Novel Methodology to Assess Advanced Biofuel Production at Regional Level: Case Study for Cereal Straw Supply Chains

Marco Ugolini, Lucia Recchia, Giulio Guandalini () and Giampaolo Manzolini
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Marco Ugolini: Ca.Re. For. Engineering, Via Giovanni Boccaccio 71, 50133 Firenze, Italy
Lucia Recchia: Ca.Re. For. Engineering, Via Giovanni Boccaccio 71, 50133 Firenze, Italy
Giulio Guandalini: Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milan, Italy
Giampaolo Manzolini: Dipartimento di Energia, Politecnico di Milano, via Lambruschini 4, 20156 Milan, Italy

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 19, 1-21

Abstract: Nowadays, there is an urgent necessity for breakthrough technologies able to reduce process complexity and to lower costs to make the biomass-based biodiesel supply chain competitive. This paper presents an innovative methodology for the identification of secondary biomass potentials for biofuel production. The methodology, divided into four steps, defines the criteria that allow identification of promising scenarios of biomass supply chains for commercial application of innovative technologies. The model set up a scoring procedure based on carbon emission avoidance, efficient resource exploitation and sustainability indexes. Applying the four levels of analysis (biomass availability, suitability analysis, regionalization and multi-criteria analysis), the cereal straw supply chains in four European districts (Scandinavian, Hanseatic, Central European and Mediterranean) have been identified and grouped in 18 biomass supply regional clusters (BSRCs). The clusters represent the most promising hotspots where biomass availability, logistics and feedstock requirements for a novel conversion technology meet. Central European and Mediterranean districts are those with the highest cereal straw bioeconomic potentials which allow mono-feedstock supply chains and relatively high capacity of a conversion technology at 200 MW th and beyond. Central Europe has an overall bioeconomic potential of 16.249 kt (232.359 TJ) distributed over 36 regions and organized in 12 BSRCs. The Mediterranean district has an overall bioeconomic potential of 3541 kt (50.630 TJ) distributed over nine regions and organized in four BSRCs.

Keywords: agricultural residues; cereal straw; biomass supply chains; bioeconomic potential; biomethanol (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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