Bio-diesel production using mobile processing units: A case in Indonesia

Joeri ten Kate, Ruud Teunter, Ratih Kusumastuti and Dirk Pieter van Donk

Agricultural Systems, 2017, vol. 152, issue C, 121-130

Abstract: Bio-diesel is a sustainable alternative to fossil fuel, in particular if the input materials are not edible. This paper considers the production of bio-diesel from rubber seeds, which are currently viewed as a waste product and discarded by farmers. We investigate whether technological innovations in local pre-processing at individual farms and oil production via mobile processing units (MPUs) visiting villages, makes bio-diesel production profitable for groups of farmers. A mixed integer programming model optimizing supply chain decisions is developed and applied to a specific case in Indonesia. We find that operating the relatively expensive MPUs at maximum capacity is essential for economic sustainability. Furthermore, variations in the price of bio-diesel affect the profitability and governments may consider offering minimum price guarantees.

Keywords: Bio-diesel production; Agricultural supply chain; MIP; Indonesia (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308521X16305844
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:agisys:v:152:y:2017:i:c:p:121-130

DOI: 10.1016/j.agsy.2016.12.015

Access Statistics for this article

Agricultural Systems is currently edited by J.W. Hansen, P.K. Thornton and P.B.M. Berentsen

More articles in Agricultural Systems from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().