Mapping tools benefit biomass supply chain

Biomass Power & Thermal
By Luke Geiver May 03, 2011

Harrison Pettit has a multistep plan to create a biomass feedstock operation because, as he told a crowd at the 2011 International Biomass Conference & Expo, “This supply chain will not invent itself.” Pettit, the vice president of business development for Powerstock, told the crowd during his presentation, which included a six-step plan necessary to create a biomass feedstock operation, that, “what I try to make people understand is that agricultural biomass will be a significant feedstock for our bioenergy and bioproducts future.” And to capitalize on that future, he explained the biomass supply chain as the equivalent of a water tributary.

The system he explained needs to have this concept of “coming into one.” The process includes taking hundreds of growers and forming them into one dedicated supply chain that includes grower relationships, field mapping and individuals who have their own preferences and practices, he said. Included in the multistep plan is to identify and profile the supply chain, model the feedstock shed at the lowest cost, execute a demonstration harvest, scale-up harvests that would meet an inventory level, build up the grower network and, finally, manage the operational risks and approaches.

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