IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v137y2015icp338-351.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Controlling moisture content and truck configurations to model and optimise biomass supply chain logistics in Ireland

Author

Listed:
  • Sosa, Amanda
  • Acuna, Mauricio
  • McDonnell, Kevin
  • Devlin, Ger

Abstract

In the coming years, Ireland will continue to face an increasing demand for wood biomass as a renewable source of energy. This will result in strained supply/demand scenarios, which will call for new planning and logistics systems capable of optimizing the efficient use of the biomass resources. In this study, a linear programming tool was developed which includes moisture content (MC) as a driving factor for the cost optimisation of two supply chains that use short wood and whole trees from thinnings as material feedstock. The tool was designed and implemented to analyse the impact of moisture content and truck configurations (5-axle and 6-axle trucks) on supply chain costs and spatial distribution of the supply materials. The results indicate that the inclusion of wood chips from whole trees reduces the costs of wood energy supply in comparison with only producing wood chips from short wood to satisfy the demand, with 9.8% and 10.2% cost reduction when transported with 5-axle and 6-axle trucks respectively. Constraining the MC of the wood chips delivered to the power plant increases both transport and overall supply chain costs, due, firstly to an increase in the haulage distance and secondly, to the number of counties providing the biomass material. In terms of truck configuration, the use of 6-axle trucks resulted in a 14.8% reduction in the number of truckloads and a 12.3% reduction in haulage costs in comparison to the use of 5-axle trucks across the MC scenarios analysed.

