Environmental and economic trade-offs of switchgrass supply chain for biofuel in Tennessee

The low efficiency of feedstock storage and transportation hinders commercialization of a switchgrass-based biofuel industry although the feedstock has various environmental benefits. This study develops a sustainable switchgrass supply chain that balances its economic and environmental performance, including soil erosion, and GHG emissions using a multi-objective optimization model based on high-resolution spatial data in Tennessee. Results suggest that the best preferred location for biorefinery, plantation area, and the type of land converted to switchgrass are crucial to trade-off relation between industrial cost and environmental performance of the feedstock supply chain.