KEY TERMS AND THEIR DEFINITIONS

• Biomass:

Any organic matter, i.e. biological material, available on a renewable basis. Includes feedstock derived
from animals or plants, such as wood and agricultural crops, and organic waste from municipal and
industrial sources.

• Bioenergy:

Energy generated from the conversion of solid, liquid and gaseous products derived from biomass.

• Traditional biomass use:

The use of solid biomass such as wood, charcoal, agricultural residues and animal dung converted with
basic techniques, such as a three-stone fire, for heating and cooking in the residential sector. It tends to
have very low conversion efficiency (10% to 20%) and often relies upon an unsustainable biomass
supply.

• Biofuels:

Liquid fuels derived from biomass. They include ethanol, a liquid produced from fermenting any biomass
type high in carbohydrates, And biodiesel, a diesel equivalent processed fuel made from both vegetable
oil and animal fats.

TYPES OF BIOFUELS

• Conventional biofuels, also referred to as first-generation biofuels (1G), are obtained through
well-established processes and include sugar- and starch-based ethanol, oil-crop based biodiesel
and straight vegetable oil. Common feedstocks used in these processes include sugar cane and
sugar beet, starch bearing grains such as corn and wheat, oil crops such as oil palm, soya,
sunflower and canola, and in some cases used frying oil and animal fats.

• Advanced biofuels, also referred

to as second- or third-generation
biofuels (2G or 3G), are based on
non-food crop feedstocks, which
are capable of delivering significant
lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions savings compared to
fossil fuel alternatives, and which
do not directly compete with food
and feed crops for agricultural land
or cause adverse sustainability
impacts.
THIRD GENERATION VS. FOURTH GENERATION BIOFUELS

• The Third Generation of biofuels is based on improvements in the production of biomass. It

takes advantage of specially engineered energy crops such as algae as its energy source.

The algae are cultured to act as a low-cost, high-energy and entirely renewable feedstock. It is predicted
that algae will have the potential to produce more energy per acre than conventional crops. Algae can
also be grown using land and water unsuitable for food production, therefore reducing the strain on
already depleted water sources.

• Fourth Generation Bio-fuels are aimed at not only producing sustainable energy but also a way
of capturing and storing co2. Biomass materials, which have absorbed co2 while growing, are
converted into fuel using the same processes as second-generation biofuels. This process differs
from second and third generation production as at all stages of production the carbon dioxide is
captured using processes such as oxy-fuel combustion.

The carbon dioxide can then be geosequestered by storing it in old oil and gas fields or saline aquifers.
This carbon capture makes fourth generation biofuel production carbon negative rather than simply
carbon neutral, as it is ‘locks’ away more carbon than it produces. This system not only captures and
stores carbon dioxide from the atmosphere but it also reduces co2 emissions by replacing fossil fuels. 

Biofuel production forecast to increase 25% over the next 5 years

• Global biofuel production increased

10 billion liters in 2018 to reach a
record 154 billion liters.

• Double the growth of 2017, this 7%

year-on-year increase was the highest
in five years. Output is forecast to
increase 25% to 2024, an upwards
revision from 2018 owing to better
market prospects in Brazil, the United
States and especially China.
OVERVIEW OF BIOFUEL SUPPLY CHAIN

FEEDSTOCK SUPPLY AND LOGISTICS CHALLENGES

SEASONAL SUPPLY AND STORAGE

One of the critical challenges in the operation of biofuel supply chains is the seasonal nature and annual
variability of biomass supply. Most biomass resources are plant matters, which need to be planted,
cultivated, and harvested, going through a growing cycle.

• Crop residues are usually collected after the harvest of the agricultural crops. For instance, the
corn Stover in the U.S. Corn Belt is mainly harvested from September through November. The
wood residues are grown over multiple years, which makes them less seasonal compared to
crop residues. They are usually available all year round.

• However, the yields may vary in different months. For instance, it might be more difficult to
collect the wood residues during snowing seasons. In addition, it is also reported that the
harvesting timing and frequency may affect the yields of energy crops, thus careful planning and
scheduling would be necessary in order to guarantee the quantity and quality of the biomass
supply.

