Biomass supply chain network design: An optimization-oriented review and analysis

Optimal network design is a key factor in the enhancement of the economic, environmental, and social performance and efficiency of the biomass supply chain (BSC), and this is why it has become quite popular with the academia and practitioners. The great number of the related papers published in the scientific journals in recent years is the proof of the claim; therefore, to make a framework of the past works and specify the future directions, a comprehensive review of the state-of-the-art papers deems necessary. The objective of this paper is to review the papers regarding the biomass supply chain network design (BSCND) models published in the scientific journals. A total number of 146 papers, published from Jan. 1997 to Jul. 2016 are reviewed, analyzed and classified based on their modeling approaches, decisions, uncertainties, solution methodologies, sustainability, model features, entities, data, and regions of the case studies. To determine the research opportunities and future directions, the gaps existing in the present literature have been clearly explained as well.