Identifying trade-offs between sustainability dimensions in the supply chain of biodiesel in Colombia

The study of the interactions among the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability in supply chain management research has received increased attention in recent years. However, for the specific case of the biodiesel supply chain, little attention has been given to the inclusion...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Computers and electronics in agriculture 2019-06, Vol.161, p.162-169
Main Authors: Orjuela-Castro, Javier Arturo, Aranda-Pinilla, Johan Alexander, Moreno-Mantilla, Carlos Eduardo
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Agricultural management
Biodiesel fuels
Biofuel supply chain
Cultivation
Economic analysis
Economic models
Emissions
Food
Food security
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Land use
Linear programming
Mathematical models
Mixers
Multiobjective optimization
Multiple objective analysis
Policy analysis
Social factors
Supply chains
Sustainability
Sustainable development
Tradeoffs
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Summary:The study of the interactions among the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability in supply chain management research has received increased attention in recent years. However, for the specific case of the biodiesel supply chain, little attention has been given to the inclusion of social aspects in an integrated analysis of sustainability performance. This paper in turn proposes and develops a deterministic multi-objective linear programming model to analyze the relationship among the economic, environmental, and food security dimensions of the biodiesel supply chain (BSC) in Colombia. Considering four echelons from the supply chain (palm cultivation, oil extraction, biorefineries, and mixers), the model seeks to minimize total cost, impact on food security, and emissions of greenhouse gases, including emissions from direct and indirect land use change. The Epsilon-constraint method is used to solve the multi-objective model for the BSC. A Pareto set of optimal solutions helped to assess the trade-offs involving the three objectives. The relationship between costs and emissions is contingent upon impact on food security; this is, the design of the supply chain network involving substitution of palm for agricultural crops exhibits lower total cost and lower CO2 emissions. The proposed generic mathematical model is applicable to any supply chain of agro-fuels and allows the calculation of production, inventory and distribution plans to better satisfy sustainability criteria.
ISSN:0168-1699
1872-7107
DOI:10.1016/j.compag.2018.03.009