Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Essays On Agricultural Commodity Processing, Bin Li May 2020

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 …


Economic And Environmental Implications Of Biomass Commercialization In Agricultural Processing, Bin Li, Onur Boyabatli, Buket Avci Feb 2020

Economic And Environmental Implications Of Biomass Commercialization In Agricultural Processing, Bin Li, Onur Boyabatli, Buket Avci

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School of Business

Motivated by the agricultural industries, this paper studies the economic and environmental implications of biomass commercialization; that is, converting organic waste into a saleable product, from the perspective of a processor that uses a commodity input to produce both a commodity output and biomass. We characterize the economic value of biomass commercializa- tion and examine how input and output spot price uncertainties affect this value. Using a model calibration, we find that lower input spot price variability or higher output spot price variabil- ity or correlation between the two spot prices increases this value for a typical palm oil mill. …


Resilience, Capacity, And Place: A Comparative Case Study Of Small-Scale Forest-Based Biomass Energy Development In California’S Sierra Nevada Mountain Range Communities, Rebecca E. Cashero Jan 2020

Resilience, Capacity, And Place: A Comparative Case Study Of Small-Scale Forest-Based Biomass Energy Development In California’S Sierra Nevada Mountain Range Communities, Rebecca E. Cashero

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

The buildup of fuels resulting from decades of fire suppression in California's Sierra Nevada mountains has made its dense forests vulnerable to high severity stand replacing wildfires. Local governments in many rural forest-dependent communities view biomass energy production as a method to restore forest health via fuel removal and waste disposal. Forest-based biomass energy facilities have the potential to be compatible with protecting water resources, habitat restoration, forest resilience, and achieving climate standards, while also enhancing regional economic stability. However, while an increasing number of communities and organizations throughout California are advocating for local small-scale renewable energy from forest-based woody …