*2.3.2 Proposals for energy production plant placements according to the energy demand scenarios*

An AHP was used to determine the best location for an energy production plant using wheat biomass as a raw material. The main criterion for the plant location was the biomass supply, by which other major criteria were determined. The analysis was carried out considering the energy demand scenarios (current, potential, and social) as part of the analysis.

In the AHP, an importance value was assigned to each criterion according to its objective. The value scale ranged from 1 to 9, where 1 was considered to be equally important for two criteria (a and b) and 9 was considered to be more important for one criterion than another (a over b) [38, 39]. Therefore, when the relative importance of a over b was established, a value of 1/9 was automatically established [39].


*Biomass for Bioenergy - Recent Trends and Future Challenges*

are carried out there that are relevant to society [33, 34].

ered a priority and more suitable.

and thus, this was considered a factor.

Conversely, the following limiters were considered:

1 0–3869 Agricultural land and

*based on the wheat biomass in the Araucanía region.*

most suitable (**Table 3**).

**Value Residual biomass (t year<sup>−</sup><sup>1</sup> )**

and potential demand. The selected sectors with a high demand were consid-

c.Land use/coverage: The installation of an energy production plant must comply with the legal requirements and land usage. Competition with other current uses of the land must be avoided, allowing current activities to continue. The areas considered feasible for the installation of a plant were those without vegetation, meadows, or scrub and were industrial use lands. Urban areas and lands of agricultural use were considered unsuitable because other activities

d.Roads: Connectivity is essential for the supply of raw materials to the plant; thus, the transport of raw materials should be considered [33, 36]. Therefore, a maximum distance of 1.0 km between the energy plant and the road was considered a priority. Moreover, the type of road material affects accessibility,

e. Electrical network: Wheat residue was considered the raw material for electricity production [2]. The distance from the energy production plant to the electrical network is relevant to the electricity generated in the electrical supply network. Nonconventional renewable energy (NCRE), such as a generation less than

9.0 MWel, can directly connect to the Chilean distribution network [37]. This would provide an economic benefit to plant installation. A maximum distance of 3.0 km between the energy plant and the electrical network was considered a priority.

Each of these factors was discretized with values between 1 and 7, with 7 as the

a.Restricted areas: This represents zones where installation is not viable for environmental, legal, or other reasons [33, 34]. These areas include those covered by the protected forest areas system (SNASPE), protected private areas (PPAs), bodies of water, cities, and the current road network. A value of 0 was assigned

**Land use/coverage Road** 

**types**

— —

**Electrical network (m)**

to the limiter areas, and 1 was assigned to those without restrictions.

 23,217–27,086 Grassland and scrubland Asphalt 0–1000 19,347–23,217 — — 1000–2000 15,478–19,347 Industrial and urban area Gravel 2000–3000 11,608–15,478 — — 3000–12,000 7739–11,608 Primary and secondary forest Dirt 12,000–21,000 3869–7730 — — —

plantations

*Discretization of the values for the factors used to determine the optimal location of an energy production plant* 

**148**

**Table 3.**

#### *Biomass for Bioenergy - Recent Trends and Future Challenges*


### **Table 4.**

*Valorization of the different criteria used to determine the optimal location of a production plant based on the biomass according to the social, feasibility, and demand scenarios.*