• The biomass supply may be discrete due to the seasonality, but the demand for transportation
fuels is all-year-round. Therefore, the resulting operational challenge is to manage the biomass
storage in order to maintain a continuous supply for the production at bio refineries.
PRE-TREATMENT AND DEGRADATION PROPERTIES OF BIOMASS

• The storage of biomass resources can take place in various modes. As the cheapest option,
ambient storage leads to significant cost reduction at the storage and handling stage of the
biomass supply chain. However, side-effects may include biomass degradation (e.g. silage),
heating value reduction, and potential health risks, mainly because of the presence of high-
water content. The degradation rate is estimated to be 1% material loss/month for the ambient
storage.

• To reduce the degradation, covered storage in pole-frame structures is often used in practice,
incurring a 0.5% material loss/month rate. If a higher quality biomass supply is required, a closed
warehouse with hot
air drying capability can be employed. The material loss in this scenario can be assumed
negligible.

• As can be seen, the tradeoff between storage cost and material loss is the focus when
determining the selection of storage modes.

• In addition to the direct storage of raw biomass, pretreatment processes on raw biomass
materials are also adopted in many practices. In this scenario, after the biomass has been
harvested, thermal and chemical treatments are applied to reduce moisture content, remove
contaminants, and improve feedstock quality, stability, and processing performance.

LOGISTICS

• The logistics of biomass plays an important role in the bioenergy supply chain, because it
integrates time-sensitive feedstock collection, storage, and delivery operations into efficient,
year-round supply systems that deliver consistently high-quality biomass.

• Unlike fossil fuels, biomass resources have a sparsely spatial distribution. Both the biomass
collection and delivery require extensive efforts in equipment selection, shift arrangement,
vehicle routing, and fleet scheduling.

• Moreover, if independent pretreatment depots are built to provide uniform-format feedstocks,

of which the location should be cautiously determined in the supply chain design phase.

• A depot would locate to facilitate the transportation and production, and serve like a small
satellite system which receives biomass of different types and various sources from its
neighborhood and then forward the converted uniform-format biomass to a network of much
larger supply terminals
 BIOFUEL PRODUCTION CHALLENGES

NON-FOOD CROPS

• Studies have indicated relative differences in the cultivation patterns and oil production
management of the non-food feedstocks compared to food crops. These are still under
investigation. Therefore, more data is needed to evaluate the sustainability index to estimate
the real global impact of these feedstocks.

• Microalgae are promising in solving most of the problems associated with energy crops.
However, the cultivation and extraction technologies are still at their infancy and need major
advancements for sustainable commercial production.

• The oil extraction methods currently in use for algal oil are expensive. Efficient mixing from
pumps or motionless mixers is required to ensure homogeneity and to reduce mass transfer
limitations.

• Techniques that utilize motionless mixing requires higher temperature and pressure to achieve
shorter residence time. This increases energy consumption and cost implications. This aspect of
biodiesel production technology is still being developed.

Pyrolysis

• Pyrolysis generates aromatic toxins. The bio-oil produced is corrosive due to high acidity, water
content and other impurities such as solids and salts. These and other problems such as variable
viscosity make it unstable and unsuitable for direct use.  It has 40% less energy density
compared to diesel fuel because of the high oxygen content.

• Depending on the feedstock and reacting conditions used, bio-oil is 10 to 100% more expensive
than petroleum diesel. Hence there is also the need to establish standards for product quality,
use and distribution.

Alcohol

• Methanol is toxic, highly flammable and contributes to global warming. Gaskets and rubber
seals made from natural rubber get easily deteriorated when biodiesel containing a high level of
alcohol is used. Therefore, control or replacement of the alcohol content is required. 

• The biodiesel produced with methanol from fossil sources has approximately 94 to 96% biogenic
content. In order to produce a 100% renewable biodiesel (fatty acid ethyl ester; FAEE),
bioethanol is currently experimented as a substitute for methanol.

• However, it is expensive to purify and recover ethanol because it forms an azeotrope with

water. Additionally, chemical grade ethanol is usually denatured with poisonous substances to
prevent it from being abused.
Biodiesel/glycerol separation and FAME quality

• The slightly soluble nature of FAMEs and glycerol makes product separation a necessary step.
The product is usually allowed to settle for some hours into the different phases. However, the
solubility of glycerol in ester and vice versa is increased in the presence of excess unreacted
methanol which acts as solvent.

• This solvent action by the methanol increases the post production costs. 

Use of cosolvents

 A technique developed to overcome mass transfer limitations and to increase the rate of
reaction is the use of cosolvents such as methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and tetrahydrofuran
(THF).
 The process requires larger and special “leak proof” reacting vessels and complete removal of
the cosolvent from the product.

