Functional Unit Based Life Cycle Optimization Framework and Case Study On Hydrocarbon Biofuels

We propose a life cycle optimization framework for the design of sustainable product systems and supply chains considering the concept of “functional units” under economic and environmental criteria. This general modeling framework integrates the life cycle analysis methodology with multi-objective optimization, and measures both the economic and environmental performances based on a standard quantity of functional unit associated with final products. The solutions of the multi-objective optimization problem lead to a Pareto-optimal curve, which reveals the tradeoff between the economic and environmental objectives. We also present tailored optimization algorithms for efficiently solving the mixed-integer linear fractional programming problems, which result from the life cycle optimization framework. We apply the proposed life cycle optimization framework to a case study on the hydrocarbon biofuels through a spatially explicit model for the county-level supply chain in Illinois.