University of Vaasa - Vaasan yliopisto

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manure and slaughterhouse waste transports for biogas production turns negative
after approximately 200 km and 700 km respectively according to the analysis of
Berglund and Börjesson (2006), actual transport distances usually lie between 3 and
15 km (Börjesson & Berglund 2006), indicating that biogas production systems in
most cases lose their profitability if the feedstock catchment area exceeds the radius
of 15 km.
Sustainability innovations such as the establishment of modern bio-energy systems
often point to the development, diffusion, and use of novel technologies. However, it
is necessary to consider as well organisational and social aspects when designing
strategies for sustainable development (McCormick & Kåberger 2005). This is
confirmed by our literature sample, which highlights the tight inter-connectedness of
actors in bio-energy chains (Ayoub et al. 2007) necessitating their co-ordination and
collaboration (McComick & Kåberger 2007) as well as well-designed logistics
planning and management (Allen et al. 1998). These inter-dependencies expand
beyond the sphere of the economic actors involved in the supply chain to other
stakeholders such as regulatory authorities, local communities and the public in
general (Elghali et al. 2007). The interests of all these stakeholders must be embraced
when designing sustainable bio-energy systems, thus developing among all interest
groups commitment and a common vision of a sustainable society while addressing
and, if possible, rebutting social, health and environmental concerns linked to bioenergy
production (McCormick & Kåberger 2005).
Conclusions
Our sample of papers reflects the wide range of possible feedstock for bio-energy
production: dedicated energy crops, wood, industrial and municipal waste,
agricultural and forestry residues. The conversion technologies treated in the papers
also covers a broad scope from combustion systems over biogas production via
fermentation up to the production of transport fuels. Energy end applications are
electricity, heating and cooling, and vehicle fuels. Most of the papers take the whole
bio-energy chain into consideration. Research methods are technical, economic and
environmental assessments of different bio-energy systems, usually based on
literature research; furthermore decision models/tools are developed, also based on
literature reviews. Two papers use case study research in addition to other research
methods and one paper exclusively presents a case study.
Issues and challenges concerning SCM and logistics of bio-energy systems are
classified into the categories (1) transport, handling, pre-treatment, storage, (2)
logistics in general, (3) system design, (4) supply security, and (5) purposes of bioenergy
supply chains apart from energy production. Our literature review finds that
pre-treatment technologies, transport distance and mode as well as storage and buffer
systems impact strongly the economic feasibility and environmental compatibility of
bio-energy systems. Generally, scale effects of bio-energy production systems are
significant, while an economic break-even size of the biomass supply catchment area
may exist. However, for certain types of biomass, pre-treatment technologies such as