Design of a wheat straw supply chain network in Lower Saxony, Germany through optimization

In this work, a biomass supply chain model for the region of Lower Saxony in northern Germany has been developed. Because of Germany's high demand for biofuels, the production and distribution of levulinic acid and bioethanol is studied by using the Advanced Interactive Multidimensional Modeling (AIMMS) software. The economic benefits that this supply chain provides show to what extent Lower Saxony can become fossil fuel independent. These results are used to answer the following question: has biomass the potential to successfully take up the torch from fossil fuels?”