Assessment and optimization of forest biomass supply chains from economic, social and environmental perspectives – A review of literature

Forest biomass is a renewable source that has the potential to substitute fossil fuels in many applications, from the generation of bioenergy (heat, electricity or transportation fuels) to the production of bioproducts (chemicals and other materials). The increased use of forest biomass could support the reduction of anthropogenic carbon emissions to the environment and could help forest-dependent communities achieve energy independence while generating jobs. The viability and feasibility of generating valuable products from forest biomass depend on ensuring the long-term availability of biomass supply with the required quality at a competitive cost. This calls for a cost-efficient design of the forest biomass supply chain. Social and environmental aspects have to be considered in the design as well to guarantee sustainable use of this renewable resource. In this paper, we present a review of studies that assessed or optimized economic, social and environmental aspects of forest biomass supply chains for the production of bioenergy and bioproducts. The majority of studies so far considered either economic (techno-economic and optimization studies) or environmental (life cycle assessment studies) aspects of bioenergy projects. Nevertheless, there is a recent trend to integrate economic, environmental and social aspects in the assessment and optimization of forest biomass supply chains. Combined approaches integrating multi-objective optimization and life cycle assessment have started to flourish. In these studies, GHG emissions are the most frequently used environmental indicator, production and capital costs are the preferred economic measures and the number of created jobs is the most considered social criterion. Further research has to be done to study and assess the potential social impacts of using forest biomass. There is a need for further development of decision support tools that consider economic, environmental and social criteria to aid the design and planning of forest biomass supply chains.