2,089 research outputs found
Design of Closed Loop Supply Chains
Increased concern for the environment has lead to new techniques to design products and supply chains that are both economically and ecologically feasible. This paper deals with the product - and corresponding supply chain design for a refrigerator. Literature study shows that there are many models to support product design and logistics separately, but not in an integrated way. In our research we develop quantitative modelling to support an optimal design structure of a product, i.e. modularity, repairability, recyclability, as well as the optimal locations and goods flows allocation in the logistics system. Environmental impacts are measured by energy and waste. Economic costs are modelled as linear functions of volumes with a fixed set-up component for facilities. We apply this model using real life R&D data of a Japanese consumer electronics company. The model is run for different scenarios using different parameter settings such as centralised versus decentralised logistics, alternative product designs, varying return quality and quantity, and potential environmental legislation based on producer responsibility.supply chain management;reverse logistics;facility location;network design;product design
Selection of Wood Supply Contracts to Reduce Cost in the Presence of Risks in Procurement Planning
Les activitĂ©s d'achat dans l'industrie des pĂątes et papiers reprĂ©sentent une part importante du coĂ»t global de la chaĂźne d'approvisionnement. Les dĂ©cideurs prĂ©voient l'approvisionnement en bois requis jusqu'Ă un an Ă l'avance afin de garantir le volume d'approvisionnement pour le processus de production en continu dans leur usine. Des contrats rĂ©guliers, flexibles et d'options avec des fournisseurs de diffĂ©rents groupes sont disponibles. Les fournisseurs sont regroupĂ©s en fonction de caractĂ©ristiques communes, telles que la propriĂ©tĂ© des terres forestiĂšres. Cependant, lors de l'exĂ©cution du plan, des risques affectent les opĂ©rations d'approvisionnement. Si les risques ne sont pas intĂ©grĂ©s dans le processus de planification des achats, l'attĂ©nuation de leur impact sera generalement coĂ»teuse et compliquĂ©e. Des contrats ad hoc coĂ»teux supplĂ©mentaires pourraient ĂȘtre nĂ©cessaires pour compenser le manque de livraisons. Pour aborder ce problĂšme dans cette thĂšse, dans un premier projet, un modĂšle mathĂ©matique dĂ©terministe des opĂ©rations d'approvisionnement est dĂ©veloppĂ©. L'objectif du modĂšle est de proposer un plan d'approvisionnement annuel pour minimiser le coĂ»t total des opĂ©rations relatives. Les opĂ©rations sont soumises Ă des contraintes telles quâune proportion minimale de l'offre par chaque groupe de fournisseurs, des niveaux cibles des stocks, de la satisfaction de la demande, la capacitĂ© par la cour Ă bois et la capacitĂ© du procĂ©dĂ© de mise en copeaux. Les dĂ©cisions sont liĂ©es Ă la sĂ©lection des contrats d'approvisionnement, Ă l'ouverture de cour Ă bois et aux flux du bois. Dans un deuxiĂšme projet, une Ă©valuation du plan d'approvisionnement Ă partir du modĂšle dĂ©terministe du premier projet est effectuĂ©e en utilisant une approche de simulation Monte Carlo. Trois stratĂ©gies contractuelles diffĂ©rentes sont comparĂ©es : fixes, flexibles et une combinaison des deux types des contrats. L'approche de simulation de ce projet Ă©value la performance du plan par la valeur attendue et la variabilitĂ© du coĂ»t total, lorsque le plan est exĂ©cutĂ© pendant l'horizon de planification. Dans un troisiĂšme projet, une approche de programmation stochastique en deux Ă©tapes est utilisĂ©e pour fournir un plan d'approvisionnement fiable. L'objectif du modĂšle est de minimiser le coĂ»t prĂ©vu du plan d'approvisionnement en prĂ©sence de diffĂ©rents scĂ©narios gĂ©nĂ©rĂ©s en fonction des risques. Les dĂ©cisions lors de la premiĂšre Ă©tape sont la sĂ©lection des contrats dans la premiĂšre pĂ©riode et l'ouverture des cours Ă bois. Les dĂ©cisions de la deuxiĂšme Ă©tape concernent la sĂ©lection des contrats commençant aprĂšs la premiĂšre pĂ©riode, les flux, l'inventaire et la production du procĂ©dĂ© de la mise en copeaux. iii L'Ă©tude de cas utilisĂ©e dans cette thĂšse est inspirĂ©e par Domtar, une entreprise des pĂątes et papiers situĂ©e au QuĂ©bec, Canada. Les rĂ©sultats des trois projets de cette thĂšse aident les dĂ©cideurs Ă rĂ©duire les contraintes humaines liĂ©es Ă la planification complexe des achats. Les modĂšles mathĂ©matiques dĂ©veloppĂ©s fournissent une base pour l'Ă©valuation de la stratĂ©gie d'approvisionnement sĂ©lectionnĂ©e. Cette tĂąche est presque impossible avec les approches actuelles de l'entreprise, car les Ă©valuations nĂ©cessitent la formulation de risques d'approvisionnement. L'approche de programmation stochastique montre