Affiliations 

  • 1 Henan Province Forest Resources Sustainable Development and High-value Utilization Engineering Research Center, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China; Department of Economics and Statistics "Cognetti de Martiis", University of Turin, Torino, Italy. Electronic address: meisam.ranjbari@unito.it
  • 2 Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering (DIATI), Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy; Energy Center Lab, Politecnico di Torino, Torino, Italy
  • 3 Department of Management, University of Torino, Torino, Italy; Laboratory for International and Regional Economics, Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, Russia; Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Rijeka, Croatia
  • 4 Department of Economics and Statistics "Cognetti de Martiis", University of Turin, Torino, Italy; BRICK, Collegio Carlo Alberto, Piazza Arbarello 8, 10123, Torino, Italy
  • 5 Center of Excellence in Environmental Studies (CEES), King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia
  • 6 Sustainable Development Study Centre, Government College University, Lahore, Pakistan
  • 7 Biorefining and Advanced Materials Research Center, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG, UK; Centre for Safe and Improved Foods, Scotland's Rural College (SRUC), Kings Buildings, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JG, UK
  • 8 Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia; Henan Province Forest Resources Sustainable Development and High-value Utilization Engineering Research Center, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China. Electronic address: lam@umt.edu.my
  • 9 Department of Mechanical Engineering of Agricultural Machinery, Faculty of Agricultural Engineering and Technology, College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Tehran, Karaj, Iran; Henan Province Forest Resources Sustainable Development and High-value Utilization Engineering Research Center, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China. Electronic address: maghbashlo@ut.ac.ir
  • 10 Higher Institution Centre of Excellence (HICoE), Institute of Tropical Aquaculture and Fisheries (AKUATROP), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu, 21030, Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia; Henan Province Forest Resources Sustainable Development and High-value Utilization Engineering Research Center, School of Forestry, Henan Agricultural University, Zhengzhou, 450002, China; Biofuel Research Team (BRTeam), Terengganu, Malaysia. Electronic address: meisam.tabatabaei@umt.edu.my
Chemosphere, 2022 Feb 15.
PMID: 35181422 DOI: 10.1016/j.chemosphere.2022.133968

Abstract

Investment in biofuels as sustainable alternatives for fossil fuels has gained momentum over the last decade due to the global environmental and health concerns regarding fossil fuel consumption. Hence, effective management of biofuel supply chain (BSC) components, including biomass feedstock production, biomass logistics, biofuel production in biorefineries, and biofuel distribution to consumers, is crucial in transitioning towards a low-carbon and circular economy (CE). The present study aims to render an inclusive knowledge map of the BSC-related scientific production. In this vein, a systematic review, supported by a keywords co-occurrence analysis and qualitative content analysis, was carried out on a total of 1975 peer-reviewed journal articles in the target literature. The analysis revealed four major research hotspots in the BSC literature, including (1) biomass-to-biofuel supply chain design and planning, (2) environmental impacts of biofuel production, (3) biomass to bioenergy, and (4) techno-economic analysis of biofuel production. Besides, the findings showed that the following subject areas of research in the BSC research community have recently attracted more attention: (i) global warming and climate change mitigation, (ii) development of the third-generation biofuels produced from algal biomass, which has recently gained momentum in the CE debate, and (iii) government incentives, pricing, and subsidizing policies. The provided insights shed light on the understanding of researchers, stakeholders, and policy-makers involved in the sustainable energy sector by outlining the main research backgrounds, developments, and tendencies within the BSC arena. Looking at the provided knowledge map, potential research directions in BSCs towards implementing the CE model, including (i) integrative policy convergence at macro, meso, and micro levels, and (ii) industrializing algae-based biofuel production towards the CE transition, were proposed.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.