Abstract

ACOSTA-ESPEJO, Luis G.; ORTEGA-BLU, Rodrigo A.; MUNOZ-LAGOS, Roberto E.  and  GONZALEZ-PLATTEAU, Rodrigo A.. Biofuels in Chile. III. Simultaneous localization of plants and warehouses. Agrociencia [online]. 2010, vol.44, n.7, pp.861-872. ISSN 2521-9766.

This paper addresses a problem of locating warehouses and plants producing ethanol and biodiésel in Chile. A facility location model that minimizes the costs involved from the production of agricultural crops to the distribution of biofuels to major consumption centers was proposed. Scenarios of 2, 5, and 10% substitution of gasoline demand and 2, 5, and 8% diesel projected to 2010 were evaluated. Three plant sizes were considered: 40 000, 80 000 and 100 000 m³ year^-1 for those producing ethanol and 20 000, 40 000 and 60 000 m³ year^-1, for those producing biodiésel. Potential locations of biofuel plants were mostly from Region VII to Region X, due to the availability of crops, distance to centers of consumption and soil value.

Keywords : location problems; ethanol; biodiésel.