills the gap in extant literature by investigating the sequential application of supply chain resilience in the context of coal mining operations using the integrative view of supply chain nodes. Type of Paper: Review JEL Classification: M00, L72, M11, O13. Keywords: Coal mining, Disruption, Risk mitigation, Supply chain resilience, Systematic literature review Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Sinaga, P.T; Simatupang, T.M; Basri, M.H. (2024). Enhancing Supply Chain Resilience in Coal Mining: A Review of Managing Disruptions, J. Bus. Econ. Review, 8(4), 01–10. https://doi.org/10.35609/jber.2024.8.4(1)

Application of lean and quality improvement methods for improving operational performance in coal supply chains: a case study

PurposeThe application of lean and quality improvement methods is very common in process improvement projects at organisational levels. The purpose of this research is to assess the adoption of Lean Six Sigma™ approaches for addressing a complex process-related issue in the coal industry.Design/methodology/approachThe sticky coal problem was investigated from the perspective of process-related issues. Issues were addressed using a blended Lean value stream of supply chain interfaces and waste minimisation through the Six Sigma™ DMAIC problem-solving approach, taking into consideration cross-organisational processes.FindingsIt was found that the tendency to “solve the problem” at the receiving location without communication to the upstream was, and is still, a common practice that led to the main problem of downstream issues. The application of DMAIC Six Sigma™ helped to address the broader problem. The overall operations were improved significantly, showing the reduction of sticky coal/wagon hang-up in the downstream coal handling terminal.Research limitations/implicationsThe Lean Six Sigma approaches were adopted using DMAIC across cross-organisational supply chain processes. However, blending Lean and Six Sigma methods needs to be empirically tested across other sectors.Practical implicationsThe proposed methodology, using a framework of Lean Six Sigma approaches, could be used to guide practitioners in addressing similar complex and recurring issues in the manufacturing sector.Originality/valueThis research introduces a novel approach to process analysis, selection and contextualised improvement using a combination of Lean Six Sigma™ tools, techniques and methodologies sustained within a supply chain with certified ISO 9001 quality management systems.

Safety risk and operational efficiency on logistic service providers’ sustainable coal supply chain management

Safety risk and operational efficiency in sustainable coal supply was an issue in the coal distribution supply chain. An online survey evaluating safety hazards, operational effectiveness, logistic service providers, and sustainable supply chain management was completed by 89 consumers of coal logistic service providers. In contrast, this study aimed to evaluate the operational effectiveness and safety concerns of a sustainable coal supply chain managed by the logistic service providers on the Barito River. In addition to using path analysis, quantitative research methods were also applied to calculate and process the questionnaire data, producing a value that determined the weight of each vendor, criterion, and sub-criterion. It showed several positive and significant influences connected to the safety of sustainable supply chain management, the operational efficiency of logistic service providers, supply chain management, and security risks for the providers. Therefore, it was essential to unite the positive influences on the logistic flow to secure the coal supply chain activities on the Barito River. This research would have theoretical and practical applications, adding to the advancement of science through its applications. Such knowledge would affect the safety risk and operational efficiency of sustainable supply chain management through the logistic service providers on the Barito River, Central Kalimantan.

The coordination strategies of coal supply chain considering carbon emissions reduction

The coordination strategies of a two-echelon coal supply chain consisting of a coal enterprise and a downstream enterprise are proposed considering market low-carbon preference and carbon emissions reduction. The cleaning and matching degree (CMD) is introduced to measure the quality of commercial coal which have influence on the production cost and energy consumption of the downstream enterprise. Stackelberg models are established to investigate the coordination strategies using cost-sharing contracts. We use backward induction to solve the models and analyse the optimal decisions in four scenarios. It is revealed that promoting CMD level can extend the market portion and realise more profit. The cost-sharing contract can coordinate the supply chain members, obtain profit Pareto improvement in certain condition of cost-sharing ratio and establish a win-win situation. Additionally, the emission reduction is greater than that under decentralised decision-making.

