Biofuels supply chain characterization

Ethanol can be made from agricultural residues like wheat straw and from crops dedicated to energy use, like switchgrass. We study the logistics aspects of this transformation and determine the main characteristics of the supply chain making ethanol from cellulose. Important to the final acceptability of ethanol as a transportation fuel is both the economics as well as the environmental aspect of using ethanol. In this study we analyze the buildup of cost as biomass is transformed into fuel. We also look at all the steps involved and describe them from a supply chain perspective We have found that the main cost components in the cellulosic ethanol production are biomass production, harvesting and ethanol refining. We have also found that the main factor in reducing the overall production cost is the biomass to ethanol conversion factor. The development of new technologies to convert biomass into ethanol becomes a critical issue to achieve the cost targets imposed in order to make ethanol more competitive with other sources of energy such as fossil fuels. An increase in the current conversion factor of 42% could potentially yield to a decrease of nearly 15% in the: total production cost of cellulosic ethanol.

Department dc:contributor.department

Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division.

Grantor dc:publisher

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Year dc:date.issued

2007

Authors dc:creator

• Banerjee, Anindya, M. Eng. Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Noguer, José Luis

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Chris Caplice.

• Engineering Systems Division.

Statement dc:rights

• M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/40111

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/40111