Title: Optimal Design of Biofuel Production System and Resource Allocation:  A California Case Study

Speaker: Chien-Wei Chen, University of California Davis

Date/Time: Thursday, May 6, from 11:00am – 12:00pm       

Location: CSRI Building/Room 279 (Sandia NM)

Brief Abstract: A well designed biofuel production system may alleviate greenhouse gas emission and energy security issues.  An important question is how to maintain a low-cost and low-risk biofuel supply system under future uncertainties such as demand, supply, and technologies.  A two-stage stochastic programming model is developed for an entire biofuel pathway with the goal of minimizing the total expected system cost.

To overcome the computational challenges encountered in solving the large-scale problem, an effective decomposition method based on progressive hedge (PH) method is implemented.

Biographical Sketch: Chien-Wei is a Ph.D. candidate in the Transportation Technology and Policy program at University of California, Davis.  His research focuses on mathematical modeling and analysis, especially in energy infrastructure design and renewable energy supply chain management. During his time at Davis, he has worked on hydrogen delivery network design, hydrogen transition modeling, and bioethanol infrastructure system design and resource allocation.  Chien-Wei earned his BS in Traffic Transportation Engineering and Management from Feng-Chia University and a MS in Transportation Engineering and Management from National Chiao-Tung University in Taiwan.

CSRI POC: Jean-Paul Watson, 505-845-8887