Designing a resilient and green coal supply chain network under facility disruption and demand volatility

Few studies have addressed strategic-level disruptions and operational-level risks for the coal industry in the literature on mining supply chain management. In many developing countries, the coal industry plays a leading role in electric power generation and primarily contributes to carbon emissions. This study aims to design a resilient and green coal supply chain network (RG-CSCN) considering strategic-level disruptions, operational-level risks, and carbon emissions. A practical stochastic mixed-integer programming model is developed to optimise both economic and environmental objectives (i.e., the total network cost and the total carbon emissions cost). Our proposed model involves five resilience strategies: facility fortification, reserving emergency inventory, direct-to-port delivery, establishing reliable distribution centres, and multiple transportation routes. Based on real-world data from the coal industry, we conduct extensive computational experiments to evaluate the impacts of strategic-level disruptions and operational-level risks and to validate the applicability of the proposed five resilience strategies and their synergistic performance in coal supply chain management. Moreover, sensitivity analyses are carried out to examine the influences of different customer service levels and carbon tax policies in various scenarios.

Sustainable Strategies for the Indian Coal Sector: An Econometric Analysis Approach

Thermal power generation based on coal has been identified as the second largest polluting industry due to the greenhouse gas emissions caused by coal combustion. The pollution caused by this industry is not limited to power generation, but it also manifests itself throughout the use of products. Although a huge emphasis has been placed on replacing coal-based power generation with renewable resources, we showed that Indian power generation will depend on coal for more than fifty percent of its demand in the near future. In our study, we utilized a combination of linear cointegration, non-linear cointegration, ARIMA, and the VECM to forecast the use of coal based on the Indian industrial index and the amount of electricity generated through coal combustion required to meet the demand. Given that pollution and carbon emissions are inherent in the coal usage cycle, we drafted policy implications and recommendations to mitigate the consequences, green the coal usage cycle, and improve the coal supply chain.

Water-energy nexus embedded in coal supply chain of a coal-based city, China

Shortage of water and energy, and uneven distribution of coal and water pose great challenges to the sustainable development of coal-based cities. Water and energy has nexus relationship through the coal supply chain and affect the sustainable development of the cities. While few studies consider water-energy nexus embedded in coal life-cycle for the coal-based cities. Here, we incorporated substance flow analysis (SFA) with life cycle assessment (LCA) and nexus theory to firstly construct a coupled layer model of water-energy nexus for coal resource cities. The coal life-cycle includes coal mining, coal processing, product utilization, and waste disposal. Both water consumption and energy consumption include direct consumption in the coal life-cycle layer, and indirect consumption in the water-energy layer. Then, we firstly applied the model to analyze water and energy consumptions in a typical coal-based city, Huainan City from 1990 to 2020. Our results show that both water and energy consumptions increased to 2.26*108 m3 and 2.14*1010 kgce in 2020. In the whole coal life-cycle, direct water use accounted for 84%–89% of the total water use, and direct energy use accounted for almost all of the total energy use. Among the four stages of the coal life-cycle, product utilization accounted for 80%–89% and 90%–95% of total water consumption and total energy consumption, respectively. In product utilization, mining and manufacturing sectors consumed most of the water and energy, while the consumption for services gradually increased. During coal mining and coal processing, all the consumptions of coal, water, and energy consumption firstly increased and then decreased after 2015. Then, we conducted sensitivity analysis and found that electricity generation and coal consumption coefficient of thermal power plant greatly influence the water consumption and energy use. Finally, we conducted scenario analysis and found that water consumption and energy consumption of Sustainability Scenario (SS) will be 6.3% and 9.4% lower than Baseline Scenario (BS), 12.0% and 17.5% lower than Crisis Scenario (CS), respectively. The study hopes to not only provide a research foundation for life cycle-based approaches and nexus theory, but also a demonstration for promoting sustainable development of other resource-based cities in China.

Assessment of coal supply chain under carbon trade policy by extended exergy accounting method.

Within an uncertain environment and following carbon trade policies, this study uses the Extended Exergy Accounting (EEA) method for coal supply chains (SCs) in eight of the world's most significant coal consuming countries. The purpose is to improve the sustainability of coal SCs in terms of Joules rather than money while considering economic, environmental, and social aspects. This model is a multi-product economic production quantity (EPQ) with a single-vendor multi-buyer with shortage as a backorder. Within the SC, there are some real constraints, such as inventory turnover ratio, waste disposal to the environment, carbon dioxide emissions, and available budgets for customers. For optimization purposes, three recent metaheuristic algorithms, including Ant Lion Optimizer, Lion Optimization Algorithm, and Whale Optimization Algorithm, are suggested to determine a near-optimum solution to an "exergy fuzzy nonlinear integer-programming (EFNIP)." Moreover, an exact method (GAMS) is employed to validate the results of the suggested algorithms. Additionally, sensitivity analyses with different percentages of exergy parameters, such as capital, labor, and environmental remediation, are done to gain a deeper understanding of sustainability improvement in coal SCs. The results showed that sustainable coal SC in the USA has the lowest fuzzy total exergy, while Poland and China have the highest.

Evaluation model of green supplier selection for coal enterprises with similarity measures of double-valued neutrosophic sets based on cosine function

Coal is a vital basic energy source for any economy in the world, and our country is no exception. Our coal resources are abundant, with high production and demand, not comparable to oil and natural gas. The coal supply chain plays an equally important role in economic production, but unfortunately, the current coal supply chain is not focused on greening while creating profits. Unfortunately, the current coal supply chain does not focus on green production and energy conservation and emission reduction while creating profits, which has caused irreversible harm and loss to resources and environment. This has caused irreversible damage and loss to resources and the environment. The green supplier selection for coal enterprises is affirmed as multiple attribute decision making (MADM). In such paper, motivated by the idea of cosine similarity measure (CSM), the CSMs are extended to DVNSs and four CSMs are created under DVNSs. Then, two weighted CSMs are built for MADM under DVNSs. Finally, a numerical example for Green supplier selection for coal enterprises is affirmed and some comparative algorithms are produced to affirm the built method.

Research on Resilience Evaluation of Coal Industrial Chain and Supply Chain Based on Interval Type-2F-PT-TOPSIS

As unexpected events such as natural disasters, the COVID-19 pandemic, and overseas containment have caused inevitable shocks to the energy industrial chain and supply chain, the current global energy crisis is intensifying, and different countries and regions have adopted different strategies according to the characteristics of their own national resource endowments in order to cope with energy security. Maintaining the security of the coal industrial chain and supply chain is a prerequisite for energy security to be effectively ensured, considering the main position of coal in China’s energy. Therefore, in the face of multiple uncertain risk factors under today’s momentous changes, this paper constructs an industrial coal chain and supply chain resilience evaluation indicator system from the perspective of resilience, based on four representational capabilities of resilience, namely preparedness, absorptive capacity, recovery capacity, and adaptability, in order to profoundly understand and enhance the resilience of the coal industrial chain and supply chain. An integrated method combining Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Prospect Theory and Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to an Ideal Solution (Interval Type-2F-PT-TOPSIS) is proposed for evaluating the resilience level of the coal industrial chain and supply chain. In the case of Shaanxi Province in China, it was found that the worst level of resilience of the coal industrial chain and supply chain in Shaanxi Province was in 2018, and the best was in 2021. Finally, based on the evaluation results, recommendations are provided to the key nodes of the industrial chain and supply chain in Shaanxi Province with a view to improving their resilience levels to cope with uncertain risks.

Fossil-Fuel and Food Systems Equally Dominate Anthropogenic Methane Emissions in China.

Understanding fossil-fuel/food production and consumption patterns is the first step toward reducing the climate impacts of associated methane (CH4) emissions but remains unclear in China. Here, based on the bottom-up method, whole-industrial-chain CH4 emission in China (CH4-CHINA) is developed to track CH4 emissions from production to use and finally to disposal. The estimated Chinese national CH4 emissions in 2020 are 39288.3 Gg (25,230.8-53,345.7 Gg), with 50.4 and 49.6% emissions generated from fossil-fuel and food systems, respectively. ∼130,000 point sources are included to achieve a highly resolved inventory of CH4 emissions, which account for ∼53.5% of the total anthropogenic CH4 emissions in 2020. Our estimate is 36% lower than the Chinese inventory reported to the UNFCCC and 40% lower than EDGAR v6.0, mainly driven by lower emissions from rice cultivation, waste management, and coal supply chain in this study. Based on the emission flow, we observe that previous studies ignored the emissions from natural gas vehicles and residential appliances, coke production, municipal solid waste predisposal, septic tanks, biogas digesters, and food sewage treatment, which totally contribute ∼12.4% of the national anthropogenic CH4 emissions. The results discussed in this study provide critical insights to design and formulate effective CH4 emission mitigation strategies.