de meilleurs rĂ©sultats financiers par rapport Ă la planification dĂ©terministe, avec une faible variabilitĂ© dans l'attĂ©nuation de l'impact des risques.Procurement activities in the pulp and paper industry account for an important part of the overall supply chain cost. Procurement decision-makers plan for the required wood supply up to one year in advance to guarantee the supply volume for the continuous production process at their mill. Regular, flexible and option contracts with suppliers in different groups are available. Suppliers are grouped based on common characteristics such as forestland ownership. However, during the execution of the plan, sourcing risks affect procurement operations. If risks are not integrated into the procurement planning process, mitigating their impact is likely to be expensive and complicated. Additional expensive ad hoc contracts might be required to compensate for the lack of deliveries. To tackle this problem, the first project of this thesis demonstrates the development of a deterministic mathematical model of procurement operations. The objective of the model is to propose an annual procurement plan to minimize the total cost of procurement operations. The operations are subject to constraints such as the minimum share of supply for each group of suppliers, inventory target levels, demand, woodyard capacity, and chipping process capacity. The decisions are related to the selection of sourcing contracts, woodyards opening, and wood supply flow. In the second project, an evaluation of the procurement plan from the deterministic model from project one is performed by using a Monte Carlo simulation approach. Three different strategies are compared as fixed, flexible, and a mix of both contracts. The simulation approach in this project evaluates the performance of the plan by the expected value and variability of the total cost when the plan is executed during the planning horizon. In the third project, a two-stage stochastic programming approach is used to provide a reliable procurement plan. The objective of the model is to minimize the expected cost of the procurement plan in the presence of different scenarios generated based on sourcing risks. First-stage decisions are the selection of contracts in the first period and the opening of woodyards. Second-stage decisions concern the selection of contracts starting after the first period, flow, inventory, and chipping process production. The case study used in this thesis was inspired by Domtar, which is a pulp and paper company located in Quebec, Canada. The results of three projects in this doctoral dissertation support decision-makers to reduce the human limitation in performing complicated procurement planning. The developed mathematical models provide a basis to evaluate the selected procurement strategy. This task is nearly impossible with current approaches in the company, as the evaluations require the formulation of v sourcing risks. The stochastic programming approach shows better financial results comparing to deterministic planning, with low variability in mitigating the impact of risks
A taxonomy of logistics innovations
In this paper we present a taxonomy of supply chain and logistics innovations, which is based on an extensive literature survey. Our primary goal is to provide guidelines for choosing the most appropriate innovations for a company, such that the company can outrun its competitors. We investigate the factors, both internal and external to the company, that determine the applicability and effectiveness of the listed innovations. We support our suggestions with real world cases reported in literature
Modellering av virkninger pÄ skogsektoren av Þkt bruk av skogbasert bioenergi i Europa og syd-Þstlige USA
The European Union (henceforth, EU) is now well on track to meet the 2020 targets for renewable energy production and consumption, and recently a new 2030 Framework for climate and energy has been proposed. The forest sector is supposed to make a significant contribution towards meeting green economy objectives. Moreover, it is of high interest to
analyze the potential impacts of EUâs renewable energy directive (RED 1 and the ongoing RED 2) on the forest sector in Europe and overseas.
In order to examine global challenges regarding energy, climate change, ecological impacts, technology developments and sustainable use of land and natural resources in the upcoming circular bioeconomy era (EEA 2018), improved analysis tools are required. The utilization of Forest Sector Models (henceforth, FSMs), linking forestry and forest industry activities, has been found useful for assessing the interplay between forest resources and forest commodity markets, accounting for competition and synergies between different uses of wood.
