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Integrated Biorefineries
Infrastructure Field-to-Plant Plant-to-Pump End-Use Markets Related Links

Plant-to-Pump Infrastructure

Today's biofuels distribution infrastructure is primarily concentrated in the Midwest United States, because of its access to the feedstocks and the ethanol and biodiesel production facilities. Expansion beyond this region is required.

Sustainable feedstock production includes all of the steps required to produce biomass feedstocks to the point they are ready to be collected or harvested from the field or forest.Feedstock logistics encompasses all of the unit operations necessary to move biomass feedstocks from the land to the biorefinery.Biological matter is used to produce transportation fuels, chemicals, and heat and power.Biofuels Infrastructure moves the fuel from a biorefining plant to the pump.Bioenergy is used to power today's vehicles.Biomass to Biofuels supply chain diagram with red highlight of biofuel distribution segment. Feedstock production (photo of two men in a field of switchgrass) leads to feedstock logistics (photo of combine harvester in corn field), which leads to biofuels production (photo of biorefinery), which leads to biofuels distribution (photo of fuel pump for E85), which leads to biofuels end use (photo of car).

Trucking

Ethanol is delivered by truck from biorefineries to terminal racks where it is blended with gasoline. From the terminal racks it is distributed to individual fueling stations by truck. This process is reasonably economical in the Midwest: however, it is not an attractive option for delivery outside of the Midwest, especially as volumes increase.

Pipelines

Pipelines are likely to play a large role in the future distribution of ethanol in the United States. Due to the nature of ethanol (as an alcohol fuel it can be more corrosive and absorbs more water) more studies need to be conducted to evaluate the safety of utilizing the current pipeline system in place.