Minimising carbon footprint of regional biomass supply chains

A new method for regional energy targeting and supply chain synthesis is presented. A demand-driven approach is applied to assess the feasible ways for transferring energy from renewable sources to customers in a given region. The studied region is partitioned into a number of clusters by using the developed Regional Energy Clustering (REC) algorithm. The REC targets aim at minimising the system carbon footprint (CFP). The biomass energy supply and management are targeted using new graphical representations. Regional Energy Surplus-Deficit Curves (RESDC) visualises the formation and the sizes of introduced energy clusters. Regional Resource Management Composite Curve (RRMCC) an analogy of the Process Integration approach shows the energy imbalances helping in trading-off resources management. These graphical tools provide straightforward information of how to manage the surplus resources (biomass and land use) in a region. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.