4. Conclusions

This chapter presents a novel approach to incorporate physical and chemical properties of the biomass, which affect the design and implementation of the supply chain for production and distribution of biofuels. The PCA is a tool that allows the decision maker to use the variance plus additional information on how the variables interact with each other (covariance) to infer the effect of the factors included with the analysis. Moreover, PCA has the capability to detect the magnitude of the factor's effect over the variables under analysis. The factors with significant impact on the process can be incorporated into the mathematical models. The stochastic model presented in this chapter shows the impact of moisture and ash content in the production and distribution of biofuel. The results show a difference in the overall cost function, but also a different optimal design of the supply chain. Hence, ignoring the quality-related properties might lead to the cost underestimations.

Biomass has other features that impact the logistic system. Investigating new factors such as dry matter loss and integrating these factors into the modeling and algorithmic development is a fruitful future research line.
