Optimally Locating Biorefineries: A GIS-Based Mixed Integer Linear Programming Approach

摘要

Biofuels have recently attracted enormous attention from researcher in various disciplines. Mostexisting studies are focused on the biofuel production process to reduce production cost andimprove efficiency. Although the cost of transporting bulky and unrefined biomass feedstock isalso very significant compared to the total cost for producing biofuels, much less attention hasbeen given to research on reducing the biomass transportation cost. This study is aimed todevelop a GIS-based decision support tool for finding the best biorefinery locations to minimizethe biomass transportation cost. The developed GIS tool first obtains reliable biomassdistribution data from remote sensing images. Based on the biomass distribution data and otherinformation such as transportation network, a mixed integer linear programming model isdeveloped and integrated into the GIS tool to find the optimal locations of biorefineries. Thedeveloped GIS tool is applied to a case study in South Carolina using switchgrass as the biomassfeedstock. The GIS-based framework established in the study not only provides a practical toolto inform decision-making but also serves as a versatile prototype to guide future researchendeavors in biorefinery location selection and biomass transportation cost analysis.