Biofuel supply chain challenges and analysis
Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010.
| Main Authors: | , |
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
| Published: |
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2011
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60830 |
| _version_ | 1826195070492082176 |
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| author | Chung, Sooduck Farrey, Michael |
| author2 | Jarrod Goentzel. |
| author_facet | Jarrod Goentzel. Chung, Sooduck Farrey, Michael |
| author_sort | Chung, Sooduck |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:06:51Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/60830 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T10:06:51Z |
| publishDate | 2011 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/608302019-04-11T13:28:44Z Biofuel supply chain challenges and analysis Chung, Sooduck Farrey, Michael Jarrod Goentzel. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Engineering Systems Division. Engineering Systems Division. Thesis (M. Eng. in Logistics)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division, 2010. Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (p. 78-86). Liquid fuels such as gasoline and diesel are traditionally derived from petroleum. Since petroleum has the potential to be exhausted, there is interest in large scale production of fuels from renewable sources. Currently, ethanol and bio diesel are liquid fuels that are mainly derived from field crops. This paper examines the supply chain challenges and issues that exist for bringing biofuel production up to scale. One major challenge that exists is how to transport the feedstock from a farm to a refinery in the most cost efficient manner. One way to improve transportation efficiency of feedstock is to increase the energy density of the feedstock. However, increasing the density of a feedstock comes with a cost. We use switchgrass as a case study and examine the tradeoff between higher transportation costs in transporting a less energy dense feedstock to processing a feedstock to increase its energy density. We show that creating ethanol from switchgrass in the United States is not competitive in price to gasoline without government subsidies, but as the supply chain matures, efficiencies gained will narrow the gap. by Sooduck Chung [and] Michael Farrey. M.Eng.in Logistics 2011-01-26T14:31:29Z 2011-01-26T14:31:29Z 2010 2010 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60830 697300309 eng 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. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 86 p. application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Engineering Systems Division. Chung, Sooduck Farrey, Michael Biofuel supply chain challenges and analysis |
| title | Biofuel supply chain challenges and analysis |
| title_full | Biofuel supply chain challenges and analysis |
| title_fullStr | Biofuel supply chain challenges and analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Biofuel supply chain challenges and analysis |
| title_short | Biofuel supply chain challenges and analysis |
| title_sort | biofuel supply chain challenges and analysis |
| topic | Engineering Systems Division. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/60830 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT chungsooduck biofuelsupplychainchallengesandanalysis AT farreymichael biofuelsupplychainchallengesandanalysis |