Conference presentation
Forest biomass supply chain optimisation in Western Australia
USC Research Conference, 2013 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 01-Jul-2013–05-Jul-2013)
University of the Sunshine Coast
2013
Abstract
In Australia the use of forest biomass has been developing in recent years and initial efforts are built on adopting and trialling imported European technology. Using a linear programming-based tool, BIOPLAN, this study investigated the impact of five operational factors: energy demand, moisture content, interest rate, transport distance, and truck payload on total forest residues supply chain cost in Western Australia. The supply chain consisted four phases: extraction of residues from the clear felled area to road side by forwarders, storage at road side, chipping of materials by mobile chippers, and transport of chips to an energy plant. For an average monthly energy demand of 5000 MWh, the minimum wood supply chain cost was about 29.4 $/t, which is lower than the maximum target supply cost of 30-40 $/t , reported by many industry stakeholders as the breakeven point for economically viable bioenergy production in Australia. The suggested volume available for chipping in the second year was larger than in the first year indicating that the optimisation model proposed storing more materials in the first year to be chipped in the second year. The sensitivity analysis showed a strong correlation between energy demand and total supply chain cost. For higher interest rates, the total storage cost increased which resulted in larger operational cost per m3. Longer transport distances and lower truck payloads resulted in higher transport cost per unit of delivered chips. In addition, the highest supply chain costs occurred when moisture content ranged between 20% and 35%.
Details
- Title
- Forest biomass supply chain optimisation in Western Australia
- Authors
- Mohammad R Ghaffariyan (Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastMauricio Acuna (Author) - University of the Sunshine Coast
- Conference details
- USC Research Conference, 2013 (Sunshine Coast, Australia, 01-Jul-2013–05-Jul-2013)
- Publisher
- University of the Sunshine Coast
- Date published
- 2013
- Copyright note
- Copyright © 2013 the author. Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder.
- Organisation Unit
- University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; Forest Industries Research Centre; Forest Research Institute
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99449080402621
- Output Type
- Conference presentation
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