The Power of Logistics: A regional optimization model for waste-to-energy generation using agricultural vegetative residuals

The spatial distribution of vegetative agricultural residuals makes the economic feasibility of waste treatment solution particularly sensitive to transportation costs. The research evaluates the effect of feedstock transport costs on the economic feasibility of vegetative agricultural residuals treatment facilities for a few districts in the area of 20,000 square kilometers. The research methodology is based on an economic optimization model aimed to maximize social welfare, which is represented by the profitability of a waste treatment system. The waste treatment system profitability is based on the assessment of the residuals' feedstock availability, the feedstock transport costs, the available technology to treat the different residuals, the operational costs of the treatment facility, and the market price of their products. The research results define the required treatment facilities, capacity and siting within the waste treatment system, in order to benefit from the available agricultural residuals and maximize social welfare. The results are supported by a sensitivity analysis of the potential changes in transportation costs for different feedstock-to-facility distances and with different transportation means, and also with the analysis of the potential changes in the market price of the facilities' products. The results show that transportation costs affect directly the system profitability, and modify the distribution of waste input among treatment facilities. However, the most important parameter influencing the system configuration is the development stage of the biochar market. If biochar price reaches the level forecasted by experts, its production requirements will dominate the whole waste management system, while transport costs have a lower effect on the system's design. The research methodology and results are crucial to support policy makers with the required data to plan the waste treatment system, which will reuse agricultural residuals while growing social welfare. VENICE2016 Sixth International Symposium on Energy from Biomass and Waste