A Two-stage Gis-based Suitability Model for Siting Biomass-to-biofuel Plants and Its Application in West Virginia

A two-stage approach was presented to select woody biomass-based biofuel plants using GIS spatial analysis and the multi-criteria analysis ranking algorithm of compromise programming. Site suitability was evaluated to minimize the direct cost for investors and the potential negative environmental impacts. The first step was to create a site suitability index using a linear fuzzy logic prediction model. The model involved 15 variables in three factor groups: (1) general physical conditions, (2) costs, and (3) environmental factors. The weights of the cost factors were determined using pairwise comparisons in the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The value of site suitability was reclassified into three categories (non-suitable, low-suitable, and high-suitable) using different classification methods. With a feasible plant location defined as an industrial site within the most suitable area, the second stage of the analysis used compromise programming to compare the potential sites. The criteria used to rank the potential sites included fuzzy distance to woody biomass, highways, railways, commercial airports, communities, and available parcel size. The AHP was used to compute the relative importance of each criterion. The top 10 suitable sites were determined and sensitivity analyses conducted to derive the most preferred sites. The approach was successful in taking a large amount of non-commensurate spatial data and integrating a site-based ranking algorithm to find the top locations for biomass plants. It also has great potential and applicability to other suitability and site selection studies.