A decision support platform for a bio-based supply chain: Application to the region of Lower Saxony and Bremen (Germany).

In this work, a biomass supply chain model, for the region of Lower Saxony and Bremen in northern Germany, has been developed. Because of Germany's high demand for biofuels, the production and distribution of levulinic acid and bioethanol by wheat straw is studied. An illustrative bio-based supply chain model is developed and implemented in the Advanced Interactive Multidimensional Modeling (AIMMS) software. Then, this model is used to study the logistics, network optimization, transportation and inventory management, and the resulting environmental and economic impacts. In the end, a sensitivity analysis is conducted to evaluate the influence of key model parameters on these impacts. The results showed that a wheat straw supply chain network is profitable in the area of Bremen and Lower Saxony even though the bioproducts demand is not fully covered and that the transportation costs did not have a strong impact on the supply chain network.