Suggested Citation

  • Sosa, Amanda & Acuna, Mauricio & McDonnell, Kevin & Devlin, Ger, 2015. "Controlling moisture content and truck configurations to model and optimise biomass supply chain logistics in Ireland," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 338-351.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:137:y:2015:i:c:p:338-351
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.10.018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261914010599
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2014.10.018?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Troncoso, Juan J. & Garrido, Rodrigo A., 2005. "Forestry production and logistics planning: an analysis using mixed-integer programming," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(4), pages 625-633, May.
    2. Murphy, Fionnuala & Devlin, Ger & McDonnell, Kevin, 2014. "Forest biomass supply chains in Ireland: A life cycle assessment of GHG emissions and primary energy balances," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 1-8.
    3. Kinoshita, Tsuguki & Ohki, Takashi & Yamagata, Yoshiki, 2010. "Woody biomass supply potential for thermal power plants in Japan," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(9), pages 2923-2927, September.
    4. -, 2013. "Observatorio Demográfico de América Latina y el Caribe 2012: Proyecciones de población = Demographic Observatory of Latin America and the Caribbean 2012: Population projections," Observatorio Demográfico de América Latina / Demographic Observatory of Latin America 7118, Naciones Unidas Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL).
    5. anonymous, 2003. "Annual Fed report tracks bank fees and services," Financial Update, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, vol. 16(Q 3).
    6. Devlin, Ger & Talbot, Bruce, 2014. "Deriving cooperative biomass resource transport supply strategies in meeting co-firing energy regulations: A case for peat and wood fibre in Ireland," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 1700-1709.
    7. Sina T. Ates & Felipe E. Saffie, 2013. "Project Heterogeneity and Growth: The Impact of Selection," PIER Working Paper Archive 13-011, Penn Institute for Economic Research, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania.
    8. Börjesson, Pål & Gustavsson, Leif, 1996. "Regional production and utilization of biomass in Sweden," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 21(9), pages 747-764.
    9. Eriksson, Ljusk Ola & Bjorheden, Rolf, 1989. "Optimal storing, transport and processing for a forest-fuel supplier," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 26-33, November.
    10. Li, Jing & Sabbaghi, Navid, 2013. "Decision analysis on CDM project investments," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(1), pages 269-280.
    11. Gunnarsson, Helene & Ronnqvist, Mikael & Lundgren, Jan T., 2004. "Supply chain modelling of forest fuel," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 158(1), pages 103-123, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sosa, Amanda & Acuna, Mauricio & McDonnell, Kevin & Devlin, Ger, 2015. "Managing the moisture content of wood biomass for the optimisation of Ireland's transport supply strategy to bioenergy markets and competing industries," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 354-368.
    2. Ba, Birome Holo & Prins, Christian & Prodhon, Caroline, 2016. "Models for optimization and performance evaluation of biomass supply chains: An Operations Research perspective," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(P2), pages 977-989.
    3. Fionnuala Murphy & Ger Devlin & Kevin McDonnell, 2015. "Benchmarking Environmental Impacts of Peat Use for Electricity Generation in Ireland—A Life Cycle Assessment," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-18, May.
    4. Eliasson, Lars & Eriksson, Anders & Mohtashami, Sima, 2017. "Analysis of factors affecting productivity and costs for a high-performance chip supply system," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(P1), pages 497-505.
    5. Jiehong Kong & Mikael Rönnqvist & Mikael Frisk, 2015. "Using mixed integer programming models to synchronously determine production levels and market prices in an integrated market for roundwood and forest biomass," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 232(1), pages 179-199, September.
    6. Shabani, Nazanin & Akhtari, Shaghaygh & Sowlati, Taraneh, 2013. "Value chain optimization of forest biomass for bioenergy production: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 299-311.
    7. Melo, M.T. & Nickel, S. & Saldanha-da-Gama, F., 2009. "Facility location and supply chain management - A review," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 196(2), pages 401-412, July.
    8. Amanda Sosa & Kevin McDonnell & Ger Devlin, 2015. "Analysing Performance Characteristics of Biomass Haulage in Ireland for Bioenergy Markets with GPS, GIS and Fuel Diagnostic Tools," Energies, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-16, October.
    9. Toka, Agorasti & Iakovou, Eleftherios & Vlachos, Dimitrios & Tsolakis, Naoum & Grigoriadou, Anastasia-Loukia, 2014. "Managing the diffusion of biomass in the residential energy sector: An illustrative real-world case study," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 56-69.
    10. Cambero, Claudia & Sowlati, Taraneh, 2014. "Assessment and optimization of forest biomass supply chains from economic, social and environmental perspectives – A review of literature," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 62-73.
    11. Razm, Sobhan & Brahimi, Nadjib & Hammami, Ramzi & Dolgui, Alexandre, 2023. "A production planning model for biorefineries with biomass perishability and biofuel transformation," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    12. Manzone, Marco & Calvo, Angela, 2017. "Woodchip transportation: Climatic and congestion influence on productivity, energy and CO2 emission of agricultural and industrial convoys," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 250-259.
    13. Shabani, Nazanin & Sowlati, Taraneh & Ouhimmou, Mustapha & Rönnqvist, Mikael, 2014. "Tactical supply chain planning for a forest biomass power plant under supply uncertainty," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 346-355.
    14. Gautam, Shuva & LeBel, Luc & Carle, Marc-André, 2017. "Supply chain model to assess the feasibility of incorporating a terminal between forests and biorefineries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 377-384.
    15. Akhtari, Shaghaygh & Sowlati, Taraneh & Griess, Verena C., 2018. "Integrated strategic and tactical optimization of forest-based biomass supply chains to consider medium-term supply and demand variations," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 626-638.
    16. Shabani, Nazanin & Sowlati, Taraneh, 2013. "A mixed integer non-linear programming model for tactical value chain optimization of a wood biomass power plant," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 353-361.
    17. Flisberg, Patrik & Frisk, Mikael & Rönnqvist, Mikael & Guajardo, Mario, 2015. "Potential savings and cost allocations for forest fuel transportation in Sweden: A country-wide study," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 353-365.
    18. Venn, Tyron J. & Dorries, Jack W. & McGavin, Robert L., 2021. "A mathematical model to support investment in veneer and LVL manufacturing in subtropical eastern Australia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    19. Mobini, Mahdi & Sowlati, Taraneh & Sokhansanj, Shahab, 2011. "Forest biomass supply logistics for a power plant using the discrete-event simulation approach," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(4), pages 1241-1250, April.
    20. Correia, Isabel & Melo, Teresa, 2016. "A computational comparison of formulations for a multi-period facility location problem with modular capacity adjustments and flexible demand fulfillment," Technical Reports on Logistics of the Saarland Business School 11, Saarland University of Applied Sciences (htw saar), Saarland Business School.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:137:y:2015:i:c:p:338-351. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.