Integrate exergy costs and carbon reduction policy in order to optimize the sustainability development of coal supply chains in uncertain conditions

The coal supply chain in developing countries is supposed to have the lowest cost overall; however, in terms of sustainability (social, economic, and environmental aspects) and considering Joules rather than monetary objectives, does this assumption remain accurate? This research develops a sustainable model for coal supply chain in five countries by integrating exergy costs and carbon tax policy using the extended exergy accounting (EEA) method under an uncertain environment. This sustainable model is a single vendor multi-buyer economic order quantity (EOQ) model for coal supply chain with the objective of the least total exergy with the maximum carbon and imperfect quality items decrease. Additionally, some realistic suppositions such as waste disposal to the environment, the obtainable budget of buyers and stockout in the model are considered. Following this, four metaheuristic algorithms, such as WOA, GA, ACO, and SA, are suggested to solve the model, and their results are validated by the exact method (GAMS). Finally, to improve the model's sustainability, a sensitivity analysis with different exergy values is offered for coal supply chain in each country. According to the results, coal supply chains in Canada and Germany have better sustainability performance (in Joules) than Iran and Turkey.

Dynamic modeling of global fossil fuel infrastructure and materials needs: Overcoming a lack of available data

The low-carbon energy transition requires a widespread change in global energy infrastructures which in turn calls for important inputs of energy and materials. While the transport and electricity sectors have been thoroughly analyzed in this regard, that of the hydrocarbon industry has not received the same attention, maybe in part due to the difficulty of access to the necessary data. To fill this gap, we assemble public-domain data from a wide variety of sources to present a stock-flow dynamic model of the fossil fuels supply chain. It is conducted from 1950 to 2050 and along scenarios from the International Energy Agency. We estimate the concrete, steel, aluminum and copper requirements for each segment, as well as the embedded energy and CO2 emissions through a dynamic material flow analysis (MFA) model. We find that (i) the material intensities of oil, gas and coal supply chains have stagnated for more than 30 years; (ii) gas is the main driver of current and future material consumption; and (iii) recycled steel from decommissioned fossil fuels infrastructures could meet the cumulative need of future low-carbon technologies and reduce its energy and environmental toll. Furthermore, we highlight that regional decommissioning strategies significantly affect the potential of material recycling and reuse. In this context, ambitious decommissioning strategies could drive a symbolic move to build future renewable technologies from past fossil fuel structures.

Evaluating provincial-level employment challenge during the coal transition in China

As China works to move away from coal in its energy system as a critical strategy to achieve carbon neutrality before 2060, there are several challenges which will affect the coal transition. One challenge that has not been fully explored is the impact on coal employment. There are millions of people employed in various sectors along the coal supply chain, including mining, processing, transport, and power generation. In this study, we developed a framework to understand the magnitude and characteristics of the employment challenges associated with the coal transition across provinces. Specifically, the magnitude and characteristics of the challenges are evaluated from multiple dimensions, including existing coal sector employment, coal production, coal consumption, GDP contribution from the coal industry, and coal mining productivity, to explore how the transition of the coal industry will likely affect different provinces. The results showed that provinces with large total coal employment today are often those with high coal production and consumption, high GDP contribution from the coal industry, and low productivity of coal mining. We found that employment impacts of a coal transition will not be equally distributed in China, as both the magnitude and characteristics of the employment challenges vary substantially across all provinces. It is therefore important to develop a tailored strategy to tackle specific needs for each province.

