Structuring the Planning Tasks in Biomass-Based Supply Chains

Abstract

Due to the dependency on crude oil, mitigating, greenhouse gas emissions, energy and food security, support for rural economic development and the effort for environmental sustainability, renewable energy sources become more and more important. This led to an increasing research on biomass-based supply chains in recent years. Conventional supply chains, i.e., the commodity flow including all the stakeholders from the supplier to the end customer, have been studied intensively in the past. Biomass-based supply chains, however, feature different characteristics and uncertainties that have to be considered. In this paper, we identify the differences between the two types of supply chains and elaborate the stakeholders involved in the supply chain process and the different planning tasks structured according to the functional areas. As several possible pathways from feedstocks to different end-products exist, we focus on bio-fuels as the final product. We conclude by reviewing the literature that deals with supply chain optimization using operations research (OR) models to present the relevant planning tasks in biomass-based supply chains.