FUELS DISTRIBUTION AND END-USE SYSTEM CHALLENGES

Infrastructure incompatibility of first-generation biofuels

• Although bio-ethanol and bio-diesel represent the major biomass-derived transportation fuel
products in the current marketplace, as mentioned before, bio-ethanol and bio-diesel are
banned by most U.S. pipeline operators due to their polarity and other corrosion, contamination
issues. Therefore, the current supply chains for ethanol and bio-diesel require dedicated fuel
distribution and blending systems.

• The most common practice is to transport bio-ethanol or bio-diesel from the biofuel production
facility to distribution terminals by train, barge, or truck to minimize the opportunity for contact
with water and dirt, which makes it difficult for shipping larger volumes of biofuels. The biofuels
are kept in dedicated tanks until blended with the corresponding fossil fuels.

Features of ‘drop-in’ fuels

• Drop-in biofuels that are highly compatible, or totally fungible, with the existing hydrocarbon
fuel finishing, fuel handling, distribution, and end-use infrastructure would result in easier and
more widespread market acceptance.

• Hydrocarbon biofuels can be used directly in the existing pipelines, dispensers and vehicle
engines without any additional effort, because these advanced biofuels are the same in
properties as their petroleum counterparts and compatible with the existing infrastructure.
 • Thus, the remaining challenge in the modeling and optimization of supply chains for these
infrastructure-compatible biofuels is to address the full-scale integration with the existing
petroleum refinery processes and distribution supply chains.

Economic, Social and Environmental Considerations-Road Towards Sustainability

GBEP Sustainability Indicators

• A detailed consideration of the main sustainability issues associated with bioenergy has been
carried out by the GBEP, an intergovernmental initiative that brings together 50 national
governments and 26 international organizations.

GHG Emission Savings

• Bioenergy systems form part of a natural cycle of growth and decomposition, operating within
the fast domain of the carbon cycle (the atmosphere, ocean, vegetation and soil), whereas fossil
fuel use transfers carbon from geological reservoirs into the atmosphere.

• In using biomass as an energy source, the carbon cycle is being intercepted and the stored
energy released during oxidation is used productively, rather than just being released into
nature. This means that use of bioenergy to replace fossil fuels can reduce net carbon emissions
even when the biomass is not grown specifically for energy purposes.

However, there are Supply Chain Emissions - GHG emissions are associated with the use of fossil fuels
to produce, convert, transport and use bioenergy. In addition, there may be emissions of other GHGs,
such as nitrous oxide (N2O) from land use and fertilizer production and application, and methane (CH4)
from land use biomass storage and biogas processing.

LCA – Life Cycle Assessment

• Life-cycle assessment (LCA) is one commonly used approach to evaluate and compare supply
chain emissions from bioenergy and other energy systems.

• LCA shows that many bioenergy pathways can have much lower supply chain emissions than
fossil fuels, in the best cases over 90% lower than those emitted by the fossil fuel equivalent.
The result depends on the detailed design of the supply chains and conversion processes and
also on the fossil fuel that is being replaced.

For example, the European Commission lists default values for carbon savings for nearly 250 specific
bioenergy options,

Net GHG emissions from land-use change

Increasing biofuel production capacities will likely lead to substantial land-use change directly and
indirectly,

• Direct land-use change occurs when non-agricultural lands, or diverse agroforestry systems,
are converted to grow biofuel crops.

• Indirect land-use change occurs when the diversion of current food or feed crops (e.g., corn), or
croplands (e.g. corn fields) to produce biofuels (e.g., corn-based bioethanol) causes farmers to
respond by clearing non-agricultural lands to replace the displaced crops.
Such land-use change may in turn contribute to GHG emissions through upfront costs incurred from the
loss of carbon stored in above- and belowground biomass when land is cleared; and/or opportunity
costs from the loss of the carbon sequestration service of converted land-uses.

For instance, it was found that for increasing corn-based bioethanol production in the US by 75% (56
bbl) would require a diversion of 12.8 million ha of existing cropland in the country to corn production
for bioethanol consumption.

