• Reporting on the global supply chain network for bulk materials in the form of dry bulk, liquids, gases, cargo and freight, whether by road, rail, sea or air.
Biomass - a logistics nightmare?
UK. Ambitious plans to scale up the use of biomass for UK power generation will fail to materialise unless critical supply chain challenges are resolved, says a new report from independent research firm Verdantix.
The UK Government’s Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has set a target of 15 per cent renewable energy to be generated by biomass by 2020. However, the new research finds that critical supply chain issues could potentially block planned investments.
By 2014, power companies such as Drax Group and MGT Power plan to bring seven large scale biomass power generation facilities on line, generating a total of 2100 MW – enough to power 600,000 homes. In addition the Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC) is incentivising public sector organisations such as Aberdeen City Council to invest in additional small-scale biomass boilers.
The report says that investments in biomass equipment could fail to meet operational targets as UK biomass supply is only likely to meet 5 to 10 per cent of projected demand by 2014 and large volume imports face significant supply chain risks.
Verdantix analyst James Pinney,
who led the research, commented that the UK government, power generators
and city councils have ambitious plans to scale up biomass use. “Our
research with industry insiders shows that UK biomass supplies will only
meet small scale demand, typically within a 60-mile radius of the biomass
facility. The low volume of UK supply means that every year power
generators will import millions of tonnes of wood chips, elephant grass,
palm kernels and olive pellets to feed their huge biomass facilities.”
Uncertainties also surround the reliability and cost of importing biomass
from countries like Canada, Malaysia, Russia and Sweden. The report,
entitled Smart Vendors: Biomass Supply Chain (UK),
identifies a number of ‘smart’ vendors seeking to solve the critical supply chain problems.
EDF Trading, Energy Crop Company and Lantmännen Group operate businesses that manage cultivation, processing and/or distribution of biomass fuels - firms that will play a key role in securing reliable supplies of imported biomass for the UK.
Maximising the yield of UK biomass sources, another critical issue, sees vendors like Euroforest, Forestry Commission and UPM Tilhill providing services to help land owners exploit opportunities like non-harvested wood fibre.
To enhance biomass processing, companies such as Biojoule, Land Energy and Silvigen buy raw materials and convert them into premium biomass pellets, bringing benefits in terms of lower transport and storage costs as well as more regular power generation per cubic metre.
Improving logistics services is also important as the cost of delivering biomass to facilities and load loss during transport can curtail biomass business cases. There are already a number of dedicated biomass logistics solutions from companies like AW Jenkinson, Balcas, Eddie Stobart and Forever Fuels to improve supply chain efficiency, enabling end users to source supplies economically from wider areas.
Even with these innovations, the report says that there are other risks to organisations planning to rely on biomass. In April 2009, the UK government’s change of tack on subsidies for co-firing biomass pulled the plug on many planned investments and hit UK biomass suppliers. “Power generation from biomass competes with other industries for scarce land-use resources. Fixing the supply chain will not eliminate security of supply or price volatility risks”, added Mr Pinney.
• The report Smart Vendors: Biomass Supply Chain UK is available to buy online and Verdantix clients can download the report at www.verdantix.com
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10:27 18/11/2009
5,000th tank delivered
Germany. At a recent ceremony, Jos van Hool officially handed over the 5,000th tank that Van Hool has supplied to Thomas Hoyer, of Hoyer GmbH. The relationship between the companies rgoes back to 1986 when the first Van Hool swap bodies and chassis were ordered.
To date, more than 50 different types of tank container and road tanker for transporting chemical products and food have been built for Hoyer, including special equipment for the silo business and gas tank containers with customised and tailor-made designs. Other units include container chassis in aluminium and lightweight steel, equipped with tipping and pump units to suit Hoyer’s needs.
Family-owned Hoyer, with its head office in Hamburg, has been operating as a worldwide logistics service provider for six decades, offering transport, storage and transshipment of liquid goods and liquified gases as well as tank cleaning, repairs and maintenance of equipment, logistics concepts with outsourcing and on-site solutions.
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13:17 11/03/2009
