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Transport Costs (transport + cost)
Selected AbstractsLarge-scale production, harvest and logistics of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) , current technology and envisioning a mature technologyBIOFUELS, BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOREFINING, Issue 2 2009Shahab Sokhansanj Abstract Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a promising cellulosic biomass feedstock for biorefineries and biofuel production. This paper reviews current and future potential technologies for production, harvest, storage, and transportation of switchgrass. Our analysis indicates that for a yield of 10 Mg ha,1, the current cost of producing switchgrass (after establishment) is about $41.50 Mg,1. The costs may be reduced to about half this if the yield is increased to 30 Mg ha,1 through genetic improvement, intensive crop management, and/or optimized inputs. At a yield of 10 Mg ha,1, we estimate that harvesting costs range from $23.72 Mg,1 for current baling technology to less than $16 Mg,1 when using a loafing collection system. At yields of 20 and 30 Mg ha,1 with an improved loafing system, harvesting costs are even lower at $12.75 Mg,1 and $9.59 Mg,1, respectively. Transport costs vary depending upon yield and fraction of land under switchgrass, bulk density of biomass, and total annual demand of a biorefinery. For a 2000 Mg d,1 plant and an annual yield of 10 Mg ha,1, the transport cost is an estimated $15.42 Mg,1, assuming 25% of the land is under switchgrass production. Total delivered cost of switchgrass using current baling technology is $80.64 Mg,1, requiring an energy input of 8.5% of the feedstock higher heating value (HHV). With mature technology, for example, a large, loaf-collection system, the total delivered cost is reduced to about $71.16 Mg,1 with 7.8% of the feedstock HHV required as input. Further cost reduction can be achieved by combining mature technology with increased crop productivity. Delivered cost and energy input do not vary significantly as biorefinery capacity increases from 2000 Mg d,1 to 5000 Mg d,1 because the cost of increased distance to access a larger volume feedstock offsets the gains in increased biorefinery capacity. This paper outlines possible scenarios for the expansion of switchgrass handling to 30 Tg (million Mg) in 2015 and 100 Tg in 2030 based on predicted growth of the biorefinery industry in the USA. The value of switchgrass collection operations is estimated at more than $0.6 billion in 2015 and more than $2.1 billion in 2030. The estimated value of post-harvest operations is $0.6,$2.0 billion in 2015, and $2.0,$6.5 billion in 2030, depending on the degree of preprocessing. The need for power equipment (tractors) will increase from 100 MW in 2015 to 666 MW in 2030, with corresponding annual values of $150 and $520 million, respectively. © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source] A solution approach for log truck scheduling based on composite pricing and branch and boundINTERNATIONAL TRANSACTIONS IN OPERATIONAL RESEARCH, Issue 5 2003Myrna Palmgren Abstract The logging truck scheduling problem is one of the most complex routing problems where both pick-up and delivery operations are included. It consists in finding one feasible route for each vehicle in order to satisfy the demands of the customers and in such a way that the total transport cost is minimized. We use a mathematical formulation of the log truck scheduling problem where each column represents a feasible route. We generate a large pool of columns based on solving a transportation problem. Then we apply a composite pricing algorithm, which mainly consists of pricing the pool of columns and maintain an active set of these, for solving the LP relaxed model. A branch and price approach is used to obtain integer solutions in which we apply composite pricing to generate new columns. Numerical results from case studies at Swedish forestry companies are presented. [source] Heterogeneous transport costs and spatial sorting in a model of New Economic Geography,PAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2010Corey Lang Economic geography; transport costs; sorting; agglomeration Abstract Transportation costs are of central importance in the New Economic Geography literature, though assumptions about transportation costs continue to be simplistic. This paper begins to address these simplifications by assuming that transportation costs for manufactured goods are heterogeneous. Basic results are consistent with standard models showing dispersion of economic activity for high transport costs and eventual agglomeration as transport costs decline. However, several novel features arise too. Many unstable, dispersed equilibria exist for high average transport costs, but converge to a stable equilibrium path as transport costs decrease. Equilibrium paths smoothly transition from dispersion to agglomeration and do so at an increasing rate. Additionally, transport costs directly influence