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In remote communities of Canada, diesel is the primary source of electricity and heat. Promoting sustainable and diverse means of heat and power generation is essential to providing reliable and less carbon-intensive energy supply to remote communities. Among renewable energy sources in Canada, biomass is a major source of energy, with wood pellets being a notable contributor. In this study, using wood pellets in a remote community of Canada is investigated using life cycle analysis (LCA). Furthermore, wood pellet combustion is compared with diesel combustion, the most common fossil fuel in these regions. SimaPro (version 8.4.0.0) was used with Ecoinvent 3 as the primary library because of the nature of the feedstock. Harvesting, transportation, sawmill operation, pelletization, and combustion stages are considered in LCA. In doing so, first, life cycle data related to each of these stages are collected with respect to eight impact categories of global warming, ozone depletion, carcinogenic, non-carcinogenic, smog, respiratory effects, acidification, eutrophication, ecotoxicity, and fossil fuel depletion. The results indicate that pelletization and combustion stages have the greatest environmental impact, specifically in terms of non-carcinogenic effects from pelletization and respiratory effects from pellet combustion. Additionally, when comparing wood pellets to diesel, wood pellet combustion exhibits superior performance across various impact categories, particularly in non-carcinogenic effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass sources are geographically scattered, and seasonal changes influence their availability. Variations in location, type, and feedstock quality impose logistical and storage challenges. Such a dispersion and variety of biomass sources, as well as the dispersion of demand points, may undermine the economies of scale and increase the risk of supply shortage. By consolidating biomass preprocessing and distribution activities in bio-hub facilities, they can contribute to the overall resilience of biomass supply chains (BSCs) and ensure a more sustainable and cost-efficient approach to bioenergy production. As such, investigating the advantages and challenges associated with bio-hub implementation can offer invaluable insights on the efficiency and sustainability of BSCs. Despite its critical role, a major part of the literature on BSCs is confined to the decision-making processes related to biomass suppliers and bioconversion facilities. To bridge this research gap, the current study conducts a systematic literature review on bio-hub implementation within BSCs in the period of the last ten years. Shortlisted papers are classified and analyzed meticulously to extract possible improvements from BSC and modeling perspectives. From the BSC viewpoint, one notable gap is the little attention to mid-term and short-term decisions of bio-hub operations such as inventory control, resource management and production planning. Furthermore, the results revealed that environmental and social aspects of bio-hub implementation require considerable attention. From the modeling perspective, findings illustrate the underutilization of integrated approaches to incorporate micro-level and macro-level information in decision-making. In this regard, a number of areas are suggested for further exploration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study proposes a whole life asset-supply chain optimization model for integration of biomass boilers into non-domestic (non-residential) buildings, under a renewable heat incentive scheme in the UK. The proposed model aims at identifying the optimal energy generation capacities and schedules for biomass and backup boilers, along with the optimal levels of biomass ordering and storage. The sensitivity of these decisions are then analyzed subject to changes in source, types and pricing of biomass materials as well as the choice of technologies and their cost and operational performance criteria. The proposed model is validated by applying it to a case study scenario in the UK. The results indicate that a Renewable Heat Incentive scheme could incentivize the adoption of biomass boilers, with a 3 to 1 ratio for biomass and backup boilers' utilization. As such, the findings from this study will be useful for industry managers, tasked with the decision of which biomass boiler system to utilize, considering the support from RHI. On the other hand, it is shown that RHI does not provide encouragement for efficiency when it comes to the choice of biomass technologies and fuels. This presents itself as a major implication for the success and sustainability of the UK government's renewable heat incentive scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the literature on supervisory elements in distance postgraduate research programmes leading to a master's or doctoral degree. The authors first identify and review the main supervisory challenges from the perspectives of both supervisor and supervisee. This paves the path to investigate and categorise the strategies that have been put into practice in order to address these challenges. This is a first attempt to provide a structured categorisation of the strategies and solutions tailored to address these challenges. Through linking the challenges to strategies, the authors will emphasise the elements of a successful distance postgraduate research supervision experience with a set of guidelines on how to improve the overall learning in this process. The aim of this paper is to conclude by summarising the lessons learned from distance postgraduate research supervision practices and to identify the areas in need of further research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Highlights: [•] Proposes a neo-institutional approach to analyse bioenergy supply chains. [•] Analysis of UK bioenergy illustrates problems posed for energy security. [•] Institutional processes and carriers enable creation and diffusion of new rules. [•] Conflicts over institutional rules complicate bioenergy development. [•] Conflicts about bioenergy are conveyed by institutional processes and carriers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A reverse supply chain, as a post-consumption activity, aims at extracting value from products at the end of their life cycle. It could be comprised of reusing, refurbishing, remanufacturing, and recycling activities. In this paper, we revisit the