Supply chain optimization and GHG emissions in biofuel production from residues in Sweden

This paper applies an innovative optimization methodology to the supply chain of biomethanol production starting from forestry residues in Sweden. The model accounts for the collection of the biomass, the transport to the biorefinery including intermediate storages and the biodiesel plant. Particular attention is devoted to the characterization from economic and environmental point of view of the transport by truck and trains, the impact of the drying process as well as the size of the biorefinery plant. Results show that the forestry residues collection is limited by the size of the biodiesel plants. The calculated cost of the fuel is around 525 euro /t being the biorefinery the major cost. The equivalent CO2 emissions are around 10.4 g(CO2)/MJ(MeOH) thanks to the low carbon intensity of the Swedish electricity. A sensitivity analysis showed that the supply chain does not vary significantly assuming higher prices of biomethanol. (c) 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/).

Automated summary

This paper applies an innovative optimization methodology to study the supply chain of biomethanol production in Sweden. The research considers the collection and transportation of biomass as well as the size of the biorefinery plant. The results show that the size of the biodiesel plants limits the collection of forestry residues. The study also finds that the low carbon intensity of Swedish electricity contributes to the low CO2 emissions of biomethanol.