firms' location decisions and firms spatially sort by transport cost. Resumen Los costos de transporte tienen una importancia capital en la literatura sobre la Nueva Geografía Económica, aunque se siguen asumiendo los costos de transporte de manera simplista. Este artículo empieza a tratar estas simplificaciones, asumiendo que los costos de transporte de bienes manufacturados son heterogéneos. Los resultados básicos son consecuentes con los modelos estándar que muestran la dispersión de la actividad económica para costos de transporte elevados y una eventual aglomeración a medida que los costos de transporte disminuyen. Sin embargo, también aparecen varias características novedosas. Existen muchos equilibrios dispersos, inestables, para costos de transporte promedio elevados, pero convergen en una línea de equilibrio a medida que los costos disminuyen. Las líneas de equilibrio tienen una transición fluida de la dispersión a la aglomeración y lo hacen a una tasa en aumento. Además, los costos de transporte influyen directamente las decisiones de localización de las empresas y estas se ordenan espacialmente de acuerdo a los costos de transporte. [source] THE CLOSED-LOOP EFFECTS OF MARKET INTEGRATION IN A DYNAMIC DUOPOLYAUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 1 2010KENJI FUJIWARA This paper develops a dynamic game model of reciprocal dumping to reconsider welfare effects of market integration, i.e. reductions in transport costs. We show that welfare under trade is unambiguously less than welfare under autarky for any level of transport costs, which is impossible in static models where trade is profitable if the transport cost is low enough. This is because the negative effect through closed-loop property of feedback strategies dominates the positive effects. [source] Large-scale production, harvest and logistics of switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) , current technology and envisioning a mature technologyBIOFUELS, BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOREFINING, Issue 2 2009Shahab Sokhansanj Abstract Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a promising cellulosic biomass feedstock for biorefineries and biofuel production. This paper reviews current and future potential technologies for production, harvest, storage, and transportation of switchgrass. Our analysis indicates that for a yield of 10 Mg ha,1, the current cost of producing switchgrass (after establishment) is about $41.50 Mg,1. The costs may be reduced to about half this if the yield is increased to 30 Mg ha,1 through genetic improvement, intensive crop management, and/or optimized inputs. At a yield of 10 Mg ha,1, we estimate that harvesting costs range from $23.72 Mg,1 for current baling technology to less than $16 Mg,1 when using a loafing collection system. At yields of 20 and 30 Mg ha,1 with an improved loafing system, harvesting costs are even lower at $12.75 Mg,1 and $9.59 Mg,1, respectively. Transport costs vary depending upon yield and fraction of land under switchgrass, bulk density of biomass, and total annual demand of a biorefinery. For a 2000 Mg d,1 plant and an annual yield of 10 Mg ha,1, the transport cost is an estimated $15.42 Mg,1, assuming 25% of the land is under switchgrass production. Total delivered cost of switchgrass using current baling technology is $80.64 Mg,1, requiring an energy input of 8.5% of the feedstock higher heating value (HHV). With mature technology, for example, a large, loaf-collection system, the total delivered cost is reduced to about $71.16 Mg,1 with 7.8% of the feedstock HHV required as input. Further cost reduction can be achieved by combining mature technology with increased crop productivity. Delivered cost and energy input do not vary significantly as biorefinery capacity increases from 2000 Mg d,1 to 5000 Mg d,1 because the cost of increased distance to access a larger volume feedstock offsets the gains in increased biorefinery capacity. This paper outlines possible scenarios for the expansion of switchgrass handling to 30 Tg (million Mg) in 2015 and 100 Tg in 2030 based on predicted growth of the biorefinery industry in the USA. The value of switchgrass collection operations is estimated at more than $0.6 billion in 2015 and more than $2.1 billion in 2030. The estimated value of post-harvest operations is $0.6,$2.0 billion in 2015, and $2.0,$6.5 billion in 2030, depending on the degree of preprocessing. The need for power equipment (tractors) will increase from 100 MW in 2015 to 666 MW in 2030, with corresponding annual values of $150 and $520 million, respectively. © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source] Growth and Location of Economic Activity: The Spatial Dynamics of Industries in Canada 1971,2001GROWTH AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2006MARIO POLÈSE ABSTRACT A growing literature has accumulated that points to the stability of industrial location patterns. Can this be reconciled with spatial dynamics? This article starts with the premise that demonstrable regularities exist