Design of forest biofuel supply chains

Designing and building new biofuel supply chains is an emerging theme in the present world energy situation. This paper considers a real-life problem of supplying a bioenergy plant with forest fuel. A mixed-integer linear programming model is proposed to determine the optimal configuration of that supply chain. The model proves helpful in resolving trade-offs between decentralised early treatment of biofuel, resulting in lower transportation costs, and centralised final treatment, allowing to reap economies of scale. It is therefore advisable to apply integrated supply chain planning concepts to design biofuel logistics systems and to support policy making in the energy field