The Role of Logistics in the Bioenergy Supply Chain

June 11, 2021

Biomass is one of the most reliable renewable energy sources on which the nations are greatly based upon to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and tackle the climate change situation. One of its main benefits is that it is a very versatile and flexible energy source, generating not only electricity but also heat and biofuels to be used in multiple sectors including transportation, manufacturing, and power. It is also one of the few renewable energy sources that may be stored and can generate energy on-demand. The Indian academia and industry experts community has been studying the energy exploitation of biomass. Several studies have been conducted to determine the contribution of biomass to the future energy supply. All of these studies conclude that biomass usage will be increased significantly in the years to come and will definitely serve as a dependable and consistent energy source. One of the most important obstacles in growing biomass utilization in India is the cost of the bioenergy supply chain and the technology to convert biomass into briquettes, biofuels, or other useful forms of energy. Many efforts have been made to streamline and optimize a specific biomass supply chain based on significant cost reductions leading to more efficient logistics operations. The activities required to supply biomass from its production point to a processor or an end-user, are the following:

Harvesting/collection of the biomass in the field
In-field handling and transport to move the biomass to a point where road transport vehicles can be used
Storage facility where they are stored year-round basis
Loading and unloading road transportation vehicles
Transportation to factories/manufacturing units/biomass-users

All these steps involve transportation at various stages. A lot of factors such as average transport distance, biomass density and quantity, vehicle's carrying capacity, and traveling speed of the respective vehicles, as well as their availability, play a major role in the biomass supply chain. Processing can occur at any stage in the supply chain is often done after the transport and is generally cheaper when integrated with the harvesting. The cost of logistics is high due to various reasons such as farmers' lack of interest in correctly disposing of biomass and lack of a proper mechanism to handing the biomass over for an economic value, farmlands are scattered and far drawn from the industrial area, smaller and multiple trips for collections, aggregation, and processing adding to the total cost and lack of proper funding.

BiofuelCircle intends to simplify and optimize the bioenergy supply chain at all the above-mentioned stages. With its cloud-based marketplace, BiofuelCircle enables rural and industrial participants of the bioenergy supply chain to discover suppliers, customers, buy, sell, transport, and complete all the transactions. The platform enables transporters, farmers, storage owners, processors, and other stakeholders to connect and choose from a wide variety of transport and storage options. Transportation provider/cost is provided by the platform on every deal.

Through this platform, the farmers will be able to collect their biomass and transport it to storage at affordable rates and further the biomass processors will be able to deliver biofuels to boiler users in a cost-effective way. BiofuelCircle aims to provide dependable and reliable logistics to all the participants of the bioenergy supply chain at affordable prices. This will also result in creating new business opportunities for transporters and storage facility providers. To increase operational efficiency in the bioenergy supply chain, BiofuelCircle brings Walking Floor trucks. These trucks not only do they reduce the number of vehicle trips to a site, but also significantly reduce the manpower time involved in handling unloading work. Whether transporting biomass, the ability to safely and efficiently deliver bulk material in almost any situation—high winds, uneven terrain, canopied storage areas—makes horizontal unloading a frequent necessity in biomass handling. These trucks are based on a technology developed by a USA-based company, which has developed a system, which is specially created for the handling of agricultural produce.

Through leveraging technology, BiofuelCircle brings to you services and opportunities to make a smooth transition towards a green business.

To know more about how it can solve your logistics issues, click here: my.biofuelcircle.com