issue of revenue sharing in reverse supply chains to formulate the decision problems of coordinating parties, manufacturer and retailer. The coordination is formed in a dynamic setting, where a feedback relationship exists between the return incentive policy of the retailer, and the revenue sharing incentive strategy of the manufacturer. To model this process, we have adopted the use of a system dynamics (SD) approach. SD is well suited for studying the behavior of complex systems over time, and where internal feedbacks and delays exist. We first identify Pareto-optimal solutions, for individual players, and from environmental perspectives of landfill diversion and carbon offset. We then focus on revenue sharing, as a widely practiced coordination scheme in reverse supply chains. It resembles a leader–follower (Stackelberg) strategic decision-making game, with an equilibrium solution that yields lower performance for environmental criteria. In this context, we investigate if/how a revenue sharing mechanism can be coordinated to achieve a higher environmental performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Selecting an optimal project delivery system is a critical task that owners should do to ensure project success. This selection is a complex decision-making process. The complexity arises from the uncertain or not well-defined parameters and/or the multiple criteria structure of such decisions. In this study, a decision aid model using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) coupled with rough approximation concepts is developed to assist the owners. The selection criteria are determined by studying a number of benchmarks. The model ranks the alternative delivery systems by considering both benchmark results and owner’s opinion. In interval AHP, an optimization procedure is performed via obtaining the upper and the lower linear programming models to determine the interval priorities for alternative project delivery systems. In cases having incomparable alternatives, which is the most likely case in uncertain decision making, the model uses rough set-based measures to reduce the number of decision criteria to a subset, which is able to fully rank the alternatives. To illustrate the applicability and usefulness of this methodology, a real world case study will be demonstrated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biomass is an abundant energy source, particularly in Canada, as an alternative or primary source for electricity generation. However, low economy of scale could cause a loss of efficiency for bioenergy adoption in small remote communities. In this sense, coordination among the players could promote the efficiency and profitability of bioenergy supply chains for these communities. There are different coordination strategies with varying impacts on supply chain players' profit or cost. Therefore, analyzing and comparing them could provide insights on how to decide about the choice of coordination strategy. In doing so, this study considers the coordination strategies of quantity discounts and cost-sharing. The study adopts a system dynamics approach for simulating these coordination scenarios, obtaining their corresponding optimal supply chain decisions, followed by a comparative analysis. For a case study, the study considers multiple suppliers providing biomass for electricity generation in three communities in northern Quebec. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite their contributions to the financial efficiency and environmental sustainability of industrial processes, robotic assembly and disassembly have been understudied in the existing literature. This is in contradiction to their importance in realizing the Fourth Industrial Revolution. More specifically, although most of the literature has extensively discussed how to optimally assemble or disassemble given products, the role of other factors has been overlooked. For example, and among other factors, the choices of the robots involved in implementing the sequence plans, which should ideally be taken into account throughout the whole chain consisting of design, assembly, disassembly, and reassembly, may greatly affect the underlying implications with a considerable impact on the viability and effectiveness of the measures aimed at substantiating, realizing, and strengthening the backbones of a circular economy. Isolating the foregoing operations from the rest of the components of the relevant ecosystems may lead to erroneous inferences toward both the necessity and efficiency of the underlying procedures. In this paper, we try to alleviate these shortcomings by comprehensively investigating the state of the art in robotic assembly and disassembly. We consider and review various aspects of manufacturing and remanufacturing frameworks while particularly focusing on their desirability for supporting a circular economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study establishes an integrated life cycle analysis and techno-economic assessment to evaluate costs and carbon footprint impacts of an integrated forest biorefinery that produces lumber, industrial sugar and wood pellets in a planned biomass conversion center in the Pontiac region of Quebec (Canada). An integrated evaluation approach combining levelized cost and carbon footprint accounting was adopted for assessing the implementation of this novel advanced biorefinery concept taking into account different biomass feedstock, diversified product portfolio (sugar, lignin, bio-oil, electricity and lumber) and multiple biomass conversion technologies. The conclusion of this study is that if the GHG emission is considered as the basis of the ranking system, the production of wood pellets would emit less (1.2 kg/T) and that of lumber, and sugar would emit most respectively (3.3 kg/T and 98.4 kg/DT). This is whereas if the ranking would be performed based on the cost, the sequence would be the production of lumber, pellet, and sugar. • Combine life cycle analysis and techno-economic assessment to evaluate costs and carbon footprint impacts of lumber, sugar, and pellet under an integrated Biomass Conversion Center. • Apply volume based allocation for the impact of the upstream stages on the different products. • Applying the concept of capital expenditure and operational expenditures for economic analysis. • Pellet production has the lowest level of greenhouse gas emission comparing with lumber and sugar. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]