Effects of Supply Chain Strategy on Stump Fuel Cost: A Simulation Approach

In Sweden, stump fuel extraction for energy purposes is not a well-established practice and this major resource is currently leftin the forest. The stump fuel supply chain is both challenging and complex, due to distance between resource and end user,material bulkiness, and the number of subprocesses involved. This study examined the impact of different aspects such as sitecharacteristics, fuel quality, biomass losses, andmachine performance on fuel cost. Two systems, including transport of comminutedand uncomminuted fuel, were studied. Discrete-event simulation was used to model systems and to analyse the dynamics ofthe supply chain and its various components. For a distance of 10 km, transportation of uncomminuted fuel gave the lowestcosts. For distances from 30 to 70 km, site size (odt) determined whether to comminute or not before transport. For longerdistances, comminution before transport proved to be necessary. Well-planned stump storage was shown to reduce the deliverycosts significantly, while highmoisture content (>45%) had detrimental effects on system costs per unit energy delivered. However,the most influential parameters were productivity level and site characteristics (distance and site size).