Logistics of Renewable Raw Materials

The depletion of limited fossil raw material resources leads to intensified efforts to use renewable raw materials as feedstock within the chemical industry and for energetic purposes. Renewable raw materials differ in many aspects from fossil resources such as mineral oil, coal and lignite. They are won in a natural environment, comprise specific characteristics, numerous different stakeholders are involved and special, already installed or currently developed processing steps are necessary for their production and provision. This has consequences for the planning of industrial scale value chains based on renewable resources especially concerning logistics. As there is competition between different value chains for the valorization of renewable resources about the feedstock, technological efficiency, and sales potentials for products their impacts on the economic, ecological, and social performance are crucial. This chapter explains the above-mentioned points for exemplary renewable resources, that is, typical and promising sorts of biomass. Thereby special emphasis is given to the specifics which are relevant for the planning of renewable raw material-based industrial value chains.