Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Essays On Agricultural Commodity Processing, Bin Li

Dissertations and Theses Collection (Open Access)

This dissertation investigates two important issues in agricultural commodity processing: (i) biomass commercialization; that is, converting organic waste into a saleable product, from economic and environmental perspectives, and (ii) optimal procurement portfolio design using multiple suppliers and spot market, and the impact of by-product introduction on this optimal portfolio.

The first chapter examines the economic implications of biomass commercialization from the perspective of an agri-processor that uses a commodity input to produce both a commodity output and biomass. We characterize the value of biomass commercialization and perform sensitivity analysis to investigate how spot price uncertainty (input and output spot price …

Exploring The Potential To Penetrate The Energy Market For Tennessee-Produced Switchgrass, Fnu Shikha

Masters Theses

The need for alternative sources of energy which are renewable and environmentally friendly has focused attention on the development of biomass-based energy sector. Lignocellulosic energy crops such as switchgrass are considered potential feedstock for biomass-based energy because of wide range adaptability in conjunction with lower input requirements. However, the costs of the collection, storage, and transportation of the low density feedstock from farm to conversion facilities in the switchgrass supply chain pose a major barrier to the development of bioenergy sector.

The objective of the present study is to determine the optimal logistics configuration for Tennessee-produced switchgrass to penetrate the …