in the manner in which individual industries locate (and relocate) over space. For Canada, spatial distributions of employment are examined for seventy-one industries over a thirty-year period (1971,2001). Industry data is organized by "synthetic regions" based on urban size and distance criteria. "Typical" location patterns are identified for industry groupings. Industrial spatial concentrations are then compared over time using correlation analysis, showing a high degree of stability. Stable industrial location patterns are not, the article finds, incompatible with differential regional growth. Five spatial processes are identified, driving change. The chief driving force is the propensity of dynamic industries to start up in large metro areas, setting off a process of diffusion (for services) and crowding out (for manufacturing), offset by the centralizing impact of greater consumer mobility and falling transport costs. These changes do not, however, significantly alter the relative spatial distribution of most industries over time. [source] Energetics and morphology of sockeye salmon: effects of upriver migratory distance and elevationJOURNAL OF FISH BIOLOGY, Issue 3 2004G. T. Crossin Depending on population, wild Fraser River sockeye salmon Oncorhynchus nerka travel distances of <100 km to >1100 km and ascend elevations ranging from near sea-level to 1200 m to reach spawning areas. Populations embarking on distant, high elevation migrations (i.e. Early Stuart, Chilko and Horsefly populations) began their upriver spawning migrations with higher densities of somatic energy (c. 9·2 to 9·8 MJ kg,1) and fewer eggs (c. 3200 to 3800) than populations making shorter, low elevation migrations (i.e. Weaver and Adams; c. 7·1 to 8·3 MJ kg,1 gross somatic energy and c. 4300 to 4700 eggs). Populations making difficult upriver migrations also had morphologies that were smaller and more fusiform than populations making less difficult migrations, traits that may facilitate somatic energy conservation by reducing transport costs. Indeed, fish travelling long distances expended less somatic energy per unit of migratory difficulty than those travelling shorter distances (2·8 to 3·8 kJ v. 10,1400 kJ). Consistent with evolutionary theory, difficult migrations appear to select for energy efficiency but ultimately fish making more difficult migrations produce fewer eggs, even when differences in body length have been accounted for. Despite large among-population differences in somatic energy at the start of upriver migration, all populations completed migration and spawning, and subsequently died, with c. 4 MJ kg,1 of energy remaining, a level which may reflect a threshold to sustain life. [source] Heterogeneous transport costs and spatial sorting in a model of New Economic Geography,PAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 1 2010Corey Lang Economic geography; transport costs; sorting; agglomeration Abstract Transportation costs are of central importance in the New Economic Geography literature, though assumptions about transportation costs continue to be simplistic. This paper begins to address these simplifications by assuming that transportation costs for manufactured goods are heterogeneous. Basic results are consistent with standard models showing dispersion of economic activity for high transport costs and eventual agglomeration as transport costs decline. However, several novel features arise too. Many unstable, dispersed equilibria exist for high average transport costs, but converge to a stable equilibrium path as transport costs decrease. Equilibrium paths smoothly transition from dispersion to agglomeration and do so at an increasing rate. Additionally, transport costs directly influence firms' location decisions and firms spatially sort by transport cost. Resumen Los costos de transporte tienen una importancia capital en la literatura sobre la Nueva Geografía Económica, aunque se siguen asumiendo los costos de transporte de manera simplista. Este artículo empieza a tratar estas simplificaciones, asumiendo que los costos de transporte de bienes manufacturados son heterogéneos. Los resultados básicos son consecuentes con los modelos estándar que muestran la dispersión de la actividad económica para costos de transporte elevados y una eventual aglomeración a medida que los costos de transporte disminuyen. Sin embargo, también aparecen varias características novedosas. Existen muchos equilibrios dispersos, inestables, para costos de transporte promedio elevados, pero convergen en una línea de equilibrio a medida que los costos disminuyen. Las líneas de equilibrio tienen una transición fluida de la dispersión a la aglomeración y lo hacen a una tasa en aumento. Además, los costos de transporte influyen directamente las decisiones de localización de las empresas y estas se ordenan espacialmente de acuerdo a los costos de transporte. [source] Multiple equilibria, stability, and asymmetries in Krugman's core-periphery model,PAPERS IN REGIONAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2001Luis