The re-organization of the supply chain in inner areas to produce biofuel for the transport system. Insights from a Sicilian case study (Italy)
Abstract
In this article the authors argue that the re-organization of the supply chain could help tackle the crisis of Sicilian inner areas by involving the companies which produce biomethane, and the logistic companies which use vehicles powered by biomethane. In the proposed case study the authors focus their research on the supply chain that involves, with the key role of logistics companies, agri-food companies, biofuel production companies, and large commercial distribution companies, located partly in inner areas and others in urban poles. The research is organised as follows: the first paragraph, specifies the methods of obtaining biogas and biomethane and the international and national conditions that favour this production of energy from renewable sources and the production of biofuels for the transport system. The second paragraph discusses the recent tendency to reorganize production on a regional scale due to the difficulties and increasing costs in the world logistics chain, caused by economic and structural events, such as the Covid-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine and the increase in freight and container costs. The authors of this article sustain that the regionalization of production favours the role of supply chains located in inland areas, as defined by the National Strategy on Inner Areas, where logistics operators represent a strategic hub for connecting the agri-food operators of the inner areas to the network of commercial distribution operators. Therefore, in the third paragraph, with the support of interviews with selected economic actors and on-desk research, a case study of the supply of biofuels for logistics companies is developed, using the products and/or waste from the processing of agri-food companies located in some inner areas in the ex-province of Enna. The final considerations and possible future research area are given in the last paragraph.References
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