Evaluation of Coal Supply and Demand Security in China and Associated Obstacle Factors

In China, coal security issues are strongly linked to national energy security and economic and social stability. Facing environmental protection constraints, research on China’s coal security should analyze both supply and demand security. In this study, 19 criteria were selected for four subsystems (coal supply chain, coal market, economy and demographics, and social ecology) to construct an evaluation system for China‘s coal supply and demand security. Entropy and TOPSIS methods were used to evaluate coal security for 2002–2019. The obstacle factors affecting coal security for each subsystem were determined, and the grey model was used to predict the security and obstacle degree for each subsystem for 2020 and 2021. The results indicate that (1) China’s coal supply and use safety level in the period 2002–2019 was below a relatively safe level, i.e., at a safe early warning level during the period 2010–2014 and at a general safety level in the remaining years. (2) The basic coal reserves, the reserve-production ratio of the basic reserves, the balance of social coal stocks at the beginning and the end of the year, and the proportion of coal imports to consumption, urbanization rate, carbon dioxide emissions, and coal consumption in thermal power generation are the main obstacle factors that affect the safety of coal supply and use in China. (3) The obstacle degree of the coal production and supply evaluation subsystem is higher than that of the other three sub-systems, and the overall change trend during the study period showed a downward trend at first, followed by an upward trend.

Research on the Application of Blockchain Technology in Coal Supply Chain Finance

The implementation of measures to limit electricity consumption in many provinces of China has caused coal prices to rise irrationally, further aggravating the financing problems of small and medium-sized enterprises in the supply chain. Small and medium-sized enterprises lacking funds cannot effectively participate in the green transformation and development of the coal industry, which slows down the sustainable development process of the coal industry. Under the current background of low-carbon advocacy, blockchain technology can reasonably allocate resources and efficiently process information, thereby providing a solution for this financing problem. This paper first proposes a coal accounts receivable financing model based on blockchain technology, then builds a coal accounts receivable financing system dominated by ports through blockchain technology. Finally, the Stackelberg yield–benefit model is used to analyze the income function of each participant in the process of accounts receivable financing. The results show that the use of blockchain technology can reduce the financing condition of financial institutions and improve the maximum income of cooperative enterprises in the chain while solving the financing problems of small and medium-sized enterprises in the coal supply chain. This study provides practical significance and theoretical value for promoting the transformation and upgrading of coal enterprises and accelerating the opening of the sustainable development model of the coal industry.

Research on Sustainability Evaluation of China’s Coal Supply Chain from the Perspective of Dual Circulation New Development Pattern

The critical strategic plan of the new dual circulation development pattern provides new strategic opportunities for the modernization of China’s coal supply chain. This paper presents new ideas for the sustainable development of the coal supply chain. To significantly improve the systematic and scientific evaluation of the sustainable development of China’s coal supply chain under the background of “dual circulation”, a sustainability evaluation index system for the coal supply chain is proposed, which contains five dimensions. Furthermore, an evaluation model is built based on multi-granularity unbalanced decision-making and TOPSIS theory. On this basis, an empirical study was carried out using a coal supply chain in China as an example, and scientific and effective development countermeasures are presented, which effectively promote new development and build unique competitive advantages for the energy industry.

The effects of the Promoting the Big and Quashing the Small Policy on pollutants from a coal power supply chain perspective

China implemented the Promoting the Big and Quashing the Small Policy (PBQSP) in 2007 to alleviate air pollution due to coal-fired power plants (CFPPs). However, how the policy affected the air pollutant emissions remains poorly understood. We compared the air pollutant emissions between decommissioned and newly-built CFPPs under the PBQSP by developing a plant-level supply chain emission inventory model, taking Shandong, China's top provincial-level coal power producer, as the case area. The results indicated that compared to a 27.4% increase in electricity produced in Shandong from 2010 to 2014, the NOx, particulate matter (PM), Hg, and SO2 emissions disproportionately increased by 10.3%, 11.7%, 11.8% and 0.5%, respectively. It was found that the PBQSP policy has made great contribution to air pollution mitigation, as the supply chain emission intensities (emissions per kilowatt-hour) of NOX, PM, Hg and SO2 of the newly-built CFPPs are three-quarters, two-fifths, three-fifths, and four-fifths lower, respectively, than those of the decommissioned CFPPs. However, coal transport route changes caused an increase in NOX, PM, and SO2 emissions by 44.0%, 45.5%, and 55.6%, respectively, during the transportation stage, which offset the PBQSP overall mitigation effect. By building a comprehensive assessment framework for air pollutant control policies, our study provides insights for formulating coordinated mitigation measures for the pollutant-intensive industries, such as promoting efficient air pollutant control technologies including the spray dust suppression devices.