Amid concerns of rising oil prices, interest into researching alternative renewable energy sources has increased in recent years. A great deal of research has been done to investigate the feasibility of liquid bio-fuels. Ethanol and bio-diesel are currently being used as substitutes for petroleum based fuels. These are primarily used for transportation related applications. Recently bio-diesel has also been used as a substitute for heating fuel in residential homes. The purpose of this study is to identify current production, raw material supply, and potential demand markets within the Midwestern United States. Based on these criteria, facility placement location is identified through the utilization of a weighted location model. The final solution was analyzed utilizing a GIS framework. The analysis demonstrates the Weberian tendency of bio-diesel refineries to be spatially oriented toward the raw material source.
The results indicate that a market for bio-heat does exist in the Mid-western United States. However, the conversion of the entire heating fuel market from petroleum to bio-heat does not seem feasible or probable. Current home heating fuel consumption is approximately 96% of the total bio-diesel production in the region. Therefore total market conversion would require the diversion of bio-diesel feedstock from other uses.