Fernando Lanaspa Industrial concentration; infrastructures; stable asymmetries Abstract Paul Krugman developed a general equilibrium model with two sectors and two regions in 1991, from which two patterns of industrial localization could be endogenously deduced, dispersion at 50% and total concentration. The introduction of transport costs, which depend on the size of the population, are meant to capture effects produced by the trade-off between congestion costs and advantages derived from the possession of infrastructure, thus generates stable asymmetric multiple equilibria. The outcome of asymmetric stable multiple equilibria demonstrates the fruitfulness of this extension of the original model. [source] Research and Development, Regional Spillovers and the Location of Economic ActivitiesTHE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 4 2004Alberto Franco Pozzolo I present an endogenous growth model that studies the effects of local inter-industry and intra-industry knowledge spillovers in R&D on the allocation of economic activities between two regions. The equilibrium is the result of a tension between a centripetal force, the cost of transporting goods from one region to the other, and a centrifugal force, the cost increase associated with life in a more crowded area. The presence of local knowledge spillovers, which determines the concentration of the R&D activities within one region, also introduces a further centripetal force that makes a symmetric allocation of the economic activities impossible. The concentration of R&D fosters the equilibrium rate of growth of the economy with respect to the case of no-integration, by increasing the positive effect of local knowledge spillovers. Contrary to the findings of the majority of models in the new economic geography literature, within this framework a reduction in transport costs may be associated with a more even geographical distribution of economic activities. [source] THE CLOSED-LOOP EFFECTS OF MARKET INTEGRATION IN A DYNAMIC DUOPOLYAUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 1 2010KENJI FUJIWARA This paper develops a dynamic game model of reciprocal dumping to reconsider welfare effects of market integration, i.e. reductions in transport costs. We show that welfare under trade is unambiguously less than welfare under autarky for any level of transport costs, which is impossible in static models where trade is profitable if the transport cost is low enough. This is because the negative effect through closed-loop property of feedback strategies dominates the positive effects. [source] Fast pyrolysis technology developmentBIOFUELS, BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOREFINING, Issue 2 2010RH Venderbosch Abstract While the intention of slow pyrolysis is to produce mainly charcoal, fast pyrolysis is meant to convert biomass to a maximum quantity of liquids (bio-oil). Both processes have in common that the biomass feedstock is densified to reduce storage space and transport costs. A comfortable, more stable and cleaner intermediate energy carrier is obtained, which is much more uniform and well defined. In this review, the principles of fast pyrolysis are discussed, and the main technologies reviewed (demo scale: fluid bed, rotating cone and vacuum pyrolysis; pilot plant: ablative and twin screw pyrolysis). Possible product applications are discussed in relation to the bio-oil properties. General mass and energy balance are provided as well, together with some remarks on the economics. Challenges for the coming years are (1) improvement of the reliability of pyrolysis reactors and processes; (2) the demonstration of the oil's utilization in boilers, engines and turbines; and (3) the development of technologies for the production of chemicals and biofuels from pyrolysis oils. One important conclusion in relation to biofuel production is that the type of oxygen functionalities (viz. as an alcohol, ketone, aldehyde, ether, or ester) in the oil should be controlled, rather then merely focusing on a reduction of just the oxygen content itself. Copyright © 2010 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source] Cost estimate for biosynfuel production via biosyncrude gasificationBIOFUELS, BIOPRODUCTS AND BIOREFINING, Issue 1 2009Edmund Henrich Abstract Production of synthetic fuels from lignocellulose like wood or straw involves complex technology. There-fore, a large BTL (biomass to liquid) plant for biosynfuel production is more economic than many small facilities. A reasonable BTL-plant capacity is ,1 Mt/a biosynfuel similar to the already existing commercial CTL and GTL (coal to liquid, gas to liquid) plants of SASOL and SHELL, corresponding to at least 10% of the capacity of a modern oil refinery. BTL-plant cost estimates are therefore based on reported experience with CTL and GTL plants. Direct supply of large BTL plants with low bulk density biomass by trucks is limited by high transport costs and intolerable local traffic density. Biomass densification by liquefaction in a