The resultant decline in US agricultural exports (e.g., wheat by 31%) could drive agricultural expansion
worldwide – by an estimated 10.8 million ha, including 2.8 million ha in Brazil, 2.2 million ha in the US,
1.2 million ha in India, and 1.1 million ha in China. These indirect land-use changes would in turn result
in the release of 3.8 billion mega-tons of CO2- equivalent GHGs – a biofuel carbon debt that would take
167 years for corn-based bioethanol use to repay.

Competition for water resources

• Agricultural expansion for biofuels may compete with other uses for water and thus
contribute to rising water demands.

• The extent to which biofuel use will exacerbate the water crisis depends on how much irrigation
is required to grow biofuel crops, which will vary with the type and location of the crop being
cultivated.

• Also it’s estimated that bio refineries consume 4 gallons of process water per gallon of
bioethanol produced (gal/gal), largely from evaporative losses during the distillation of ethanol
following fermentation. This means that a bio refinery producing 100 million gallons of
bioethanol per year would use the equivalent of the annual water supply for a town of 5000
people. In comparison, water use in petroleum refining is about 1.5 gal/gal.

Threats to tropical forests and biodiversity

• There are substantial negative impacts of rapidly expanding feedstock agriculture in the tropics.
For example, several non-governmental organizations (NGO) have accused oil palm growers in
Southeast Asia of destroying large tracts of tropical forests and threatening the survival of many
native species, including the orangutans.

• Based on land-cover data compiled by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations, it was estimated that between 1990 and 2005, 55–59% of oil palm expansion in
Malaysia, and at least 56% of that in Indonesia occurred at the expense of forests.

Attaining the balance - Ecologically

 There are contrasting views on priorities.

 Should short-term GHG savings be prioritized in order to reach political GHG targets or to reduce
the risk of reaching potential “tipping points” that might lead suddenly to catastrophic climate
change? Or should there be a focus on longer-term temperature targets and the transition away
from a fossil-based economy to one based on more sustainable energy sources?
  This is a matter of judgment, which can be allowed for in a national emissions strategy and
trajectory (for example, by bringing forward some fossil fuel reductions so as to create emissions
“head space”).
 The use of forestry materials for energy and bio products should therefore be part of a clear
overall national emissions management strategy, which includes energy, forestry and land use
issues and which is consistent with national and international climate change commitments,
taking into account the timing of savings.

Social Considerations

Impacts on food prices and the poor

• For decades, declining food prices have allowed millions of people worldwide to escape from
poverty. However, since the turn of this millennium, prices of basic food commodities, such as
wheat and rice, have climbed steadily.

• The underlying causes of rising food prices are many and complex. They include factors such as
adverse weather conditions that affect crop productivity, speculative or precautionary demand
for food commodities, and inappropriate policy responses such as export bans of foods.

• Among these factors, biofuels have borne the brunt of the blame due largely to the media’s
sensationalisation of the ‘food vs. fuel’ debate. A popular allegory to illustrate the impacts of
biofuels on food equates the grain required to fill the tank of a sports utility vehicle to grain that
could otherwise feed a person for an entire year.

• For example -The use of corn to produce bioethanol in the US has increased from 6% of total
corn production to 23% over the last three years and this has undoubtedly contributed to
tightening food supplies and rising food prices.

Within the social pillar of sustainability, the following issues are recognized as important – and to a
certain extent are addressed under the main regulatory frameworks and voluntary standards for
certification of sustainable bioenergy: education, training and capacity building, employment, Health
and safety.

Social Considerations

Positive Impacts

• In addition to economic benefits, expanding bioenergy production can provide a number of

social and societal benefits, such as job creation, improved access to energy, rural
development and, more generally, new opportunities associated with the development and
diversification of biomass related markets.

• Many of the social benefits derive from the spillover effects that bioenergy production can bring
to other sectors of the economy – bioenergy production generates additional demand for a
range of locally produced services (e.g. transport services), which may create new jobs and
 income opportunities for workers and households.

Economic Considerations

• The economics of using biomass for bioenergy should be compared to the economics of using it
for other economic activities. For example, crop residues could be used for bioenergy but could
also be used as animal feed in agricultural production.

Energy Security

• The combination of insatiable global demand with expected production declines has obvious
implications for energy security. Already seven of the world’s 10 largest oil consumers are not
producing enough oil to meet their domestic needs.

• Political instability in oil-rich regions, tighter oil supplies, and rising oil prices have prompted
many countries to diversify their energy portfolio. Biofuels have gained popularity as they allow
both a reduced dependency on oil imports and can be promoted as ‘clean energy’ alternatives,
thereby satisfying both energy security
and environment (i.e., climate change) agendas.