This thesis investigates the impacts of increased use of wood-based bioenergy on forest resources and markets of forest and wood products, and explores the strengths and weaknesses of FSMs.Unia Europejska (odtÄ
d UE) jest na dobrej drodze, aby osiÄ
gnÄ
Ä wyznaczone na 2020 rok cele w zakresie produkcji i zuĆŒycia energii odnawialnej. TakĆŒe ostatnio, nowe ramy klimatyczne i energetyczne zostaĆy zaproponowane na rok 2030. ZakĆada siÄ, ĆŒe sektor leĆny1 ma znaczÄ
co przyczyniÄ siÄ do osiÄ
gniÄcia celĂłw zielonej gospodarki. Ponadto niezwykle istotne jest przeanalizowanie potencjalnych skutkĂłw unijnej dyrektywy w sprawie energii odnawialnej (RED 1 i trwajÄ
ca RED 2) na sektor leĆny w Europie i za granicÄ
.
Aby zbadaÄ globalne wyzwania dotyczÄ
ce energii, zmian klimatu, skutkĂłw ekologicznych, rozwoju technologii oraz zrĂłwnowaĆŒonego uĆŒytkowania zasobĂłw lÄ
dowych i naturalnych w nadchodzÄ
cej erze biogospodarki o obiegu zamkniÄtym (EEA 2018), potrzebne sÄ
ulepszone narzÄdzia analityczne. Wykorzystanie modeli sektora leĆnego (odtÄ
d MSL), ĆÄ
czÄ
cych dziaĆalnoĆÄ w zakresie leĆnictwa i przemysĆu drzewnego, okazaĆo siÄ przydatne do oceny wzajemnych zaleĆŒnoĆci miÄdzy zasobami leĆnymi a rynkami surowca drzewnego, z uwzglÄdnieniem konkurencji i synergii miÄdzy rĂłĆŒnymi zastosowaniami drewna.
Niniejsza praca dotyczy wpĆywu zwiÄkszonego wykorzystania bioenergii, opartej na drewnie, na zasoby leĆne i rynki surowca drzewnego oraz analizuje mocne i sĆabe strony MSL
A review of discrete-time optimization models for tactical production planning
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published in International Journal of Production Research on 27 Mar 2014, available online: http://doi.org/10.1080/00207543.2014.899721[EN] This study presents a review of optimization models for tactical production planning. The objective of this research is to identify streams and future research directions in this field based on the different classification criteria proposed. The major findings indicate that: (1) the most popular production-planning area is master production scheduling with a big-bucket time-type period; (2) most of the considered limited resources correspond to productive resources and, to a lesser extent, to inventory capacities; (3) the consideration of backlogs, set-up times, parallel machines, overtime capacities and network-type multisite configuration stand out in terms of extensions; (4) the most widely used modelling approach is linear/integer/mixed integer linear programming solved with exact algorithms, such as branch-and-bound, in commercial MIP solvers; (5) CPLEX, C and its variants and Lindo/Lingo are the most popular development tools among solvers, programming languages and modelling languages, respectively; (6) most works perform numerical experiments with random created instances, while a small number of works were validated by real-world data from industrial firms, of which the most popular are sawmills, wood and furniture, automobile and semiconductors and electronic devices.This study has been funded by the Universitat PolitĂšcnica de ValĂšncia projects: âMaterial Requirement Planning Fourth Generation
(MRPIV)â (Ref. PAID-05-12) and âQuantitative Models for the Design of Socially Responsible Supply Chains under Uncertainty
Conditions. Application of Solution Strategies based on Hybrid Metaheuristicsâ (PAID-06-12).DĂaz-Madroñero Boluda, FM.; Mula, J.; Peidro PayĂĄ, D. (2014). A review of discrete-time optimization models for tactical production planning. International Journal of Production Research. 52(17):5171-5205. doi:10.1080/00207543.2014.899721S51715205521
Design for Flexibility in the Forest Biorefinery Supply Chain
Le climat dâaffaires de industrie papetiĂšre nord amĂ©ricaine et europĂ©enne change prĂ©sentement.
La baisse de la demande, la volatilitĂ© des prix, lâaugmentation de la compĂ©tition pour lâaccĂšs aux
matiÚres premiÚres et le contrÎle du marché, ainsi que des couts énergétiques passablement
Ă©levĂ©s poussent les entreprises forestiĂšres Ă rechercher de nouveaux modĂšles dâaffaires afin
dâĂȘtre plus compĂ©titives sur le long terme.
