Optimizing biofuel supply chain is a competitive game

PHYS.org
April 19, 2012

As biofuel production has increased – particularly ethanol derived from corn – a hotly contested competition for feedstock supplies has emerged between the agricultural grain markets and biofuel refineries. This competition has sparked concern for the more fundamental issue of allocating limited farmland resources, which has far-reaching implications for food security, energy security and environmental sustainability.

Numerous studies of land use, food prices, environmental impact and more have fed the so-called "food versus fuel" debate. However, according to new models created by University of Illinois researchers, most studies so far have overlooked a key factor: selfish and possibly competing interests of the biofuel industry and individual farmers, who independently seek the most profit from their crops.

"We looked at competition among farmers and between the refinery and the food market and put them into one model to optimize the whole system," said Yanfeng Ouyang, a professor of civil and environmental engineering. "A lot of researchers now working on biofuel supply chain optimization have not been able to develop a holistic model that can address such complex interactions among multiple stakeholders in a comprehensive framework."

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