For assessing and calculating biomass value chains the costs for transportation are the most important factor the economic performance as they form the largest share of the overall production cost. The objective of this work is to develop a methodology that includes not only the distance in the calculation of transportation costs. The main purpose is to also optimize the choice of transport mode depending on the given circumstances. These are especially the distance from the harvesting site to the subsequent processing or storage unit, the transported biomass with its distinctive properties (moisture content, bulk density etc.) and the required harvesting method. To achieve this, a model is elaborated that calculates the minimal overall transportation costs of a biomass-based supply chain comprising fixed and variable costs of the chosen transportation method. This could extend existing supply chain models for the elaboration and assessment of biomass-based value chains by a more comprehensive transportation modelling.

Proceedings of the 22nd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 23-26 June 2014, Hamburg, Germany, pp. 170-177