Une des alternatives pour ces entreprises est de se tourner vers le secteur Ă©mergent de la
bioĂ©conomie et du bioraffinage. PossĂ©dant dĂ©jĂ un systĂšme dâutilitĂ©, un rĂ©seau
dâapprovisionnement de matiĂšres premiĂšres, un rĂ©seau de distribution de produits ainsi quâun
savoir-faire technique ouvrant la porte Ă de nombreuses possibilitĂ©s dâintĂ©gration massique et
Ă©nergĂ©tique, lâindustrie forestiĂšre possĂšde plusieurs avantages compĂ©titifs pouvant amĂ©liorer la
performance Ă©conomique de lâimplantation du bioraffinage.
Plusieurs stratĂ©gies diffĂ©rentes peuvent ĂȘtre adoptĂ©es pour implanter des activitĂ©s de bioraffinage
au sein dâune entreprise. Par contre, en raison des risques technologiques et des risques de
marché associés aux nouveaux procédés et produits, et le manque en capital des entreprises
forestiĂšres, lâimplantation du bioraffinage devrait ĂȘtre effectuĂ©e par phase. Des outils dâanalyse
appropriĂ©s sont toutefois requis afin dâidentifier les stratĂ©gies possibles et les phases
dâimplantation.
Puisque la chaine logistique (SC) dâune entreprise est critique pour la compĂ©titivitĂ© Ă long terme
des bioraffineries, un outil dâanalyse de la SC peut donc jouer un rĂŽle clĂ© pour une
transformation dâentreprise rĂ©ussie. Une analyse de la SC calcule le bĂ©nĂ©fice pour lâensemble de
la chaine logistique et prend en compte les différents contributeurs de couts qui sont typiquement
ignorĂ©s dans les analyses Ă©conomiques, tel que les couts dâinventaire, de transition, etc. Elle peut
aussi ĂȘtre utilisĂ©e pour prendre en considĂ©ration la volatilitĂ© du marchĂ©, et dĂ©termine comment la
flexibilitĂ© inhĂ©rente dâun systĂšme de production peut ĂȘtre exploitĂ©e pour attĂ©nuer les risques et
maximiser le profit. Ă cet effet, une analyse de la SC peut aussi ĂȘtre utilisĂ©e pour cibler le niveau
de flexibilitĂ© souhaitĂ© dâun systĂšme afin dâattĂ©nuer les risques de volatilitĂ© du marchĂ©. De plus,
cette analyse offre une meilleure comprĂ©hension des couts et de la rentabilitĂ© dâune stratĂ©gie
dâimplantation donnĂ©e. Ainsi, une analyse de la SC peut ĂȘtre utilisĂ©e Ă deux fins diffĂ©rentes :
v
⹠Pour la prise de décision au niveau de conception, et plus précisément, pour cibler le
niveau de flexibilitĂ© dâun procĂ©dĂ© de fabrication,
âą Pour comparer diffĂ©rentes stratĂ©gies pouvant ĂȘtre poursuivies par une entreprise, en
évaluant leur performance selon différentes conditions de marché.
Lâobjectif de cette recherche est dâillustrer une telle mĂ©thodologie de conception, soit une
mĂ©thodologie qui cible un niveau de flexibilitĂ© manufacturiĂšre prĂ©fĂ©rable Ă avoir, qui aide Ă
concevoir le rĂ©seau de la SC, et qui permet dâĂ©valuer diffĂ©rentes stratĂ©gies de bioraffinage pour
transformer une entreprise forestiÚre. Cette méthodologie est démontrée en utilisant une étude de
cas qui inclut deux options de produits/procédé, dont des procédés thermochimiques et
biochimiques, et plusieurs stratĂ©gies dâimplantation Ă implanter au fil du temps.
Le point dâancrage de cette mĂ©thodologie est basĂ© sur les principes de gestion de la chaine
logistique centrĂ©e sur les marges. PlutĂŽt que dâappliquer une approche traditionnelle centrĂ©e sur
la production, oĂč la gestion de la capacitĂ© des Ă©quipements et la minimisation des couts de
production prime, une approche centrée sur les marges vise plutÎt à maximiser le profit. Pour ce
faire, tous les couts encourus au long de la SC doivent ĂȘtre considĂ©rĂ©s de façon intĂ©grĂ©e. De
mĂȘme, le potentiel de flexibilitĂ© au sein de la SC, particuliĂšrement au niveau de la production,
doit ĂȘtre exploitĂ© pour maximiser le profit.
