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An Integrated Biofuel Supply Chain to Cope with Feedstock Seasonality and Uncertainty

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  • Yongxi (Eric) Huang

    (Department of Civil Engineering, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina 29631)

  • Yueyue Fan

    (Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, Davis, California 95616)

  • Chien-Wei Chen

    (Taiwan Research Institute, Taipei, Taiwan)

Abstract

A biofuel supply chain consists of various interdependent components from feedstock resources all the way to energy demand sites. This study focuses on the design of an efficient biofuel supply chain system against seasonal variations and uncertainties of feedstock supply in an integrative manner. By integrating planning and operational decisions in a stochastic programming framework, we aim at finding an effective design strategy for biofuel supply chain that is economically viable and hedges well against a wide range of future uncertainties. A solution algorithm based on scenario decomposition is designed to overcome computational challenges involved in large-scale applications. A California case study is implemented to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed methods in evaluating the economic potential, the infrastructure needs, and the risk of waste-based bioethanol production.

Suggested Citation

  • Yongxi (Eric) Huang & Yueyue Fan & Chien-Wei Chen, 2014. "An Integrated Biofuel Supply Chain to Cope with Feedstock Seasonality and Uncertainty," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(4), pages 540-554, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:inm:ortrsc:v:48:y:2014:i:4:p:540-554
    DOI: 10.1287/trsc.2013.0498
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Zhixue Liu & Shukun Wang & Yanfeng Ouyang, 2017. "Reliable Biomass Supply Chain Design under Feedstock Seasonality and Probabilistic Facility Disruptions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-18, November.
    3. Wang, Xin & Lim, Michael K. & Ouyang, Yanfeng, 2017. "Food-energy-environment trilemma: Policy impacts on farmland use and biofuel industry development," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 35-48.
    4. repec:cdl:itsdav:qt1539g5sj is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Halit Üster & Gökhan Memişoğlu, 2018. "Biomass Logistics Network Design Under Price-Based Supply and Yield Uncertainty," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 52(2), pages 474-492, March.
    6. Lixia H. Lambert & Eric A. DeVuyst & Burton C. English & Rodney Holcomb, 2021. "Analyzing the Trade-Offs between Meeting Biorefinery Production Capacity and Feedstock Supply Cost: A Chance Constrained Approach," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-13, August.
    7. Tao, Yi & Wu, Jianhuang & Lai, Xiaofan & Wang, Fan, 2020. "Network planning and operation of sustainable closed-loop supply chains in emerging markets: Retail market configurations and carbon policies," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    8. Daniel José Bernier-Oviedo & Alexandra Eugenia Duarte & Óscar J. Sánchez, 2025. "Evaluation and Design of Supply Chains for Bioenergy Production," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-50, April.
    9. Malladi, Krishna Teja & Quirion-Blais, Olivier & Sowlati, Taraneh, 2018. "Development of a decision support tool for optimizing the short-term logistics of forest-based biomass," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 216(C), pages 662-677.
    10. Fattahi, Mohammad & Govindan, Kannan, 2018. "A multi-stage stochastic program for the sustainable design of biofuel supply chain networks under biomass supply uncertainty and disruption risk: A real-life case study," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 118(C), pages 534-567.
    11. Sharma, Bijay P. & Yu, T. Edward & English, Burton C. & Boyer, Christopher N. & Larson, James A., 2020. "Impact of government subsidies on a cellulosic biofuel sector with diverse risk preferences toward feedstock uncertainty," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C).
    12. Mohammad Marufuzzaman & Sandra Duni Ekşioğlu, 2017. "Designing a Reliable and Dynamic Multimodal Transportation Network for Biofuel Supply Chains," Transportation Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(2), pages 494-517, May.
    13. Jensen, Ida Græsted & Münster, Marie & Pisinger, David, 2017. "Optimizing the supply chain of biomass and biogas for a single plant considering mass and energy losses," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 262(2), pages 744-758.
    14. Wang, Xin & Lim, Michael K. & Ouyang, Yanfeng, 2015. "Infrastructure deployment under uncertainties and competition: The biofuel industry case," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 1-15.
    15. Wolff, Michael & Becker, Tristan & Walther, Grit, 2023. "Long-term design and analysis of renewable fuel supply chains – An integrated approach considering seasonal resource availability," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 304(2), pages 745-762.
    16. Malladi, Krishna Teja & Sowlati, Taraneh, 2018. "Biomass logistics: A review of important features, optimization modeling and the new trends," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 587-599.
    17. Zahra Hussaini & Arash Nemati & Mohammad Mahdi Paydar, 2025. "A multi-period multi-season multi-objective mathematical model for guaranteeing the viability of supply chains under fluctuations: a healthcare closed-loop supply chain application," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 346(2), pages 1063-1108, March.
    18. Jiang, Zhong-Zhong & He, Na & Huang, Song, 2021. "Government penalty provision and contracting with asymmetric quality information in a bioenergy supply chain," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).

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