Development of An Integrated Biomass Production and Logistics Analysis System for the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Biomass productivity is highly dependent on agronomic management and site-specific climate and soil conditions, and results from individual locations may not be directly relevant over wide production regions. Optimizing biorefinery siting and timely delivery of feedstock requires an approach that integrates bioenergy supply chain operations from feedstock production to logistics and conversion, taking into consideration field-specific suitability and seasonal yield variability.

The objectives of our research are: 1) Develop an integrated bioenergy analysis framework incorporating major production, logistics, and conversion processes; 2) Identify potential biorefinery sites through field-scale integration, simulation and analysis; 3) Develop operational plans for feedstock production and logistics to provide year-round supply to targeted biorefinery sites.

The integration framework is comprised of a three-tier architecture of databases, processes, and an interactive web interface. Most of the geo-referenced databases (climatic, soil, cropland, production, and road network) have been consolidated. Major processes include biomass production, logistics, and economics. Major factors in the feedstock production include crop distribution and mix, planting, harvesting, rotation, production economics, water, and soil nutrients. The logistics component uses physiologically based crop simulated yields of each bioenergy crop field to optimize harvesting, densification, storage, transport and routing operations. The conversion uses biomass (by crop and field) to be delivered to schedule the operations of each conversion process.

The implemented system will allow 1) comprehensive analysis of biomass production, logistics, and economic viability of different bioenergy production systems; 2) identification and ranking of potential biorefinery sites; and 3) recommendations for refinery-scale best biomass production and delivery plans.