Une formulation mathĂ©matique dâoptimisation est dĂ©veloppĂ©e pour reprĂ©senter une telle
mentalitĂ©. Selon cette derniĂšre, une mĂ©thodologie de conception est proposĂ©e afin dâaider le
processus de prise de décision stratégique reliée au design de la chaine logistique du
bioraffinage. Cette mĂ©thodologie est alimentĂ©e par dâautres mĂ©thodologies qui identifient un
ensemble dâoptions de procĂ©dĂ©s/produits prometteurs. Elle comprend quatre Ă©tapes principales :
1. La définition des alternatives de procédés représentant différents potentiels de flexibilité,
2. La dĂ©finition dâoptions de rĂ©seau de SC, en tenant compte des caractĂ©ristiques des
alternatives de procĂ©dĂ©s, de mĂȘme que les politiques, les forces et les faiblesses de
lâentreprise Ă©tudiant ces alternatives procĂ©dĂ©s/produits,
3. Le ciblage dâun degrĂ© de flexibilitĂ© manufacturiĂšre et dâun rĂ©seau de SC associĂ©,
4. Lâanalyse de stratĂ©gies dâimplantation des alternatives procĂ©dĂ©s/produits retenues
vi
Un ensemble dâindicateurs de performance reprĂ©sentant la rentabilitĂ© de la SC, la robustesse et la
flexibilité des différentes options de bioraffinage est utilisé pour évaluer la performance de
stratégies de bioraffinage selon différents scénarios de marchés.
Les rĂ©sultats montrent que lorsque la flexibilitĂ© dâun systĂšme est amĂ©liorĂ©e, le profit augmente.
Cependant, cela ne mÚne pas nécessairement à une amélioration de la rentabilité. Pour que la
rentabilitĂ© dâun systĂšme flexible augmente, les investissements supplĂ©mentaires dĂ©boursĂ©s pour
augmenter le degrĂ© de flexibilitĂ© doivent ĂȘtre compensĂ©s par une amĂ©lioration au niveau des
profits. Ainsi, pour certains cas, la rentabilité augmente avec la flexibilité du procédé, et dans
certains cas non. De plus, la robustesse dâune option est directement liĂ©e Ă sa flexibilitĂ©. Plus le
degré de flexibilité augmente, plus le systÚme devient robuste envers la volatilité du marché.
De mĂȘme, les rĂ©sultats montrent lâimportance de lâanalyse de la SC lors de la prise de dĂ©cision
reliĂ©e Ă la conception. Ils illustrent le fait quâun changement dans le degrĂ© de flexibilitĂ©
manufacturiĂšre dâun procĂ©dĂ© affecte directement les opportunitĂ©s de lâentreprise. Ainsi, des
stratégies de marché et des degrés de flexibilité différents impliquent une configuration de réseau
de SC et une stratégie de gestion spécifiques. Il devrait donc y avoir une intégration entre la
conception de procédés et la conception du réseau de la SC.
Il est aussi montré que les produits chimiques à valeur ajoutée sont prometteurs pour le succÚs
futur du bioraffinage. Les options de procédés fabriquant ces derniers obtiennent une rentabilité
en termes de taux de retour interne considérablement plus élevée que les options fabriquant des
produits de commodités.----------
The pulp and paper industry business environment in North-America and Europe is changing.
Declining and volatile product price and demand, increased competition for feedstock and
market share, growing competition from global low-cost producers and considerably high energy
cost are driving companies to seek alternative business models to be competitive over the longer
term. One alternative is to enter the bio-energy and biorefinery sectors that have been emerging
in recent years. Having the required utility systems in place and the engineering know-how,
existing feedstock supply chain networks and product delivery systems as well as the potential
for mass and/or energy integration between existing processes and new processes imply
competitive advantages for the forestry companies to improve their economic performance via
implementing biorefinery.
Many different strategies can be pursued for implementing the biorefinery. Due to a lack of
capital for implementing such strategies, technological risks and product market immaturities,
the implementation should be executed in a phase-wise manner. Proper analysis tools are
required to identify feasible strategies and their implementation phases.
