In developing an optimization framework to assist in
the design process
of bi
ofuel
systems,
the economic effectiveness
of the supply network should not be adopted as
the sole criterion to focus on. In fact,
there has recently been growing attention in including environmental concerns at
the strategic level
of supply chain
management. In this part 2,
the spatially explicit multi-echelon mixed integer linear program (MILP) modeling framework described in part 1
(1) of this work has been extended by including environmental issues along with
the traditional economic ones within a more comprehensive multi-objective optimization tool. The economics have been assessed by means
of supply chain analysis techniques, focusing on biomass cultivation site locations, ethanol production capacity assignment and facilities location, as well as transport
system optimization. The environmental performance
of the system has been evaluated in terms
of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, by adopting a well-to-tank (WTT) approach to consider
the supply network operating impact on global warming over
the entire life cycle. The strategic design tool as developed has been applied and solved in assessing
the emerging corn-based Italian ethanol
system. The resulting outcomes demonstrate
the valuable support that
the model may provide in formulating a well-advised strategic policy to promote
the market penetration as well as to reduce
the social and environmental impacts
of biomass-based fuels.