• For instance, Large-scale biofuel production was pioneered in Brazil where the biofuel industry
was born of necessity – amidst the oil crises of the 1970s, when oil prices were high and sugar
prices low (De Oliveira, 2002; Brazil Institute, 2007).

• To counter its dependence on foreign oil supplies, the (then military) government introduced
mandatory ethanol-gasoline blending requirements and offered subsidies for the production of
sugarcane-based bioethanol.

Economic Considerations

• Bioenergy production can have positive multiplier or spillover effects for the rest of the
economy, for example when intermediate inputs such as transport services are required to
transport the biomass or biofuels to consumers or export markets.

• Macroeconomic linkages may also play a role by stimulating overall economic growth. For
example, in countries that are net exporters of biomass products, biofuel exports can relieve
foreign exchange constraints, which often limit developing countries’ ability to import the
investment goods needed to expand production in other sectors.

However, the major concern is :

• Bioenergy production can require factor inputs, such as land and skilled labour, which are in
limited supply in many countries.

• Allocating arable land to biomass feedstock may reduce the land available for other crops. Even
where unused land is available to produce energy crops, a displacement of labour from sectors
other than bioenergy may still occur, as workforce is drawn into biomass estates or plants, or as
smallholder farmers reallocate their time to producing energy crops.
 • As biomass production expands it may cause production in other sectors to fall, thus offsetting
at least some of the economic gains mentioned above.

• Finally, biomass and biofuels producers may need tax incentives or supporting investments from
the government that reduce public revenues for other activities, such as education, health and
infrastructure (i.e. opportunity costs).

• This “fiscal displacement” may slow development in non-bioenergy sectors.

Overcoming Sustainability Challenge

• Next (second and third) generation biofuel technologies are considered to offer the solution for
the sustainability problems associated with first generation biofuels.

• Feedstocks for second generation biofuels generally produce higher biomass yields per hectare
than most first-generation crop feedstocks (the exception being sugar cane crop feedstocks). In
addition to their fast growth and short-rotation characteristics, essentially the entire crop is
available as feedstock.

• They require less tillage and chemical inputs. They also allow a wide range of land to be used for
cultivation including degraded and marginal land, therefore reducing or avoiding the potential
for land use competition with food and animal feed production and thereby giving strong
arguments for “food vs fuel” debate.

Managing sustainability: Regulation and certification

• Understanding the issues associated with bioenergy is an important but not sufficient step in
ensuring that it produces significant carbon savings and avoids other serious sustainability
concerns. The understanding needs to be embodied in policies, regulations and certification
systems that define good practice, and that are complemented by an adequate enforcement
system which ensures best practice is delivered in reality.

• Industry-led certification schemes aim to assure sustainable supply and use at a project level, to
demonstrate compliance with sustainability best practice and with the appropriate legislation.
Examples include the Sustainable Biomass Programme and the Roundtable on Sustainable
Biomaterials.

• Use of formal certification schemes is likely to be important for large-scale projects, especially
where bioenergy feedstocks or products are traded internationally.

• However, these schemes need to be reinforced by provisions at a national and regional level,
which can set overall sustainability criteria and standards and ensure that project- and product
level schemes meet minimum standards. One such example are the provisions under the EU
RED and the Commission proposals for the revised directive that will apply from 2020 to 2030
(European Commission, 2016), and the national legislation and regulations that give practical
effect to these overarching principles in the EU member states.
References:

1. Yue, D., You, F., & Snyder, S. W. (2014). Biomass-to-bioenergy and biofuel supply chain
optimization: Overview, key issues and challenges. Computers & Chemical Engineering, 66, 36-
56.
2. Koh, L. P., & Ghazoul, J. (2008). Biofuels, biodiversity, and people: understanding the conflicts
and finding opportunities. Biological conservation, 141(10), 2450-2460.
3. https://www.iea.org/fuels-and-technologies/bioenergy
4. https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=73&t=11
5. Chung, J. N. (2013). Grand challenges in bioenergy and biofuel research: engineering and
technology development, environmental impact, and sustainability. Frontiers in Energy
Research, 1, 4.
6. Thornley, P., & Gilbert, P. (2013). Biofuels: balancing risks and rewards. Interface focus, 3(1),
20120040.