The design and management of supply chain (SC) is critical for the long-term competitive
advantage of companies who would like to implement the biorefinery. In this regard, SC analysis
can be used to evaluate the potential SC performance of different biorefinery strategies. It
calculates the profit across the entire SC and accounts for cost contributors that are typically
ignored in economic analyses, e.g. inventory cost, changeover cost, etc. It can also be used to
take into consideration market volatility, and determine how the flexibility of the manufacturing
system can be exploited to mitigate market risks in order to maximize profit. In this way, SC
analysis can be used to target the desired level of flexibility of a manufacturing system needed to
mitigate the impact of market price volatility. Moreover, these capabilities provide better insight
into the costs and profit incurred by an implemented strategy. Thus, an SC analysis can be used
for two different purposes:
âą For making design decisions, and more specifically, for targeting the level of flexibility
of a system and designing the SC network configuration
âą For comparing several strategies by evaluating their performance for different market
conditions
viii
The objective of this thesis is to develop a design methodology for targeting the required level of
flexibility, designing the SC network configuration, and evaluating different FBR strategies for
transforming a forest company. The methodology is demonstrated using a case study that
involves two product/process options, including thermochemical and biochemical processes,
with several implementation strategies, implemented over the years.
The pivot of this methodology is the margins-based thinking used as an operating policy. It is
discussed that, instead of applying the traditional manufacturing-centric approach in production
which focuses on capacity management and tries to minimize the costs, the margins-based policy
must be implemented, which has the following specifications:
âą It maximizes the profit instead of minimizing costs
âą It considers all costs incurred by SC activities in an integrated manner and doesnât only
focus on production cost
âą It exploits the potential for flexibility in the SC, especially in production, to maximize
profit
A SC optimization formulation is developed to represent such thinking. Using this formulation, a
design methodology is proposed for making strategic decisions related to biorefinery SC design.
This methodology is fed by separate methodologies which identify the most promising set of
product to produce and technologies to employ. Given that, the methodology involves four major
steps:
âą Defining process alternatives representing different potentials for flexibility
âą Defining SC network alternatives based on the defined process alternatives as well as the
policies, advantages and restrictions of the company
âą Targeting the level of flexibility of processes and determining its associated SC network
âą Analyzing different implementation strategies for the proposed product/processes with
their targeted level of flexibility and defined SC network
A set of performance metrics that represents SC profitability, robustness and flexibility is used to
evaluate the performance of biorefinery strategies for several market scenarios.
The results show that when the flexibility of a system is enhanced, its profit increases. But this
does not necessarily end in profitability improvement. For the profitability of a flexible system to
ix
improve, the extra capital cost paid for increasing the level of flexibility must be compensated by
the profit improvement. Thus, for some cases profitability increases with flexibility and for some
cases it does not. Moreover, robustness has a direct relationship with flexibility. As flexibility
increases, the system becomes more robust against market volatility.
The results reveal the importance of SC analysis in making design decisions. They illustrate that
changes in the level of flexibility will directly affect the companyâs opportunities and strategies
in the market, and thus, each level of flexibility implies a specific SC network configuration and
management strategy. Therefore, there must be integration between process design and SC
network design.
It is also shown that added-value chemicals are promising for the long-term success of
biorefineries. Their profitability, in terms of internal rate of return (IRR), is considerably higher
than that of commodities
Cooperation in manure-based biogas production networks: An agent-based modeling approach
Biogas production from manure has been proposed as a partial solution to energy and environmental concerns. However, manure markets face distortions caused by considerable unbalance between supply and demand and environmental regulations imposed for soil and water protection. Such market distortions influence the cooperation between animal farmers, biogas producers and arable land owners causing fluctuations in manure prices paid (or incurred) by animal farmers. This paper adopts an agent-based modeling approach to investigate the interactions between manure suppliers, i.e., animal farmers, and biogas producers in an industrial symbiosis case example consisting of 19 municipalities in the Overijssel region (eastern Netherlands). To find the manure price for successful cooperation schemes, we measure the impact of manure discharge cost, dimension and dispersion of animal farms, incentives provided by the government for bioenergy production, and the investment costs of biogas plants for different scales on the economic returns for both actor types and favorable market conditions. Findings show that manure exchange prices may vary between â3.33 âŹ/t manure (i.e., animal farmer pays to biogas producer) and 7.03 âŹ/t manure (i.e., biogas producer pays to animal farmer) and thanks to cooperation, actors can create a total economic value added between 3.73 âŹ/t manure and 39.37 âŹ/t manure. Hence, there are cases in which animal farmers can profitably be paid, but the presence of a supply surplus not met by demand provides an advantage to arable land owners and biogas producers in the price contracting phase in the current situation in the Netherlands
- âŠ