Traceability System for Improved Utilization of Solid Biofuel from Agricultural Prunings

Abstract

Biomass production and supply for renewable energy generation should be managed well and carried out in a sustainable manner. An effective traceability system (TS) is required to provide sufficient information and assure the quality of the biomass. The objective of this study is to define and develop a TS to assure the pruning biomass quality for the production of solid biofuels and to provide guarantee to the final user that the biomass is in good condition according to recommended quality criteria. It is designed for an agricultural pruning supply chain in which farmers, biomass traders, transporters, and end users are major actors. It is based on the biofuel quality requirements required by final users and other standards such as the new European standards EN 14961-1, EN15234:1-2011, and EN14961-1:2010, which describe solid fuel quality parameters. Traceable quality parameters include origin and source of product, traded form, bale dimension, chips size distribution, moisture content, ash content, and density of biomass. In this TS, a unique product label is introduced and integrated into a smart logistics system (SLS). The TS uses information captured at different stages of the product supply chain. It enables the management of the whole pruning biomass supply chain with the support of a centralized web-based information platform, an integral part of the SLS.

Evaluating Logistics Performances of Agricultural Prunings for Energy Production: A Logistics Audit Analysis Approach

“…There is no well-organized information flow and system to manage the PtE value chain effectively and efficiently. Therefore, where an improved pruning processing and distribution system is planned, it should be augmented with an efficient management system in which the traceability of information can be integrated effectively [32].…”

Evaluation of a Smart System for the Optimization of Logistics Performance of a Pruning Biomass Value Chain

“…The information gathered using the smart system was rich enough to construct an effective traceability map of each registered product along the pruning supply chain [11]. Detailed pruning quality parameters and the product traceability system are provided in [12,13].…”

“…The smart system was developed to effectively gather, monitor, store, and analyze data to improve pruning logistics management (even though the tool could be utilized for any biomass supply chain). As indicated in Table 8, this integrated system enables improved performance of pruning supply chain management and product traceability by reducing biomass loss (in terms of quality and quantity), increasing the quality of solid fuel and delivery service, and reducing logistics and transaction costs [2,11,14]. Therefore, evaluation results indicate that the SLS is important tool for management of the biomass value chain and trading system.…”

Reusing Pruning Residues for Thermal Energy Production: A Mobile App to Match Biomass Availability with the Heating Energy Balance of Agro-Industrial Buildings

“…A local supply chain can be created that would greatly benefit from a traceable system that could be used for quality control and the effective management of pruning residues. The result would be an improved efficiency of the whole system through actions taken to promote using agricultural residues for renewable energy production [19], leading to an increased level of sustainability at the district level (i.e., cooperatives, typical production areas, agricultural production companies, etc.) [20].…”