Title: System dynamics for the water footprint assessment and simulation in the bioethanol production

Authors: Armin Trujillo-Mata; Guillermo Cortés-Robles; Cuauhtémoc Sánchez-Ramírez; Julio Blanco-Fernández; Emilio Jiménez-Macías

Addresses: Graduate Studies and Research Division, Orizaba Institute of Technology, Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico ' Graduate Studies and Research Division, Orizaba Institute of Technology, Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico ' Graduate Studies and Research Division, Orizaba Institute of Technology, Orizaba, Veracruz, Mexico ' Department of Electrical Engineering, University of La Rioja, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain ' Department of Electrical Engineering, University of La Rioja, Logroño, La Rioja, Spain

Abstract: The bioethanol industry is one of the growing sectors worldwide which is seeking for sustainability along its supply chain. The increasing demand for bioethanol makes this industry face a conflict: to increase productivity without compromising the future natural resources such as water. This work proposes to integrate the water footprint assessment methodology to the supply chain analysis using system dynamics. In this paper, the application of the synergy is to assess and simulate the water footprint of the bioethanol production stages using the system dynamics methodology. System dynamics could be a useful approach to model and simulate the water footprint of bioethanol supply chain and estimate its impact on water resources for the succeeding years.

Keywords: bioethanol supply chain; system dynamics modelling; water footprint assessment; WFA; causal loops diagram; simulation.

DOI: 10.1504/IJSPM.2018.093759

International Journal of Simulation and Process Modelling, 2018 Vol.13 No.4, pp.355 - 363

Received: 12 Apr 2017
Accepted: 12 Nov 2017
Published online: 03 Aug 2018 *

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