fast pyrolysis process generates a compact bioslurry or biopaste, also denoted as biosyncrude as produced by the bioliq® process. The densified biosyncrude intermediate can now be cheaply transported from many local facilities in silo wagons by electric rail over long distances to a large and more economic central biosynfuel plant. In addition to the capital expenditure (capex) for the large and complex central biosynfuel plant, a comparable investment effort is required for the construction of several dozen regional pyrolysis plants with simpler technology. Investment costs estimated for fast pyrolysis plants reported in the literature have been complemented by own studies for plants with ca. 100 MWth biomass input. The breakdown of BTL synfuel manufacturing costs of ca. 1 , /kg in central EU shows that about half of the costs are caused by the biofeedstock, including transport. This helps to generate new income for farmers. The other half is caused by technical costs, which are about proportional to the total capital investment (TCI) for the pyrolysis and biosynfuel production plants. Labor is a minor contribution in the relatively large facilities. © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [source] Potential Synergies and Challenges in Refining Cellulosic Biomass to Fuels, Chemicals, and PowerBIOTECHNOLOGY PROGRESS, Issue 2 2003Charles E. Wyman Lignocellulosic biomass such as agricultural and forestry residues and dedicated crops provides a low-cost and uniquely sustainable resource for production of many organic fuels and chemicals that can reduce greenhouse gas emissions, enhance energy security, improve the economy, dispose of problematic solid wastes, and improve air quality. A technoeconomic analysis of biologically processing lignocellulosics to ethanol is adapted to project the cost of making sugar intermediates for producing a range of such products, and sugar costs are predicted to drop with plant size as a result of economies of scale that outweigh increased biomass transport costs for facilities processing less than about 10,000 dry tons per day. Criteria are then reviewed for identifying promising chemicals in addition to fuel ethanol to make from these low cost cellulosic sugars. It is found that the large market for ethanol makes it possible to achieve economies of scale that reduce sugar costs, and coproducing chemicals promises greater profit margins or lower production costs for a given return on investment. Additionally, power can be sold at low prices without a significant impact on the selling price of sugars. However, manufacture of multiple products introduces additional technical, marketing, risk, scale-up, and other challenges that must be considered in refining of lignocellulosics. [source] Price Relationships in Processors' Input Market Areas: Testing Theories for Corn Prices Near Ethanol PlantsCANADIAN JOURNAL OF AGRICULTURAL ECONOMICS, Issue 2-3 2005Paul Gallagher This study examines corn pricing in the vicinity of processing plants. We develop and test several price-distance models for cargo, insurance and freight (CIF) plant pricing in the presence of varying degrees of exporter competition, and for discriminatory free-on-board (FOB) pricing at the farm. The price-distance functions describing spatial prices near processing plants all depend on local transport costs. But the pricing system (CIF or FOB) and the extent of local competition define the level and spatial rate of change in prices.Estimations of an empirical price-location function for Iowa during the spring of 2003 suggest that prices near the plants of four conventional businesses conform to the CIF pricing model. But prices near producer-owned firms or farmer cooperatives failed to show any statistically significant effect on nearby prices. One plant had a price-distance function that resembled FOB pricing. Cet article étudie la tarification du maïs aux environs des usines agro-alimentaire utilisant cette céréale. Nous développons et testons plusieurs modèles de tarification CIF en présence de different niveaux de pressions compétitive à l'exportation. Nous testons aussi l'existence d'une tarification discriminatoire FOB au niveau de l'exploitation agricole. Les fonctions distance-prix décrivant les distributions spatiales des prix aux environs des usines agro-alimentaire dépendent toutes des coûts de transport local. Cependant le système de tarification (CIF ou FOB) et l'intensité de la compétition locale définissent le niveau et la sensibilité des prix en fonction de la distance.Les estimations des fonctions empiriques prix-situation geographique dans l'Iowa durant le printemps 2003 suggèrent que les prix aux alentours de quatre producteurs agro-alimentaire sont conformes à un modèle de tarification CIF. En revanche, les prix pratiques près des cooperatives ou des usines possedées par les exploitants agricole ne semblent pas affectés par des tarifications particulières. Un plan possède cependant une fonction prix-distance dont la forme à une tarification FOB. [source] | |||||||||||||