A goal programming model for a sustainable biomass supply chain network
International Journal of Energy Sector Management
ISSN: 1750-6220
Article publication date: 15 December 2017
Issue publication date: 20 March 2018
Abstract
Purpose
The design of a biomass supply chain is a problem where multiple stakeholders with often conflicting objectives are involved. To accommodate the aspects stakeholder, the supply chain design should incorporate multiple objectives. In addition to the supply chain design, the management of energy from biomass is a demanding task, as the operation of production of biomass products needs to be aligned with the rest of the operations of the biomass supply chain. The purpose of the paper is to propose a mathematical framework for the optimal design of biomass supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
An integrated mathematical framework that models biomass production, transportation and warehousing throughout the nodes of a biomass supply chain is presented. Owing to conflicting objectives, weights are imposed on each aspect, and a 0-1 weighted goal programming mixed-integer linear programming (WGP MILP) programming model is formulated and used for all possible weight representations under environmental, economic and social criteria.
Findings
The results of the study show that emphasis on the environmental aspect, expressed with high values in the environmental criterion, significantly reduces the level of CO2 emissions derived from the transportation of biomass through the various nodes of the supply chain. Environmental and economic criteria seem to be moving in the same direction for high weight values in the corresponding aspect. From the results, social criterion seems to move to the opposite direction from environmental and economic criteria.
Originality/value
An integrated mathematical framework is presented modeling biomass production, transportation and warehousing. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, such a model that integrates multiple objectives with supply chain design has not yet been published.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
Financial support of Konstantinos Petridis from “IKY fellowships of excellence for postgraduate studies in Greece – Siemens Program” is gratefully acknowledged.
Citation
Petridis, K., Grigoroudis, E. and Arabatzis, G. (2018), "A goal programming model for a sustainable biomass supply chain network", International Journal of Energy Sector Management, Vol. 12 No. 1, pp. 79-102. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJESM-09-2017-0002
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited