Information processing device, energy generation system, information processing method, and program

Abstract

According to the present invention, biomass is appropriately collected from each facility. This information processing device comprises: a first acquisition unit that acquires the suppliable amount of biomass for each of a plurality of supply facilities that supply biomass; a second acquisition unit that acquires the required amount of biomass for a treatment facility that processes biomass and generates energy resources; and a calculation unit that calculates the supply amount of biomass to the treatment facility for each of the supply facilities, on the basis of the suppliable amount and the required amount.

Description

Information processing device, energy generation system, information processing method and program

[0001] The present disclosure relates to an information processing device, an energy generation system, an information processing method, and a program.

[0002] There are known technologies for producing fuel from biomass resources, etc. For example, Patent Literature 1 describes a process in which a raw material is pyrolyzed to produce biocrude at multiple dispersed locations, and a process in which the produced biocrude is subjected to FT synthesis to produce a mixture (fuel) containing liquid hydrocarbons at a centralized location.

[0003] Special Publication No. 2022-540531

[0004] Here, when collecting biomass stored in multiple facilities to generate energy resources such as fuel or power generation, it is necessary to appropriately collect biomass from each facility.

[0005] The present disclosure aims to provide an information processing device, an energy generation system, an information processing method, and a program that are capable of appropriately collecting biomass from each facility.

[0006] The information processing device according to the present disclosure includes a first acquisition unit that acquires the supplyable amount of biomass for each of a plurality of supply facilities that supply the biomass, a second acquisition unit that acquires the required amount of biomass for processing facilities that process the biomass to generate energy resources, and a calculation unit that calculates the supply amount of biomass to the processing facilities for each of the supply facilities based on the supplyable amount and the required amount.

[0007] An energy generation system according to the present disclosure includes the information processing device and the processing facility.

[0008] The information processing method according to the present disclosure includes the steps of: acquiring a supplyable amount of biomass for each of a plurality of supply facilities that supplies the biomass; acquiring a required amount of biomass for a processing facility that processes the biomass to generate energy resources; and calculating, for each of the supply facilities, the amount of biomass to be supplied to the processing facility based on the supplyable amount and the required amount.

[0009] The program of the present disclosure causes a computer to execute the steps of: acquiring the amount of biomass that can be supplied for each of a plurality of supply facilities that supply biomass; acquiring the amount of biomass required for processing facilities that process the biomass to generate energy resources; and calculating the amount of biomass to be supplied to the processing facilities for each of the supply facilities based on the amount that can be supplied and the required amount.

[0010] According to the present disclosure, biomass can be appropriately collected from each facility.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an energy regeneration system according to a first embodiment. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a first supply facility. FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a second supply facility. FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a processing facility. FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of an information processing device 14. FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a processing flow for calculating a biomass supply amount. FIG. 7 is a schematic block diagram of a first supply facility in a third embodiment. FIG. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an energy regeneration system according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 9 is a schematic block diagram of a first supply facility according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a second supply facility according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a processing facility according to a fourth embodiment. FIG. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a processing facility according to a fifth embodiment. FIG. 13 is a schematic block diagram of an energy regeneration system according to a sixth embodiment. FIG. 14 is a schematic block diagram of an energy regeneration system according to a seventh embodiment. FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a storage facility. FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram of an information processing apparatus according to the seventh embodiment.

[0012] Preferred embodiments of the present disclosure will be described in detail below with reference to the accompanying drawings. Note that the present disclosure is not limited to these embodiments, and when there are multiple embodiments, the present disclosure also includes configurations in which the respective embodiments are combined.

[0013] (First embodiment) Fig. 1 is a schematic block diagram of an energy regeneration system according to a first embodiment. As shown in Fig. 1, the energy regeneration system 1 according to this embodiment includes a plurality of supply facilities 10, a processing facility 12, and an information processing device 14. In the energy regeneration system 1 according to this embodiment, biomass A collected at each supply facility 10 is transported to the processing facility 12, where the biomass A is processed to generate energy resources. In other words, the energy regeneration system 1 according to this embodiment can be said to be a system that regenerates the energy latent in the biomass A. The information processing device 14 is a device that calculates the amount of biomass A supplied from the supply facility 10 to the processing facility 12. It can also be said that the processing facility 12 and the information processing device 14 constitute an energy generation system 2.

[0014] (Biomass) Biomass A is a biomass-derived resource that can be used to generate energy resources. In this embodiment, biomass A is a resource containing biomass, such as waste biomass, unused biomass, and resource crops. Waste biomass may be household waste (urban waste) discarded from homes. In this embodiment, biomass A supplied from the supply facility 10 is a biomass-derived resource obtained by processing raw material biomass A0, which will be described later, but is not limited to this and may be raw material biomass A0 itself.

[0015] (Supply facility) The supply facility 10 is a facility that supplies biomass A to the processing facility 12. In this embodiment, the energy regeneration system 1 includes a first supply facility 10A and a second supply facility 10B as the supply facility 10. The first supply facility 10A is a facility that processes supplied raw material biomass A0 to generate biomass A and supplies it to the processing facility 12. The second supply facility 10B is a facility that stores the supplied biomass A and supplies it to the processing facility 12. Hereinafter, the biomass A supplied from the first supply facility 10A to the processing facility 12 (biomass A generated from raw material biomass A0 in the first supply facility 10A) will be referred to as biomass A1 as appropriate. Furthermore, the biomass A supplied to the second supply facility 10B and then supplied from the second supply facility 10B to the processing facility 12 will be referred to as biomass A2 as appropriate.

[0016] 1 illustrates that two first supply facilities 10A and one second supply facility 10B are provided, this is merely an example and the number of first supply facilities 10A and second supply facilities 10B may be any number. Furthermore, the energy regeneration system 1 is not limited to having both the first supply facility 10A and the second supply facility 10B, and may include only the first supply facility 10A or only the second supply facility 10B among the first supply facility 10A and the second supply facility 10B. However, it is preferable that the energy regeneration system 1 include at least one first supply facility 10A.

[0017] (First supply facility) Figure 2 is a schematic block diagram of the first supply facility. As shown in Figure 2, the first supply facility 10A has a hydrolysis device 20A, a detection device 22A, and a control device 24A. In this embodiment, the first supply facility 10A hydrolyzes (hydrothermally treats) the raw material biomass A0 using the hydrolysis device 20A to produce biomass A1, which is the hydrolyzed raw material biomass A0.

[0018] The raw material biomass A0 supplied to the first supply facility 10A is a resource that includes biomass. In this embodiment, the raw material biomass A0 is a resource that includes waste-based biomass such as household waste. However, the raw material biomass A0 is not limited to waste-based biomass such as household waste, and may also be unused biomass or resource crops. Furthermore, the raw material biomass A0 is not limited to being composed only of biomass, and may also include substances other than biomass, such as organic matter, inorganic matter, and metals produced from fossil fuels.

[0019] (Hydrolysis Apparatus) The hydrolysis apparatus 20A hydrolyzes the raw biomass A0 to produce biomass A1, which is the hydrolyzed raw biomass A0. Here, hydrolysis refers to hydrothermal treatment of the raw biomass A0 at a predetermined pressure and a predetermined temperature. In this embodiment, the raw biomass A0 is supplied (carried in) to the first supply facility 10A, and the raw biomass A0 is introduced into the hydrolysis apparatus 20A. With the raw biomass A0 introduced into the hydrolysis apparatus 20A, the hydrolysis apparatus 20A pressurizes the interior to a predetermined pressure and heats the interior to a predetermined temperature. As a result, the raw biomass A0 introduced into the hydrolysis apparatus 20A is hydrolyzed (hydrothermally treated) to produce biomass A1. In other words, the biomass A1 is the raw biomass A0 that has been hydrolyzed (hydrothermally treated), and can be considered a reaction product of hydrolysis. The biomass A1 can be considered to be biomass in a viscous, homogenized state. Here, homogenization may refer to a state in which the raw biomass A0 no longer retains its original shape and is mixed with other substances, making it indistinguishable.

[0020] The predetermined pressure here may be any pressure, for example, 0.2 MPa or more and 3.4 PMa or less. The predetermined temperature may also be any temperature, for example, 120°C or more and 240°C or less, or even 130°C or more and 150°C or less. By setting the predetermined temperature to such a relatively low temperature, it is possible to appropriately prevent substances other than the biomass contained in the raw material biomass A0 from being included in the biomass A1. Furthermore, by setting the predetermined temperature to 150°C or less, it is possible to prevent organic matter (resinous materials such as plastics) produced from fossil fuels from being hydrolyzed and included in the biomass A1, thereby enabling more sustainable energy resource generation.

[0021] The hydrolysis apparatus 20A may be any apparatus capable of hydrolyzing the raw biomass A0, and may be an apparatus that does not supply steam to the inside, or an apparatus that supplies steam to the inside.

[0022] The raw biomass A0 hydrolyzed by the hydrolysis apparatus 20A may contain, in addition to the homogenized biomass A1, a residue that remains solid without being homogenized. Therefore, the first supply facility 10A may be equipped with a separation device that separates the residue and the biomass A1 from the hydrolyzed raw biomass A0. In this case, the first supply facility 10A separates the residue from the hydrolyzed raw biomass A0 using the separation device to obtain the biomass A1. Any device may be used as the separation device, but it may also be a filter such as a sieve. That is, in this case, the hydrolyzed raw biomass A0 may be fed into a filter, and the material that passes through the filter may be the biomass A1, and the material captured by the filter may be the residue. Examples of the residue include unhomogenized biomass, organic matter produced from fossil fuels, inorganic matter, and metals.

[0023] (Detection Device) The detection device 22A is a sensor that detects the state of at least one of the raw material biomass A0 supplied to the first supply facility 10A and the biomass A1 produced in the first supply facility 10A. The detection device 22A may detect both the state of the raw material biomass A0 and the state of the biomass A1, or may detect either the state of the raw material biomass A0 or the state of the biomass A1. The detection device 22A may detect any parameter of the raw material biomass A0 as the state of the raw material biomass A0, but in this embodiment, it detects the amount of raw material biomass A0 supplied to the first supply facility 10A. The detection device 22A may detect the amount of raw material biomass A0 stored in the first supply facility 10A as the amount of raw material biomass A0 supplied to the first supply facility 10A. The detector 22A may detect any parameter of the biomass A1 as the state of the biomass A1, but in this embodiment, the detector 22A detects the amount of the biomass A1 produced in the first supply facility 10A (the amount of biomass A1 produced). The detector 22A may detect the amount of biomass A1 discharged from the hydrolysis device 20A as the amount of biomass A1 produced.

[0024] (Control Device) The control device 24A is a device that controls each device of the first supply facility 10A, and in this embodiment is a computer. As shown in FIG. 2, the control device 24A has a memory unit 30, a communication unit 32, and a control unit 34. The control device 24A may also have an input unit that is a device that accepts user operations and an output unit that is a device that outputs information. Examples of the input unit include a mouse, keyboard, and touch panel, and examples of the output unit include a display that displays images. The control device 24A may be configured as a standalone device, may be configured integrally with other devices, or may be configured as a system combining various devices such as a computing device and a data server, and is not particularly limited.

[0025] The storage unit 30 is a memory that stores various information such as the calculation contents and programs of the control unit 34, and includes at least one of a main storage device such as a RAM (Random Access Memory) or a ROM (Read Only Memory), and an external storage device such as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive). The program for the control unit 34 saved in the storage unit 30 may be stored in a recording medium readable by the control device 24A.

[0026] The communication unit 32 is a module that communicates with an external device, etc., and may include, for example, an antenna, etc. In this embodiment, the communication method used by the communication unit 32 is wireless communication, but any communication method may be used.

[0027] The control unit 34 is a computing device and includes an arithmetic circuit such as a CPU (Central Processing Unit). The control unit 34 executes processing by reading and executing a program (software) from the storage unit 30. The control unit 34 may execute processing using a single CPU, or may be provided with multiple CPUs and execute processing using the multiple CPUs. At least a portion of the processing of the control unit 34 may be implemented by hardware.

[0028] The control unit 34 controls the input of raw biomass A0 into the hydrolysis apparatus 20A, causing the raw biomass A0 to be input into the hydrolysis apparatus 20A. The control unit 34 controls the hydrolysis apparatus 20A, causing the hydrolysis apparatus 20A to perform a hydrolysis process on the raw biomass A0. The control unit 34 also controls the detection device 22A, causing the detection device 22A to perform detection. The control unit 34 acquires the detection results of the detection device 22A (the states of the raw biomass A0 and biomass A1). The control unit 34 transmits the detection results of the detection device 22A to the information processing device 14 via the communication unit 32.

[0029] (Second Supply Facility) Figure 3 is a schematic block diagram of the second supply facility. As shown in Figure 3, the second supply facility 10B has a storage device 20B, a detection device 22B, and a control device 24B. The second supply facility 10B stores the supplied biomass A2 in the storage device 20B and supplies the biomass A2 stored in the storage device 20B to the treatment facility 12.

[0030] The biomass A2 supplied to the second supply facility 10B is a resource that includes biomass. In this embodiment, the biomass A2 is at least one of unused biomass and resource crops. The biomass A2 is not limited to being composed only of biomass, but may also include substances other than biomass, such as organic matter, inorganic matter, and metals produced from fossil fuels.

[0031] As described above, in this embodiment, the biomass A1 supplied from the first supply facility 10A and the biomass A2 supplied from the second supply facility 10B are in different states and types. Furthermore, when multiple second supply facilities 10B are provided, the same type of biomass A2 may be supplied from all of the second supply facilities 10B, or at least one second supply facility 10B may supply a different type of biomass A2 from the other second supply facilities 10B. Note that the type here refers to types of biomass, such as waste biomass, unused biomass, and resource crops.

[0032] (Storage Device) The storage device 20B is a device that stores the biomass A2. In this embodiment, the biomass A2 is supplied (carried in) to the second supply facility 10B, and the biomass A2 is input and stored in the storage device 20B. The storage device 20B may not only store the biomass A2, but may also, for example, dry the biomass A2. In this case, the storage device 20B heats the interior of the biomass A2 input therein to a predetermined temperature to remove moisture from the biomass A2 (dry it). In this embodiment, the predetermined temperature (the temperature at which the biomass A2 is heated) may be any temperature, but may be 50°C or higher and 100°C or lower, or 200°C or higher and 300°C or lower. By setting the temperature to 200°C or higher and 300°C or lower, the biomass A2 can be dried and carbonized at the same time.

[0033] (Detection Device) The detection device 22B is a sensor that detects the state of the biomass A2 supplied to the second supply facility 10B. The detection device 22B may detect any parameter of the biomass A2 as the state of the biomass A2, but in this embodiment, the detection device 22B detects the amount of biomass A2 supplied to the second supply facility 10B. The detection device 22B may detect the amount of biomass A2 stored in the storage device 20B as the amount of biomass A2 supplied to the second supply facility 10B.

[0034] Hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between the detector 22A of the first supply facility 10A and the detector 22B of the second supply facility 10B, they will be referred to as detectors 22.

[0035] (Control Device) The control device 24B is a device that controls each device of the second supply facility 10B, and in this embodiment is a computer. As shown in FIG. 3, the control device 24B has a memory unit 30, a communication unit 32, and a control unit 34. The control device 24 may also have an input unit that accepts user operations and an output unit that outputs information. The control device 24 may be configured as a standalone device, may be configured integrally with other devices, or may be configured as a system combining various devices such as a calculation device and a data server, and is not particularly limited.

[0036] The storage unit 30 of the control device 24B has the same configuration as the storage unit 30 of the control device 24A, and therefore its description will be omitted. The communication unit 32 of the control device 24B has the same configuration as the communication unit 32 of the control device 24A, and therefore its description will be omitted.

[0037] The control unit 34 of the control device 24B is a calculation device and includes a calculation circuit such as a CPU. The control unit 34 executes processing by reading and executing a program (software) from the storage unit 30. The control unit 34 may execute processing using a single CPU, or may be provided with multiple CPUs and execute processing using the multiple CPUs. Furthermore, at least a portion of the processing of the control unit 34 may be implemented using hardware.

[0038] The control unit 34 controls the input of biomass A2 into the storage device 20B, causing the biomass A2 to be input into the storage device 20B. The control unit 34 also controls the detection device 22B, causing the detection device 22B to perform detection. The control unit 34 acquires the detection result (state of biomass A2) of the detection device 22B. The control unit 34 transmits the detection result of the detection device 22B to the information processing device 14 via the communication unit 32.

[0039] Hereinafter, when there is no need to distinguish between the control device 24A of the first supply facility 10A and the control device 24B of the second supply facility 10B, they will be referred to as the control device 24.

[0040] (Processing Equipment) FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of the processing equipment. The processing equipment 12 processes the biomass A supplied from each supply equipment 10 to generate an energy resource. In this embodiment, the processing equipment 12 generates fuel F1 from the biomass A. The fuel F1 is used as fuel to drive devices such as aircraft, and therefore it can be said that the processing equipment 12 generates the fuel F1 as an energy resource. However, the processing equipment 12 is not limited to generating fuel F1, and may be, for example, a biomass power generation equipment that burns biomass A to generate power. In other words, in this case, the electricity generated by power generation can be said to be an energy resource.

[0041] In this embodiment, the treatment facility 12 is installed at a location separate from the supply facility 10. The method of transporting (supplying) the biomass A from the supply facility 10 to the treatment facility 12 may be any method, but for example, the biomass A may be transported by a vehicle, or the mobile supply facility 10 may transport the biomass A directly.

[0042] 4, the treatment facility 12 of this embodiment includes a gasification device 40, a synthesis device 42, a purification device 44, a detection device 46, and a control device 48. In this embodiment, the treatment facility 12 gasifies biomass A to generate a raw material gas G, produces a fuel F from the raw material gas G by Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, and refines the fuel F to produce a fuel F1.

[0043] (Gasification Apparatus) The gasification apparatus 40 is an apparatus that gasifies the biomass A to generate a raw material gas G. Here, gasification refers to the gasification of the biomass A to generate carbon monoxide (CO), hydrogen (H ２ ), and hydrocarbon gas (C ｎ H ｍ That is, the source gas G is a gas containing at least carbon monoxide and hydrogen, and further contains a hydrocarbon gas (C ｎ H ｍ The biomass A supplied (transported) to the processing facility 12 is input into the gasification device 40. With the biomass A input therein, the gasification device 40 heats the interior under predetermined heating conditions, thereby gasifying the biomass A and generating the raw material gas G.

[0044] The heating conditions of the gasification apparatus 40 may be set arbitrarily and may be appropriately set to conditions that enable so-called steaming (partial oxidation reaction) of the biomass A. For example, the gasification apparatus 40 may heat the biomass A to a temperature of about 1200°C.

[0045] (Synthesis Device) The synthesis device 42 is a device that performs FT synthesis of the raw material gas G to generate the fuel F. The FT synthesis refers to a process of synthesizing the fuel F containing liquid hydrocarbons from a gas containing carbon monoxide and hydrogen by a catalytic reaction using the FT method. In the FT synthesis, the carbon monoxide and hydrogen in the raw material gas G are converted into olefins (C ｎ H ２ｎ ) through the chain growth of growth (C ８ H １８ ~C １６ H ３４ ), hydrogen is taken up, and the paraffinization reaction produces n-paraffins (n-C ｎ H ２ｎ＋２ ) is generated. In other words, fuel F can be said to be a substance containing n-paraffins.

[0046] The raw material gas G produced in the gasification apparatus 40 is introduced into the synthesis apparatus 42. For example, the gasification apparatus 40 and the synthesis apparatus 42 may be connected by a pipe, and the raw material gas G may be introduced into the synthesis apparatus 42 via the pipe. The processing facility 12 may introduce the raw material gas G directly into the synthesis apparatus 42 without adding other gases to the raw material gas G, or may mix the raw material gas G with at least one of hydrogen and carbon monoxide and introduce the resulting mixture into the synthesis apparatus 42. The synthesis apparatus 42 performs FT synthesis by setting the interior of the synthesis apparatus 42 at a predetermined temperature and a predetermined pressure with the raw material gas G introduced into an interior in which a catalyst is disposed, thereby producing a fuel F.

[0047] The temperature and pressure (predetermined temperature and pressure) in the synthesis device 42 may be set arbitrarily and may be appropriately set to conditions that allow FT synthesis. In addition, any catalyst may be used for the FT synthesis, and a catalyst that allows FT synthesis may be appropriately used.

[0048] (Refining Device) The refining device 44 is a device that refines the fuel F to produce the fuel F1. In the present embodiment, the refining device 44 refines the fuel F to produce the fuel F1, which is a biofuel (biofuel) for aircraft (bioget fuel), from the fuel F. The fuel F produced in the synthesizing device 42 is input to the refining device 44. For example, the synthesizing device 42 and the refining device 44 may be connected by a pipe, and the fuel F may be input to the refining device 44 via the pipe. The refining device 44 refines the fuel F to produce the fuel F1. The fuel F1 produced by the refining device 44 may be, for example, SAF (Sustainable Aviation Fuel).

[0049] The conditions under which the refining device 44 refines the fuel F may be arbitrary. For example, the fuel F may be distilled to remove off-gas (gaseous components), light oil (liquid components with low carbon numbers), wax components with high carbon numbers, etc., and the fuel F from which these have been removed may be extracted as fuel F1.

[0050] The refining device 44 is not an essential component. That is, the processing facility 12 does not need to have the refining device 44, and may at least produce the fuel F by the synthesis device 42.

[0051] (Detection Device) The detection device 46 is a sensor that detects the state of the biomass A supplied to the treatment facility 12. The detection device 46 may detect any parameter of the biomass A as the state of the biomass A, but in this embodiment, the detection device 46 detects the amount of biomass A supplied to the treatment facility 12.

[0052] (Control Device) The control device 48 is a device that controls each device of the processing facility 12, and in this embodiment is a computer. As shown in FIG. 4, the control device 48 has a storage unit 50, a communication unit 52, and a control unit 54. The control device 48 may also have an input unit that is a device that accepts user operations and an output unit that is a device that outputs information. The control device 48 may be configured as a standalone device, may be configured integrally with other devices, or may be configured as a system that combines various devices such as a calculation device and a data server, and is not particularly limited.

[0053] The storage unit 50 of the control device 48 has the same configuration as the storage unit 30 of the control device 24A, and therefore its description will be omitted. The communication unit 52 of the control device 48 has the same configuration as the communication unit 32 of the control device 24A, and therefore its description will be omitted.

[0054] The control unit 54 of the control device 48 is a calculation device and includes a calculation circuit such as a CPU. The control unit 54 executes processing by reading and executing a program (software) from the storage unit 50. The control unit 54 may execute processing using a single CPU, or may be provided with multiple CPUs and execute processing using the multiple CPUs. At least a portion of the processing of the control unit 34 may also be implemented by hardware.

[0055] The control unit 54 controls the input of biomass A into the gasification device 40, causing the biomass A to be input into the gasification device 40. The control unit 54 controls the gasification device 40, causing the gasification device 40 to gasify the biomass A and generate raw material gas G. The control unit 54 controls the synthesis device 42, causing the synthesis device 42 to generate fuel F. The control unit 54 controls the refinement device 44, causing the refinement device 44 to refine the fuel F. The control unit 54 also controls the detection device 46, causing the detection device 46 to perform detection. The control unit 54 acquires the detection result of the detection device 46 (the state of the biomass A). The control unit 54 transmits the detection result of the detection device 46 to the information processing device 14 via the communication unit 52.

[0056] (Information Processing Device) FIG. 5 is a schematic block diagram of the information processing device 14. The information processing device 14 is a device that calculates the amount of biomass A supplied from each supply facility 10 to the treatment facility 12. The information processing device 14 may be provided at any location, may be provided at a location different from the supply facility 10 and the treatment facility 12, may be provided within the treatment facility 12, or may be provided within one of the supply facilities 10. In this embodiment, the information processing device 14 is a device separate from the control device 48 of the treatment facility 12, but is not limited to this, and the control device 48 may have at least some of the functions of the information processing device 14. Similarly, the information processing device 14 is a device separate from the control device 24 of the supply facility 10, but is not limited to this, and the control device 24 may have at least some of the functions of the information processing device 14.

[0057] In this embodiment, the information processing device 14 is a computer, and as shown in Fig. 5, has a storage unit 60, a communication unit 62, and a control unit 64. The information processing device 14 may also have an input unit that is a device for accepting user operations and an output unit that is a device for outputting information. Note that the information processing device 14 may be configured as a standalone device, may be configured integrally with other devices, or may be configured as a system combining various devices such as a computing device and a data server, and is not particularly limited.

[0058] The storage unit 60 has the same configuration as the storage unit 30 of the control device 24A, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted. The communication unit 62 has the same configuration as the communication unit 32 of the control device 24A, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0059] The control unit 64 is a calculation device and includes a calculation circuit such as a CPU. The control unit 64 includes a first acquisition unit 70, a second acquisition unit 72, a calculation unit 74, and an output control unit 76. The control unit 64 implements the first acquisition unit 70, the second acquisition unit 72, the calculation unit 74, and the output control unit 76 by reading and executing a program (software) from the storage unit 60. The control unit 64 may implement the first acquisition unit 70, the second acquisition unit 72, the calculation unit 74, and the output control unit 76 and perform their processing. The control unit 64 may implement the processing using a single CPU, or may be equipped with multiple CPUs and execute the processing using the multiple CPUs. Furthermore, at least a portion of the processing performed by the first acquisition unit 70, the second acquisition unit 72, the calculation unit 74, and the output control unit 76 may be implemented using hardware.

[0060] (Processing of information processing device) The information processing device 14 calculates the supply amount of biomass A from each supply facility 10 to the treatment facility 12 based on the supplyable amount of biomass A for each supply facility 10 and the required amount of biomass A for the treatment facility 12. Specific processing contents of the information processing device 14 will be described below.

[0061] (Acquisition of supplyable amount of biomass) The first acquisition unit 70 acquires the supplyable amount of biomass A from the supply facility 10 for each supply facility 10. The supplyable amount of biomass A refers to the amount of biomass A that the supply facility 10 can supply in a predetermined future period. The predetermined period here may be any period, and may be, for example, a length in days, weeks, or months. The predetermined period may also be a period from the present to a future date and time, or a period from a predetermined future date and time to a date and time even further in the future. The amount of biomass A or raw material biomass A0 here refers to the mass of biomass A or raw material biomass A0, but may also refer to the volume.

[0062] The first acquisition unit 70 may acquire the supplyable amount of biomass A by any method. For example, a person in charge of the supply facility 10 may determine the supplyable amount of biomass A at the supply facility 10, and the first acquisition unit 70 may acquire the determined supplyable amount as the supplyable amount of biomass A. In this case, the person in charge of the supply facility 10 may input the supplyable amount to the control device 24 of the supply facility 10, and the first acquisition unit 70 may acquire the supplyable amount from the control device 24 via the communication unit 62. Furthermore, the supplyable amount of biomass A does not necessarily have to be determined by a person in charge, and the first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the supplyable amount of biomass A by a predetermined process. A specific example of a method for calculating the supplyable amount of biomass A will be described below.

[0063] (Supplyable amount at first supply facility) In this embodiment, the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the supplyable amount of biomass A1 at the first supply facility 10A based on at least one of the supply amount of raw biomass A0 to the first supply facility 10A and the amount of biomass A1 generated at the first supply facility 10A.

[0064] When calculating the supplyable amount based on the supply amount of raw biomass A0, the first acquisition unit 70 acquires the supply amount of raw biomass A0 detected by the detection device 22A from the control device 24A of the first supply facility 10A via the communication unit 62. The first acquisition unit 70 then calculates the producible amount of biomass A1 of the first supply facility 10A from the acquired supply amount of raw biomass A0, and calculates the supplyable amount of biomass A1 of the first supply facility 10A based on the calculated producible amount of biomass A. The producible amount of biomass A1 refers to the amount of biomass A1 generated from the acquired (detected) supply amount of raw biomass A0.

[0065] In this case, for example, the first acquisition unit 70 may acquire a correspondence relationship between the amount of raw material biomass A0 and the producible amount of biomass A1, and calculate the producible amount of biomass A1 corresponding to the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 in this correspondence relationship as the supply amount of biomass A1. In this case, the correspondence relationship may be set arbitrarily, and may be set so that the amount of raw material biomass A0 and the production amount of biomass A1 have a constant proportional relationship, may be set for each supply facility 10 (first supply facility 10A), or may be set so that the proportional relationship varies depending on the season. Furthermore, the correspondence relationship may be set by machine learning the amount of raw material biomass A0 and the production amount of biomass A1. In this case, the first acquisition unit 70 inputs the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 into an AI model that has already performed machine learning on the amount of raw material biomass A0 and the production amount of biomass A1, and sets the production amount of biomass A output from the AI ​​model as the supply amount of biomass A1.

[0066] The first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the supplyable amount of biomass A1 based on the supply amount of raw biomass A0 as well as location information of at least one of the supply facility 10 (the target first supply facility 10A) and the processing facility 12. The location information here refers to information indicating the locations of the supply facility 10 and the processing facility 12. Using the location information allows the amount of biomass A1 that can be transported from the supply facility 10 to the processing facility 12 to be taken into consideration, thereby more appropriately calculating the supplyable amount of biomass A1. In this case, for example, the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the producible amount of biomass A1 from the supply amount of raw biomass A0, and then calculates the supplyable amount of biomass A1 based on the producible amount of biomass A1 and the location information. For example, the first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the supplyable amount of biomass A1 so that the higher the population density of the municipality in which the supply facility 10 is located, the greater the supplyable amount of biomass A1. For example, the first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the supplyable amount of biomass A1 for a supply facility 10 that supplies raw biomass such as wood as biomass A1 such that the larger the forest area within a predetermined distance from the supply facility 10, the greater the supplyable amount of biomass A1. The location information for the supply facility 10 and the processing facility 12 may be, for example, coordinates or address information for the supply facility 10 and the processing facility 12. The first acquisition unit 70 may read out the location information stored in the memory unit 60, or may acquire the location information from the control device 24A of the first supply facility 10A and the control device 48 of the processing facility 12. The location information may be the distance from the supply facility 10 to the processing facility 12, or the time required to transport the biomass A1 from the supply facility 10 to the processing facility 12.

[0067] Furthermore, the first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the supplyable amount of the first supplying facility 10A based on the amount of biomass A1 generated in the first supplying facility 10A (the production amount of biomass A1). In this case, the first acquisition unit 70 acquires the production amount of biomass A1 detected by the detection device 22A from the control device 24A of the first supplying facility 10A via the communication unit 62. Then, the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the supplyable amount of biomass A1 of the first supplying facility 10A based on the acquired production amount of biomass A1. In this case, the first acquisition unit 70 may use the production amount of biomass A1 as the supplyable amount of biomass A1.

[0068] Furthermore, similar to the case where the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the supplyable amount from the supply amount of raw biomass A0, the first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the supplyable amount of biomass A1 based on not only the production amount of biomass A1 but also the location information of at least one of the supply facility 10 (the target first supply facility 10A) and the processing facility 12. The method of calculating the supplyable amount in this case is the same as the example where the supplyable amount is calculated from the supply amount of raw biomass A0, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0069] The first obtaining unit 70 may also calculate the supplyable amount of biomass A1 based on the equipment scale of the supply facility 10. In this case, for example, the first obtaining unit 70 may calculate the supplyable amount of biomass A1 such that the larger the equipment scale of the supply facility 10, the greater the supplyable amount of biomass A1.

[0070] Furthermore, the first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the supplyable amount of biomass A1 based on both the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 and the production amount of biomass A1. In this case, for example, the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the supplyable amount of biomass A based on the producible amount of biomass A1 calculated from the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 and the production amount of biomass A1 (the production amount of biomass A1 detected by the detection device 22A). For example, the first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the total value of these as the supplyable amount of biomass A.

[0071] (Supplyable amount at second supply facility) In this embodiment, the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the supplyable amount of biomass A2 at the second supply facility 10B based on the supply amount of biomass A2 to the second supply facility 10B.

[0072] The first acquisition unit 70 acquires the supply amount of biomass A2 detected by the detection device 22B from the control device 24B of the second supply facility 10B via the communication unit 62. Then, the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the supplyable amount of biomass A1 of the first supply facility 10A based on the acquired supply amount of biomass A2. For example, the first acquisition unit 70 may use the acquired supply amount of biomass A2 itself as the supplyable amount of biomass A1.

[0073] Furthermore, the first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the available supply amount of biomass A2 based on the supply amount of biomass A2 as well as the location information of at least one of the supply facility 10 (the target second supply facility 10B) and the processing facility 12. For example, the first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the available supply amount of biomass A2 such that the higher the population density of the municipality in which the supply facility 10 is located, the greater the available supply amount of biomass A2. Furthermore, for a supply facility 10 that supplies raw biomass such as wood as biomass A2, the first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the available supply amount of biomass A2 such that the larger the forest area within a predetermined distance from the supply facility 10, the greater the available supply amount of biomass A2.

[0074] The first acquisition unit 70 calculates the amount of biomass A that can be supplied to the treatment facility 12 for each supply facility 10 using the method described above.

[0075] (Acquisition of required amount of biomass) The second acquisition unit 72 acquires the required amount of biomass A required by the treatment facility 12. The required amount of biomass A refers to the amount of biomass A required by the treatment facility 12 in the above-mentioned predetermined future period.

[0076] The second acquisition unit 72 may acquire the required amount of biomass A by any method. For example, a person in charge of the treatment facility 12 may determine the required amount of biomass A for the treatment facility 12, and the second acquisition unit 72 may acquire the determined required amount as the supplyable amount of biomass A. In this case, the person in charge of the treatment facility 12 may input the required amount into the control device 48 of the treatment facility 12, and the second acquisition unit 72 may acquire the required amount from the control device 48 via the communication unit 62.

[0077] Furthermore, the required amount of biomass A does not necessarily have to be determined by a person in charge, and the second acquisition unit 72 may calculate the required amount of biomass A through a predetermined process. For example, in the present embodiment, the second acquisition unit 72 calculates the required amount of biomass A based on the amount of energy resources planned to be produced by the processing facility 12 in a predetermined period. In the present embodiment, since the processing facility 12 is a facility that produces fuel F1, the second acquisition unit 72 calculates the required amount of biomass A based on the planned production amount of fuel F in the predetermined period (the amount of fuel F planned to be produced in the predetermined period). Note that the planned production amount of fuel F1 obtained by the refining device 44 may be used instead of the planned production amount of fuel F obtained by the synthesizing device 42. Furthermore, if the processing facility 12 is a biomass power generation facility that generates power by combusting biomass A, the planned amount of power generation by the processing facility 12 may be used instead of the planned production amount of fuel F.

[0078] In this case, for example, the second acquisition unit 72 may acquire a correspondence relationship between the planned production amount of fuel F and the amount of biomass A required to produce that amount of fuel F, and calculate the amount of biomass A corresponding to the planned production amount of fuel F in this correspondence relationship as the required amount of biomass A. In this case, the correspondence relationship may be set arbitrarily, and may be set so that the amount of fuel F and the amount of biomass A have a constant proportional relationship, or may be set so that the proportional relationship varies depending on the season. Furthermore, the correspondence relationship may be set by machine learning the amount of biomass A and the amount of fuel F produced. In this case, the second acquisition unit 72 inputs the planned production amount of fuel F into an AI model that has already performed machine learning on the amount of biomass A and the amount of fuel F produced, and sets the amount of biomass A output from the AI ​​model as the required amount of biomass A. Note that in the above calculation method, the planned production amount of fuel F1 obtained by the refining device 44 may be used instead of the planned production amount of fuel F. Alternatively, if the processing facility 12 is a biomass power generation facility that generates power by combusting biomass A, the planned amount of power generation at the processing facility 12 may be used instead of the planned production amount of fuel F.

[0079] Furthermore, the second acquisition unit 72 may calculate the planned production volume of fuel F based on the planned production volume of fuel F1 and the planned transport volume of removed materials contained in fuel F. The removed materials here refer to substances removed when fuel F is refined to produce fuel F1, and may be, for example, off-gas, light oil, wax components, etc. In other words, the removed materials are transported from the processing facility 12 to be used for purposes other than the intended use of fuel F1 (e.g., aviation fuel) or to be disposed of. Therefore, by calculating the planned production volume of fuel F based on not only the planned production volume of fuel F1 but also the planned transport volume of removed materials, it is possible to produce fuel F by setting the supply volume of biomass A based on this calculation, thereby obtaining the planned volume of fuel F1 and transporting the planned volume of removed materials.

[0080] (Calculation of biomass supply amount) The calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of biomass A to the processing equipment 12 for each supply equipment 10 based on the supplyable amount of biomass A of each supply equipment 10 acquired by the first acquisition unit 70 and the required amount of biomass A of the processing equipment 12 acquired by the second acquisition unit 72. The supply amount of biomass A refers to the amount of biomass A planned to be supplied from the supply equipment 10 to the processing equipment 12 during the above-mentioned predetermined future period.

[0081] The calculation unit 74 may calculate the supply amount of each supply facility 10 using any method based on the supply capacity of each supply facility 10 and the required amount of the processing facility 12, but in this embodiment, the supply amount of each supply facility 10 is calculated so that the supply amount of the supply facility 10 does not exceed the supply capacity of that supply facility 10 and the total supply amount from each supply facility 10 to the processing facility 12 reaches the required amount of that processing facility 12.

[0082] As described above, the type of biomass A supplied may differ for each supply facility 10. If the type of biomass A differs, the amount of energy resources (in this example, the amount of fuel F and F1) that can be generated from the same amount of biomass A may differ. Therefore, when the type of biomass A differs for each supply facility 10, the calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of the supply facility 10 based on the type of biomass A of the supply facility 10 in addition to the supplyable amount of biomass A and the required amount of biomass A. For example, if the type of biomass A used to calculate the required amount of biomass A is taken as a reference biomass, when the type of biomass A supplied from the supply facility 10 is different from the reference biomass, the calculation unit 74 converts the supply amount allocated to the supply facility 10 (supply amount based on the reference biomass) to an amount based on the biomass A of the supply facility 10, and sets this as the supply amount of the supply facility 10. That is, for example, if the amount of biomass A required to produce a unit amount of fuel F using the biomass A of the supply equipment 10 is greater than the amount required to produce a unit amount of fuel F using a reference biomass, the supply amount of the supply equipment 10 will be greater than the supply amount allocated to the supply equipment 10 based on the reference biomass.

[0083] The calculation unit 74 may also set a price for the biomass A. The price here refers to the price of biomass A per unit amount, and refers to the amount paid by the operator of the treatment facility 12 to the operator of the supply facility 10 when biomass A is supplied from the supply facility 10 to the treatment facility 12. In this case, the calculation unit 74 may set a price for each type of biomass A based on the type of biomass A. For example, the calculation unit 74 may set the price of biomass A1 that has been subjected to hydrothermal treatment higher than the price of biomass A2 that has not been subjected to hydrothermal treatment.

[0084] (Output of supply amount) The output control unit 76 outputs the supply amount of biomass A of each supply facility 10 calculated by the calculation unit 74. The output control unit 76 may output the supply amount to an output unit (not shown) of the information processing device 14 or output (transmit) the supply amount to an external device, but in this embodiment, it outputs (transmits) the supply amount of biomass A to the control device 24 of each supply facility 10. That is, the output control unit 76 transmits the supply amount of biomass A from that supply facility 10 to the control device 24 of that supply facility 10. This allows the supply facility 10 side (the control device side of the supply facility 10) to create a transport plan for biomass A to the processing facility 12 in accordance with the transmitted supply amount. The transport plan here is a plan including the transport amount and transport time of biomass A from the supply facility 10 to the processing facility 12. Therefore, it becomes easier for each supply facility 10 to transport (supply) the set amount of biomass A, and the processing facility 12 can appropriately collect the biomass A from each supply facility 10.

[0085] (Updating the Supply Amount) The calculation unit 74 may update the supply amount of biomass A from the supply facility 10. For example, it may be determined that the required amount of biomass A will not be supplied to the treatment facility 12 for a predetermined period of time because the actual supply amount from a certain supply facility 10 is less than the supply amount calculated by the calculation unit 74. In such a case, the calculation unit 74 may update the supply amount of other supply facilities 10 to be greater than the initial amount so that the supply amount of biomass A to the treatment facility 12 reaches the required amount. The output control unit 76 outputs the supply amount of biomass A updated by the calculation unit 74 to the control device 24 of the target supply facility 10. As a result, the supply facility 10 transports the shortfall of biomass A, allowing the biomass A to be collected more appropriately. In this case, the calculation unit 74 may increase the price of the biomass A for the increased amount compared to the initial price. This makes it possible to provide an incentive to the supply facility 10 that accommodates the irregular request.

[0086] (Processing Flow) The processing flow for calculating the supply amount of biomass A described above will now be described. Fig. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the processing flow for calculating the supply amount of biomass. As shown in Fig. 6, the information processing device 14 acquires the supplyable amount of biomass A of each supply facility 10 using the first acquisition unit 70 (step S10), and acquires the required amount of biomass A of the processing facility 12 using the second acquisition unit 72 (step S12). Then, the information processing device 14 calculates the supply amount of biomass A of each supply facility 10 using the calculation unit 74 based on the supplyable amount and required amount of biomass A (step S14).

[0087] (Effects) As described above, the information processing device 14 according to this embodiment calculates the supply amount of biomass A from each supply facility 10 based on the supplyable amount of biomass A from each supply facility 10 and the required amount of biomass A from the processing facility 12. This makes it easier for each supply facility 10 to supply an amount of biomass A based on the calculated supply amount over a predetermined period of time, allowing the processing facility 12 to appropriately collect biomass A from each supply facility 10. Furthermore, by calculating the supplyable amount of biomass A using the state (amount in this embodiment) of the raw material biomass A0 and biomass A in the supply facility 10, the supplyable amount can be accurately calculated according to the actual situation, allowing biomass A to be more appropriately collected.

[0088] Second Embodiment Next, a second embodiment will be described. The second embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the supply amount of biomass A is calculated based on property information of the biomass A and the raw material biomass A0 in the supply facility 10. In the second embodiment, explanations of parts that are common to the first embodiment will be omitted.

[0089] (Detection of properties in first supply facility) In this embodiment, the detection device 22A of the first supply facility 10A detects at least one of the properties of the biomass A1 and the properties of the raw material biomass A0. The detection device 22A may detect both the properties of the raw material biomass A0 and the properties of the biomass A1, but it is preferable to detect at least the properties of the biomass A1. Note that the detection device 22A detects the properties of the raw material biomass A0 and the biomass A1 while detecting the state (e.g., amount) of the raw material biomass A0 and the biomass A1, as in the first embodiment, but is not limited thereto, and may detect only the properties without detecting the state.

[0090] The properties of the raw material biomass A0 and the biomass A1 refer to information about the components contained in the raw material biomass A0 and the biomass A1. Examples of the properties include the moisture content, ash content, calcium chloride content, chloride ion content, sodium content, potassium content, and amount of fats and oils.

[0091] In this embodiment, the detection device 22A detects at least the moisture content as a property of the raw material biomass A0 or biomass A1. The moisture content refers to the ratio of the moisture contained in the target object to the mass of the target object. The detection device 22A may detect the moisture content of the raw material biomass A0 or biomass A1 using any method. For example, the detection device 22A may calculate the moisture content of the moisture attached to the surface of the raw material biomass A0 or biomass A1 using a loss on drying method using a thermostatic chamber. However, in this embodiment, it is preferable that the detection device 22A detects the moisture content including the moisture contained inside the cells of the raw material biomass A0 or biomass A1 in addition to the moisture attached to the surface. By detecting the moisture content including the moisture inside the cells in this way, it is possible to more accurately calculate, for example, the supply amount of biomass A required to achieve the planned production amount of fuel F. An example of this moisture content detection method is described below.

[0092] (Example of Moisture Content Detection) In this example, the detector 22A detects the amount of raw biomass A0 input into the hydrolysis apparatus 20A (raw material input amount) and the amount of steam supplied to the hydrolysis apparatus 20A (steam amount). The detector 22A may include, for example, a load cell and detect the difference between the weight of the hydrolysis apparatus 20A after the raw material biomass A0 has been input and the weight of the hydrolysis apparatus 20A before the raw material biomass A0 has been input as the raw material input amount. The detector 22A may also include, for example, a flow meter and a timer. The flow meter may detect the flow rate of steam circulating through the pipe that supplies steam to the hydrolysis apparatus 20A, and the timer may detect the heating time required for the raw material biomass A0 input into the hydrolysis apparatus 20A to be heated by the steam to a predetermined heating temperature. The detector 22A may calculate the steam amount by multiplying the steam flow rate by the heating time. The entity that calculates the amount of steam from the flow rate of steam and the temperature rise time is not limited to the detection device 22A, but may be, for example, the control device 24A of the first supply facility 10A.

[0093] The control device 24A of the first supply facility 10A calculates the moisture content of the raw material biomass A0 from the raw material input amount and steam volume detected by the detection device 22A. The control device 24A stores a heat balance equation including the raw material input amount (symbol Min in equation (1)) and the steam volume (symbol Mst_in in equation (1)), and estimates the moisture content of the raw material biomass A0 by inputting the detected raw material input amount and steam volume into this heat balance equation. The heat balance equation is expressed by equation (1), in which the input waste and the reaction vessel are heated by the latent heat (and sensible heat) of the input steam.

[0094] Q=Min・(1-Win)・Cp_so・(TH-Tin)+Min・Win・Cp_w・(TH-Tin)+Mr・Cp_r・(TH-Tr0) =Mst_in・Lst...(1)

[0095] Here, Q represents the total amount of heat input into the hydrolysis apparatus 20A, Min represents the weight of the input raw biomass A0, Win represents the moisture content of the input raw biomass A0, Cp_so represents the solid specific heat of the raw biomass A0 set based on actual results, TH represents the treatment temperature (heating temperature) at which the raw biomass A0 is hydrolyzed, Tin represents the input temperature of the raw biomass A0, Cp_w represents the specific heat of water, Mr represents the weight of the hydrolysis apparatus 20A, Cp_r represents the specific heat of the hydrolysis apparatus 20A, Tr0 represents the initial temperature of the hydrolysis apparatus 20A, Mst_in represents the weight of steam, and Lst represents the latent heat of steam (a value taking into account the sensible heat up to TH).

[0096] Min, TH, Tin, Mr (reactor weight is measured only the first time), and Mst_in are process measurement values, and Cp_so, Cp_w, Cp_r, and Lst are pre-set physical property values. In other words, since the only unknown is Win, the moisture content Win of the input raw material biomass A0 can be calculated as shown in equation (2).

[0097] Win={Mst_in・Lst-Min・Cp_so・(TH-Tin)-Mr・Cp_r・(TH-Tr0)} / {-Min・(TH-Tin)・(Cp_so-Cp_w)}...(2)

[0098] In actual operation, it is also possible to calculate the moisture content W of the raw material biomass A0 as shown in Equation (3) by substituting Mst_in = Fst t, which uses the steam flow rate Fst and the steam injection time t, into Equation (2), where t represents the temperature rise time.

[0099] Win={Fst・t・Lst-Min・Cp_so・(TH-Tin)-Mr・Cp_r・(TH-Tr0)} / {-Min・(TH-Tin)・(Cp_so-Cp_w)}...(3)

[0100] (Detection of Properties in Second Supply Facility) In this embodiment, the detection device 22B of the second supply facility 10B detects the properties of the biomass A2. The detection device 22B detects the state (e.g., amount) of the biomass A2 while detecting the properties of the biomass A2, as in the first embodiment, but is not limited thereto and may detect only the properties without detecting the state.

[0101] The properties of biomass A2 refer to information about the components contained in biomass A2. Examples of properties include moisture content, ash content, calcium chloride content, chloride ion content, sodium content, potassium content, and amount of fats and oils. In this embodiment, detection device 22B detects at least the moisture content as the properties of biomass A2. The moisture content here has the same meaning as the moisture content of the raw material biomass A0 and biomass A1 described above, and therefore will not be described here.

[0102] (Processing of information processing device) In the second embodiment, the first acquisition unit 70 acquires property information of at least one of the biomass A and the raw material biomass A0 from each supply facility 10, and the calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of biomass A for each supply facility 10 based on the property information as well. The property information is information that indicates the properties of the biomass A and the raw material biomass A0.

[0103] (Acquisition of property information) The first acquisition unit 70 acquires property information of at least one of the biomass A and the raw material biomass A0 from each supply facility 10. Specifically, the first acquisition unit 70 acquires, as property information, at least one of the properties of the biomass A1 and the properties of the raw material biomass A0 detected by the detection device 22A of the first supply facility 10A. The first acquisition unit 70 acquires, as property information, the properties of the biomass A2 detected by the detection device 22B of the second supply facility 10B.

[0104] (Acquisition of supplyable amount and required amount) The first acquisition unit 70 acquires the supplyable amount of biomass A from each supply facility 10, as in the first embodiment, and the second acquisition unit 72 acquires the required amount of biomass A from the processing facility 12, as in the first embodiment.

[0105] (Calculation of supply amount) The calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of biomass A in each supply facility 10 based on the supplyable amount and required amount of biomass A as well as the properties of biomass A and raw material biomass A0 in each supply facility 10.

[0106] For example, an example will be described in which moisture content is detected as a property. The calculation unit 74 calculates the required amount of biomass A for the treatment facility 12 on the assumption that the moisture content of biomass A is a predetermined value. This may differ from the actual moisture content of biomass A in each supply facility 10. Therefore, in this embodiment, the moisture content of biomass A in the supply facility 10 is converted to the moisture content used to calculate the required amount, and the supply amount of biomass A in the supply facility 10 is calculated. The moisture content of biomass A in the supply facility 10 can be calculated from the moisture content (properties) of biomass A and raw biomass A0 in each supply facility 10 acquired by the first acquisition unit 70. For example, in the case of the first supply facility 10A, the calculation unit 74 calculates the moisture content of biomass A1 in the first supply facility 10A from the moisture content of at least one of biomass A1 and raw biomass A0 in the target first supply facility 10A. When the detection device 22A detects the moisture content of the biomass A1, the calculation unit 74 may use the moisture content as the moisture content of the biomass A1. When the detection device 22A detects the moisture content of the raw material biomass A0, the calculation unit 74 may convert the moisture content to the moisture content of the biomass A1 and use this as the moisture content of the biomass A1. In the case of the second supplying facility 10B, the calculation unit 74 may use the moisture content of the biomass A2 in the target second supplying facility 10B as the moisture content of the biomass A1 in the second supplying facility 10B.

[0107] Furthermore, for example, the calculation unit 74 may calculate the supply amount of biomass A based on the planned production amount of fuel F in the processing facility 12 and the moisture content of biomass A (or raw material biomass A0) in the supply facility 10. In this case, for example, the calculation unit 74 calculates the planned production amount of fuel F from the required amount of biomass A, and calculates the amount of carbon (required carbon amount) and the amount of hydrogen (required hydrogen amount) required to produce the planned amount of fuel F. Furthermore, the calculation unit 74 calculates the amount of moisture (required moisture amount) of biomass A1 required to supply the required amount of hydrogen based on the required amount of hydrogen. Then, the calculation unit 74 calculates the supplyable amount of hydrogen and the amount of carbon from the moisture content of biomass A (or raw material biomass A0) and the supplyable amount of biomass A, and calculates the supply amount of biomass A based on the supplyable amount of hydrogen and the required amount of hydrogen and the required amount of carbon. In other words, the calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of biomass A from each supply facility 10 so that the hydrogen and carbon components are sufficient for the required amount of hydrogen and the required amount of carbon.

[0108] In this manner, in this embodiment, the supply amount of biomass A at each supply facility 10 is calculated taking into consideration the properties of the biomass A at each supply facility 10, so the supply amount of biomass A can be set more appropriately.

[0109] (Third Embodiment) The third embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the first supply facility 10A has a storage device 26, and the supplyable amount of biomass A1 from the first supply facility 10A is set based on the amount of biomass A1 stored in the storage device 26. In the third embodiment, explanations of parts that are common to the first embodiment will be omitted. Note that the third embodiment is also applicable to the second embodiment. That is, in the third embodiment, the supply amount of biomass A in each supply facility 10 may be calculated based on the properties of the biomass A and the raw material biomass A0.

[0110] (First Supply Facility) Figure 7 is a schematic block diagram of the first supply facility in the third embodiment. As shown in Figure 7, the first supply facility 10A in the third embodiment includes a hydrolysis device 20A, a detection device 22A, a control device 24A, and a storage device 26. The storage device 26 is a device that stores the biomass A1. In this embodiment, at least a portion of the biomass A1 produced in the hydrolysis device 20A is stored in the storage device 26. Note that the storage device 26 may be heated internally to dry the biomass A1, similar to the storage device 20B of the second supply facility 10B described in the first embodiment.

[0111] The detector 22A of the first supply facility 10A detects the amount of biomass A1 stored in the storage device 26.

[0112] (Calculation of supplyable amount of first supply facility) In the third embodiment, the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the supplyable amount based on the storage amount of generated biomass A1 in the first supply facility 10A (i.e., the storage amount of biomass A1 in the storage device 26). More specifically, the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the supplyable amount of biomass A1 from the first supply facility 10A based on the state (e.g., amount) of the raw material biomass A0 and biomass A1 described in the first embodiment and the storage amount of biomass A1 in the storage device 26.

[0113] Specifically, the first acquisition unit 70 acquires, from the control device 24A of the first supply facility 10A, information on the amount of biomass A1 stored in the storage device 26, detected by the detection device 22A. Furthermore, similar to the first embodiment, the first acquisition unit 70 acquires at least one of the amount of raw material biomass A0 supplied to the first supply facility 10A and the amount of biomass A1 produced in the first supply facility 10A.

[0114] In this embodiment, the first acquisition unit 70 calculates a predicted storage amount, which is a predicted value of the storage amount of biomass A1 for a predetermined period (a period for which the supply amount of biomass A is determined), based on the storage amount of biomass A1 in the storage device 26. The first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the predicted storage amount using any method based on the storage amount of biomass A1. For example, the first acquisition unit 70 may estimate a change in the storage amount from the present to a predetermined period based on a change in the storage amount of biomass A1 in the past (amount of change in the storage amount), and calculate the predicted storage amount based on the change in the estimated storage amount and the storage amount acquired this time. Furthermore, the first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the change in the storage amount using machine learning. In this case, the supply amount of raw biomass A0 to the first supply facility 10A and the change in the storage amount of biomass A1 after a predetermined unit time has elapsed since the supply of that supply amount are used as one set of training data, and multiple different sets of training data are input, and the correspondence between the supply amount of raw biomass A0 and the change in the storage amount of biomass A1 is machine-learned into an AI model. The first acquisition unit 70 inputs the currently acquired supply amount of raw biomass A0 into the machine-learned AI model and acquires the change in the storage amount of biomass A1 output from the AI ​​model. The first acquisition unit 70 calculates the predicted storage amount of biomass A1 from the acquired change in the storage amount of biomass A1 and the acquired storage amount of biomass A1.

[0115] The first acquisition unit 70 calculates the supplyable amount of biomass A1 based on the calculated predicted storage amount of biomass A1. For example, the first acquisition unit 70 may calculate the producible amount of biomass A1 from the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 using a method similar to that of the first embodiment, and calculate the supplyable amount of biomass A1 based on the producible amount of biomass A1 and the predicted storage amount. In this case, the sum of the producible amount of biomass A1 and the predicted storage amount may be set to the supplyable amount of biomass A1. Also, for example, the first acquisition unit 70 may acquire the production amount of biomass A1 using a method similar to that of the first embodiment, and calculate the supplyable amount of biomass A1 based on the production amount of biomass A1 and the predicted storage amount. In this case, the sum of the production amount of biomass A1 and the predicted storage amount may be set to the supplyable amount of biomass A1.

[0116] In this embodiment, the supplyable amount is calculated based on the stored amount of biomass A1 as described above. The subsequent processing, i.e., the processing for calculating the supply amount of biomass A1 for each supply facility 10, is the same as in the first and second embodiments. According to this embodiment, the supply amount can be set taking into consideration the stored amount of biomass A1, so the supply amount of biomass A can be set more appropriately.

[0117] (Fourth embodiment) Next, a fourth embodiment will be described. The fourth embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the supply facility 10 has a gasification device 40, and the raw material gas G generated in the supply facility 10 is transported to the processing facility 12 as biomass A. In the fourth embodiment, explanations of parts that are common to the first embodiment will be omitted. Note that the fourth embodiment is also applicable to the second and third embodiments.

[0118] (Energy Regeneration System) Fig. 8 is a schematic block diagram of an energy regeneration system according to a fourth embodiment. As shown in Fig. 8, in the fourth embodiment, a supply facility 10 generates a raw material gas G as biomass A and supplies the raw material gas G to a processing facility 12. The processing facility 12 generates a fuel F from the supplied raw material gas G. Note that the raw material gas G is a gas generated by gasifying biomass A1 and A2, and therefore can be referred to as biomass A, which is a biomass-derived resource.

[0119] In the fourth embodiment, the method of transporting the raw material gas G from the supply equipment 10 to the processing equipment 12 may be arbitrary. For example, the supply equipment 10 and the processing equipment 12 may be connected by a pipe, and the raw material gas G may be transported via the pipe, or as in the first embodiment, the raw material gas G may be transported by a vehicle, or the raw material gas G may be transported directly by the mobile supply equipment 10.

[0120] (Supply Facility) Figure 9 is a schematic block diagram of a first supply facility according to the fourth embodiment. As shown in Figure 9, the first supply facility 10A of the fourth embodiment includes a hydrolysis device 20A, a gasification device 40, a detection device 22A, and a control device 24A. The gasification device 40 gasifies the biomass A1 produced in the hydrolysis device 20A to produce a raw material gas G as biomass A. The first supply facility 10A supplies the raw material gas G produced in the gasification device 40 to a processing facility 12.

[0121] Fig. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a second supply facility according to the fourth embodiment. As shown in Fig. 10, the second supply facility 10B according to the fourth embodiment includes a storage device 20B, a gasification device 40, a detection device 22B, and a control device 24B. The gasification device 40 gasifies the biomass A2 supplied from the storage device 20B to generate a raw material gas G as biomass A. The second supply facility 10B supplies the raw material gas G generated in the gasification device 40 to a processing facility 12.

[0122] (Processing Equipment) Fig. 11 is a schematic block diagram of a processing equipment according to a fourth embodiment. As shown in Fig. 11, the processing equipment 12 according to the fourth embodiment includes a synthesizer 42, a refiner 44, a detector 46, and a controller 48. In this embodiment, a raw material gas G serving as biomass A is supplied to the processing equipment 12 from the supply equipment 10. In the processing equipment 12, the synthesizer 42 produces fuel F from the supplied raw material gas G, and the refiner 44 produces fuel F to produce fuel F1.

[0123] (Processing of information processing device) The information processing device 14 of the fourth embodiment calculates the supply amount of biomass A from each supply facility 10 to the processing facility 12 in the same manner as in the first to third embodiments, except that the raw material gas G is biomass A. For example, the first acquisition unit 70 acquires the supplyable amount of raw material gas G as biomass A for each supply facility 10. Furthermore, the second acquisition unit 72 acquires the required amount of raw material gas G as biomass A for the processing facility 12. Then, the calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of raw material gas G as biomass A from each supply facility 10 based on the supplyable amount of raw material gas G and the required amount of raw material gas G for each supply facility 10.

[0124] In the above description, an example has been shown in which all of the supply facilities 10 perform gasification, but this is not limited thereto, and at least one of the supply facilities 10 may perform gasification. In this case, the processing facility 12 has a gasification device 40, as in the first embodiment. In this case, the processing facility 12 is supplied with raw material gas G from the supply facility 10 that performs gasification, and biomass A1, A2 are supplied from the other supply facilities 10. In the processing facility 12, the biomass A1, A2 are gasified to generate raw material gas G, and the generated raw material gas G and the raw material gas G supplied from the supply facility 10 are used to generate fuel F.

[0125] In the fourth embodiment as well, the supply amount of the raw material gas G from each supply facility 10 is calculated based on the supplyable amount of the raw material gas G and the required amount of the raw material gas G. This allows the raw material gas G as biomass A to be appropriately collected from each supply facility 10.

[0126] Fifth Embodiment Next, a fifth embodiment will be described. The fifth embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that the processing equipment 12 generates a mixture G1 to be mixed with the raw material gas G to produce the fuel F. In the fifth embodiment, explanations of parts that are common to the first embodiment will be omitted. Note that the fifth embodiment can also be applied to the second to fourth embodiments.

[0127] (Processing Equipment) Fig. 12 is a schematic block diagram of a processing equipment according to the fifth embodiment. As shown in Fig. 12, the processing equipment 12 according to the fifth embodiment includes a gasification apparatus 40, a mixture production apparatus 41, a synthesis apparatus 42, a purification apparatus 44, a detection apparatus 46, and a control apparatus 48.

[0128] The mixture production device 41 is a device that produces a mixture G1. The mixture G1 is a substance that is mixed with the raw material gas G to produce the fuel F. In this embodiment, the mixture G1 is at least one of hydrogen and carbon monoxide. When producing hydrogen as the mixture G1, the mixture production device 41 may be any device that can produce hydrogen. In this embodiment, however, the mixture production device 41 produces hydrogen by electrolyzing water. Specifically, the mixture production device 41 in this embodiment is a device that heats and electrolyzes water vapor, and is a solid electrolyte high-temperature steam electrolysis device having an SOEC (Solid Oxide Electrolysis Cell). However, the mixture production device 41 is not limited thereto, and may be, for example, a device that produces hydrogen by electrolyzing water using a noble metal catalyst.

[0129] Furthermore, when carbon monoxide is produced as the mixture G1, the mixture production device 41 may be any device capable of producing carbon monoxide, but may also be a reverse shift device that produces carbon monoxide from hydrogen and carbon dioxide. The reverse shift device is a device that produces carbon monoxide from hydrogen and carbon dioxide by an aqueous reverse shift reaction, and is provided with, for example, a catalyst inside that promotes the aqueous reverse shift reaction.

[0130] A gas obtained by mixing the raw material gas G and the mixture G1 is supplied to the synthesis device 42. The synthesis device 42 produces a fuel F from the gas obtained by mixing the raw material gas G and the mixture G1 by FT synthesis.

[0131] (Processing of Information Device) The information processing device 14 of the fifth embodiment calculates the supply amount of biomass A for each supply facility 10 using a method similar to that of the first to fourth embodiments. Furthermore, the information processing device 14 of the fifth embodiment calculates the supply amount of mixture G1 based on the planned production amount of fuel F (or fuel F1) and the calculated supply amount of biomass A using the calculation unit 74.

[0132] The calculation unit 74 of the fifth embodiment may calculate the supply amount of the mixture G1 using any method based on the planned production amount of fuel F (or fuel F1) and the calculated supply amount of biomass A. For example, when calculating the supply amount of hydrogen as the mixture G1, the calculation unit 74 calculates the amount of hydrogen (required hydrogen amount) necessary to produce the fuel F (or fuel F1) from the planned production amount of fuel F (or fuel F1). For example, in FT synthesis, the yield of fuel F can be improved by setting the composition ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide to around 2.0. Therefore, the required hydrogen amount may be the amount of hydrogen that can produce the planned production amount of fuel F (or fuel F1) and bring the composition ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide close to 2.0. Then, based on the calculated supply amount of biomass A, the calculation unit 74 calculates the amount of hydrogen (supplied hydrogen amount) contained in the raw material gas G that will be generated when the calculated amount of biomass A is supplied to the treatment facility 12. The calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of hydrogen as the mixture G1 by subtracting the hydrogen supply amount from the required hydrogen amount.

[0133] Furthermore, for example, when calculating the supply amount of carbon monoxide as the mixture G1, the calculation unit 74 calculates the amount of carbon monoxide required to produce the fuel F (or fuel F1) (required amount of carbon monoxide) from the planned production amount of fuel F (or fuel F1). For example, the required amount of carbon monoxide may be the amount of carbon monoxide that can produce the planned amount of fuel F (or fuel F1) and bring the composition ratio of hydrogen to carbon monoxide close to 2.0. Then, based on the calculated supply amount of biomass A, the calculation unit 74 calculates the amount of carbon monoxide contained in the raw material gas G (carbon monoxide supply amount) that will be generated when the calculated amount of biomass A is supplied to the treatment facility 12. The calculation unit 74 calculates the amount obtained by subtracting the carbon monoxide supply amount from the required amount of carbon monoxide as the supply amount of carbon monoxide as the mixture G1.

[0134] The output control unit 76 outputs the supply amount of mixture G1 calculated by the calculation unit 74. The output control unit 76 may output the supply amount of mixture G1 to an output unit (not shown) of the information processing device 14 or output (transmit) the supply amount of mixture G1 to an external device, but in the present embodiment, it outputs (transmits) the supply amount of mixture G1 to the control device 48 of the processing facility 12. This allows the processing facility 12 to create a production plan for mixture G1 in accordance with the transmitted supply amount.

[0135] In this way, in this embodiment, the supply amount of mixture G1 is calculated from the planned production amount of fuel, so it is possible to mix an appropriate amount of mixture G1, and the yield of fuel F can be improved.

[0136] (Sixth Embodiment) Next, a sixth embodiment will be described. The sixth embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that a plurality of processing facilities 12 are provided. In the sixth embodiment, explanations of parts that are common to the first embodiment will be omitted. Note that the sixth embodiment can also be applied to the second to fifth embodiments.

[0137] (Energy Regeneration System) Fig. 13 is a schematic block diagram of an energy regeneration system according to a sixth embodiment. As shown in Fig. 13, in the sixth embodiment, the energy regeneration system 1 (energy generation system 2) has a plurality of treatment facilities 12. Each treatment facility 12 may be a facility that performs the same process, that is, a facility that produces fuel F by FT synthesis, for example. However, this is not limited thereto, and at least one of the treatment facilities 12 may be a facility that performs a process different from that of the other treatment facilities 12. For example, at least one treatment facility 12 may be a biomass power generation facility that burns biomass A to generate power.

[0138] (Processing of Information Processing Device) The information processing device 14 of the sixth embodiment calculates the supply amount of biomass A for each supply facility 10 using the same method as in the first to fifth embodiments. Meanwhile, the second acquisition unit 72 acquires the required amount of biomass A for each treatment facility 12. The method for acquiring the required amount of biomass A for the treatment facility 12 is the same as in the first to fifth embodiments. Furthermore, the calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of raw material gas G of biomass A from each supply facility 10 to each treatment facility 12 based on the supplyable amount of biomass A for each supply facility 10 and the required amount of biomass A for each treatment facility 12. That is, in the example of FIG. 13 , first supply facilities 10A1 and 10A2 and a second supply facility 10B are provided as the supply facilities 10, and treatment facilities 12A and 12B are provided as the treatment facilities 12. In this case, the calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount from the first supply facility 10A1 to the processing facility 12A, the supply amount from the first supply facility 10A1 to the processing facility 12B, the supply amount from the first supply facility 10A2 to the processing facility 12A, the supply amount from the first supply facility 10A2 to the processing facility 12B, the supply amount from the second supply facility 10B to the processing facility 12A, and the supply amount from the second supply facility 10B to the processing facility 12B. Note that the number of each facility in FIG. 13 is an example.

[0139] The calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of raw material gas G of biomass A from the supply facility 10 to the treatment facility 12 using a method similar to that of the first to fifth embodiments. That is, for example, the calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount from each supply facility 10 to each treatment facility 12 so that the supply amount from each supply facility 10 does not exceed the supplyable amount of that supply facility 10 and the supply amount to each treatment facility 12 reaches the required amount of that treatment facility 12.

[0140] In this embodiment, the supply amount of biomass A can be set taking into account the supplyable amount and required amount of multiple supply facilities 10 and multiple processing facilities 12, so even when there are multiple supply facilities 10 and multiple processing facilities 12, it is possible to have each processing facility 12 collect biomass A more appropriately.

[0141] (Seventh embodiment) Next, a seventh embodiment will be described. The seventh embodiment differs from the first embodiment in that a plurality of storage facilities 13 are provided further upstream of the plurality of supply facilities 10. In the seventh embodiment, explanations of parts that are common to the first embodiment will be omitted. Note that the seventh embodiment can also be applied to the second to sixth embodiments.

[0142] (Energy Regeneration System) Fig. 14 is a schematic block diagram of an energy regeneration system according to the seventh embodiment. As shown in Fig. 14, in the seventh embodiment, the energy regeneration system 1 (energy generation system 2) has storage facilities 13. In the example of Fig. 14, multiple (two) storage facilities 13 are provided, but this is just an example, and the number of storage facilities 13 may be arbitrary. However, it is preferable that the number of storage facilities 13 included in the energy regeneration system 1 (energy generation system 2) is multiple.

[0143] (Storage Facility) FIG. 15 is a schematic block diagram of a storage facility. The storage facility 13 is a facility that can store the raw biomass A0 for a predetermined period of time. At least a portion of the raw biomass A0 stored in the storage facility 13 is transported (supplied) to the first supply facility 10 and processed within the first supply facility 10. The storage facilities 13 may have the same function or different functions. More specific examples of the storage facility 13 include vehicles that can move while holding the raw biomass A0, such as garbage collection trucks, biomass transport vehicles, and sludge collection trucks, or facilities that temporarily store the raw biomass A0 collected by these vehicles, or a system that functions to store the raw biomass A0 as an entire system including these vehicles and facilities.

[0144] 15, the storage facility 13 includes a storage device 13A, a detection device 13B, and a control device 13C. The storage device 13A is a device for storing biomass A2. If the storage facility 13 is self-propelled, a transport mechanism for carrying the storage device 13A is further provided, and the storage device 13A can be transported by the self-propelled transport mechanism.

[0145] The detection device 13B is provided in the storage device 13A and is a sensor that detects the state of the raw material biomass A0 stored in the storage device 13A. The detection device 13B may detect any parameter of the raw material biomass A0 as the state of the raw material biomass A0, but detects at least one (preferably both) of the amount of raw material biomass A0 stored in the storage device 13A (the amount of raw material biomass A0 stored in the storage facility 13) and the properties of the raw material biomass A0 stored in the storage device 13A. The properties of the raw material biomass A0 are the parameters described in the second embodiment. That is, examples of the properties of the raw material biomass A0 include the moisture content, ash content, calcium chloride content, chloride ion content, sodium content, potassium content, and amount of fats and oils, and it is preferable that at least the moisture content be detected.

[0146] The control device 13C is a device that controls each device of the storage facility 13, and in this embodiment is a computer. The control device 13C may be installed inside the storage facility 13 (i.e., in the same location as the storage device 13A) or outside the storage facility 13 (i.e., in a location different from the storage device 13A). As shown in FIG. 15, the control device 13C has a memory unit 80, a communication unit 82, and a control unit 84. The control device 13C may also have an input unit that accepts user operations and an output unit that outputs information. The control device 13C may be configured as a standalone device, may be configured integrally with other devices, or may be configured as a system combining various devices such as a computing device and a data server, and is not particularly limited.

[0147] The memory unit 80 of the control device 13C has the same configuration as the memory unit 30 of the control device 24A of the supply facility 10, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted. The communication unit 82 of the control device 13C has the same configuration as the communication unit 32 of the control device 24A of the supply facility 10, and therefore a description thereof will be omitted.

[0148] The control unit 84 of the control device 13C is a calculation device and includes a calculation circuit such as a CPU. The control unit 84 executes processing by reading and executing a program (software) from the storage unit 80. The control unit 84 may execute processing using a single CPU, or may be provided with multiple CPUs and execute processing using the multiple CPUs. Furthermore, at least a portion of the processing of the control unit 84 may be implemented by hardware.

[0149] The control unit 84 controls the detection device 13B to cause the detection device 13B to perform detection. The control unit 34 acquires the detection result (the state of the raw material biomass A0) of the detection device 13B. The control unit 84 transmits the detection result of the detection device 13B to the information processing device 14 via the communication unit 82.

[0150] (Information Processing Device) FIG. 16 is a schematic block diagram of an information processing device according to the seventh embodiment. As shown in FIG. 16, the information processing device 14 according to the seventh embodiment includes a control unit 64 including a first acquisition unit 70, a second acquisition unit 72, a calculation unit 74, and an output control unit 76, as well as a third acquisition unit 73. Note that, similar to the first embodiment, the information processing device 14 according to the seventh embodiment may be installed in any location. Furthermore, although the information processing device 14 according to the seventh embodiment is installed in a location different from the storage facility 13, this is not a limitation and the information processing device 14 may be installed within any of the storage facilities 13. Furthermore, although the information processing device 14 according to this embodiment is a device separate from the control device 13C of the storage facility 13, this is not a limitation and the control device 13C of the storage facility 13 may have at least some of the functions of the information processing device 14.

[0151] (Processing of Information Processing Device) Hereinafter, the processing content of the information processing device 14 in the seventh embodiment will be described.

[0152] (Process for Setting the Supply Amount of Raw Material Biomass) The information processing device 14 according to the seventh embodiment determines the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 from the storage facility 13 to the first supply facility 10A. This process will be specifically described below.

[0153] (Acquisition of status information) The third acquisition unit 73 of the information processing device 14 acquires status information indicating the status of the raw material biomass A0 stored in the storage facility 13. That is, the third acquisition unit 73 acquires information indicating the status (in this example, at least one of the storage amount and properties) of the raw material biomass A0 in the storage facility 13, detected by the detection device 13B of the storage facility 13, as status information of the raw material biomass A0 stored in the storage facility 13. For example, the third acquisition unit 73 may acquire the status information from the control device 13C of the storage facility 13 via the communication unit 62.

[0154] (Calculation of supply amount of raw biomass) The calculation unit 74 of the information processing device 14 calculates the supply amount of biomass A from each supply facility 10 to each processing facility 12 using a method similar to that of the first to sixth embodiments. Furthermore, in this embodiment, the calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of raw biomass A0 from the storage facility 13 to the first supply facility 10A based on the state of the raw biomass A0 in the storage facility 13 acquired by the third acquisition unit 73 (in this example, at least one of the storage amount and properties).

[0155] Any method may be used to calculate the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 based on the state of the raw material biomass A0. For example, the calculation unit 74 may calculate the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 from the storage amount of raw material biomass A0 in the storage facility 13. In this case, for example, the calculation unit 74 may set the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 to a predetermined percentage (e.g., the total amount) of the storage amount of raw material biomass A0.

[0156] Furthermore, for example, the calculation unit 74 may acquire the amount of raw material biomass A0 required by the first supply facility 10A (requested amount), and calculate the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 based on the stored amount and requested amount of raw material biomass A0. That is, in this case, the calculation unit 74 may calculate the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 to be an amount that is within the range of the stored amount of raw material biomass A0 and the range of the requested amount.

[0157] The requested amount of raw material biomass A0 refers to the amount of raw material biomass A0 requested by the first supply facility 10A in the predetermined future period described above. The calculation unit 74 may acquire the requested amount of raw material biomass A0 by any method. For example, when the supply amount of biomass A from the first supply facility 10A to the processing facility 12 is calculated based on the supplyable amount of biomass A and the required amount of biomass A, the calculation unit 74 may calculate the amount of raw material biomass A0 required to prepare that supply amount of biomass A, and calculate the requested amount of raw material biomass A0 based on the required amount of raw material biomass A0. For example, the calculation unit 74 may set the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 to be a predetermined ratio of the required amount of raw material biomass A0.

[0158] Also, for example, the calculation unit 74 may calculate the supply amount of the raw material biomass A0 from the properties of the raw material biomass A0 in the storage facility 13. In this case, for example, the calculation unit 74 may acquire the properties (required properties) of the raw material biomass A0 required by the first supply facility 10A, and calculate the supply amount of the raw material biomass A0 based on the detected properties of the raw material biomass A0 and the required properties. For example, in this case, if the detected properties of the raw material biomass A0 satisfy the required properties, the calculation unit 74 may set a predetermined amount (e.g., the total amount) of the raw material biomass A0 in the storage facility 13 as the supply amount of the raw material biomass A0. Also, for example, if the detected properties of the raw material biomass A0 do not satisfy the required properties, the calculation unit 74 may set the supply amount of the raw material biomass A0 for that storage facility 13 to zero.

[0159] Furthermore, for example, the calculation unit 74 may calculate the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 from both the storage amount and properties of the raw material biomass A0 in the storage facility 13. In this case, the calculation method may be, for example, a combination of the calculation method based on the storage amount and the calculation method based on the properties described above.

[0160] In this way, by setting the supply amount of raw biomass A0 based on the state of the raw biomass A0 in the storage facility 13, the raw biomass A0 can be appropriately supplied to the first supply facility 10A, and biomass can be more appropriately collected from each facility.

[0161] (Output of supply amount) The output control unit 76 of the information processing device 14 outputs the supply amount of raw biomass A0 from the storage facility 13 to the processing facility 12, calculated by the calculation unit 74. In this embodiment, the supply amount of raw biomass A0 is output (transmitted) to the control device 24 of the storage facility 13 that detected the state of the raw biomass A0. This allows the storage facility 13 side (the control device side of the storage facility 13) to appropriately transport the raw biomass A0 to the first supply facility 10A in accordance with the transmitted supply amount.

[0162] (Generation of Transportation Plan) Furthermore, the calculation unit 74 may generate a transportation plan for the raw biomass A0 from the storage facility 13 to the first supply facility 10A based on the calculated supply amount of the raw biomass A0. The output control unit 76 of the information processing device 14 may transmit the transportation plan for the raw biomass A0 to the control device 24 of the storage facility 13. The transportation plan here is a plan that includes the transportation amount and transportation time of the raw biomass A0 from the storage facility 13 to the first supply facility 10A. Therefore, it becomes easier for the set supply amount of raw biomass A0 to be transported (supplied) from each storage facility 13, and the first supply facility 10A can be caused to appropriately collect the raw biomass A0 from each storage facility 13.

[0163] Furthermore, the calculation unit 74 may generate a transport plan for the raw biomass A0 from the storage facility 13 to the first supply facility 10A according to at least one of the operation volume and processing content of the first supply facility 10A. That is, in this case, the calculation unit 74 may generate a transport plan for the raw biomass A0 based on at least one of the operation volume and processing content of the first supply facility 10A in addition to the calculated supply volume of the raw biomass A0. The operation volume of the first supply facility 10A is, for example, an index indicating the amount of biomass A planned to be generated in a predetermined unit time, and may be, for example, a value corresponding to the supplyable amount of biomass A of the supply facility 10. The processing content of the first supply facility 10A is information indicating how the raw biomass A0 is to be processed.

[0164] In addition, if the storage facility 13 is self-propelled, the transport amount of raw biomass A0 shown in the transport plan is the amount of raw biomass A0 transported to the downstream supply facility 10 using this storage facility 13. On the other hand, if the storage facility 13 is not self-propelled, the transport amount of raw biomass A0 shown in the transport plan is the amount of raw biomass A0 transported from the storage facility 13 to the downstream supply facility 10 using a transport means such as a collection vehicle.

[0165] In this embodiment, the supply amount and properties of biomass A (raw material biomass A0) transported from each storage facility 13 or to each supply facility 10 using each storage facility 13 can be set taking into consideration the processable amount, supplyable amount, and required amount of the multiple supply facilities 10 and the multiple treatment facilities 12. This makes it possible to more appropriately or efficiently supply biomass A to each treatment facility 12 even when there are multiple supply facilities 10 and multiple treatment facilities 12.

[0166] (Another example of calculating the supply amount of raw material biomass) In the above explanation, the calculation unit 74 calculated the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 from one storage facility 13 based on the state of the raw material biomass A0 in that storage facility 13. However, this is not limited thereto, and the calculation unit 74 may calculate the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 from multiple storage facilities 13 based on the state of the raw material biomass A0 in those multiple storage facilities 13. A specific example will be explained below.

[0167] For example, the calculation unit 74 may acquire the amount of raw material biomass A0 requested by the first supply facility 10A (requested amount), and calculate the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 from each storage facility 13 to the first supply facility 10A based on the requested amount and the storage amount of raw material biomass A0 in each storage facility 13. That is, in this case, the calculation unit 74 may calculate the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 from each storage facility 13 to the first supply facility 10A to be an amount that is within the range of the storage amount of raw material biomass A0 in each storage facility 13 and such that the total value of raw material biomass A0 from each storage facility 13 falls within the range of the requested amount.

[0168] Further, for example, the calculation unit 74 may calculate the supply amount of raw biomass A0 from each storage facility 13 to the first supply facility 10A based on the properties of the raw biomass A0 in each storage facility 13. In this case, for example, the calculation unit 74 may calculate the supply amount of raw biomass A0 from each storage facility 13 to the first supply facility 10A based on the properties of the raw biomass A0 in each storage facility 13 and the required properties of the raw biomass A0 in the first supply facility 10A. For example, in this case, the supply ratio of raw biomass A0 for each storage facility 13 (i.e., the supply amount from each storage facility 13 relative to the total supply amount) is calculated so that the properties (mixed properties) of the raw biomass A0 when the raw biomass A0 supplied from each storage facility 13 is mixed satisfies the required properties of the raw biomass A0. The calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of raw biomass A0 for each storage facility 13 based on this supply ratio of raw biomass A0. In this way, by calculating the supply amount of raw biomass A0 according to the supply ratio for each storage facility 13, raw biomass A0 can be supplied to the first supply facility 10A so that, for example, variations in the properties of the raw biomass A0 in each of the multiple storage facilities 13 are canceled out.

[0169] Furthermore, for example, the calculation unit 74 may calculate the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 for each storage facility 13 from both the storage amount and properties of the raw material biomass A0 in the multiple storage facilities 13. In this case, the calculation method may be, for example, a combination of the calculation method based on the storage amount and the calculation method based on the properties described above.

[0170] In this example, the calculation unit 74 may generate a transportation plan for each storage facility 13 in the same manner as described above.

[0171] The output control unit 76 of the information processing device 14 outputs (transmits) the supply amount of raw material biomass A0 calculated by the calculation unit 74 to the control device 24 of each storage facility 13. The output control unit 76 may also output a transport plan to the control device 24 of each storage facility 13. This allows the storage facility 13 side (the control device side of the storage facility 13) to appropriately transport the raw material biomass A0 to the first supply facility 10A in accordance with the transmitted supply amount.

[0172] In this way, by setting the supply amount from each storage facility 13 based on the status of multiple storage facilities 13, a more appropriate transportation plan can be created.

[0173] For example, it is conceivable that the multiple supply facilities 10 are facilities that can operate without problems only within a predetermined numerical range indicated in the required properties of the raw biomass A0, such as the moisture content, nitrogen / carbon ratio, and expected residue content of the raw biomass A0. In this case, it is assumed that the properties of the raw biomass A0 stored in the storage facility 13 nearest one of the multiple supply facilities 10 (first supply facility 10A) exceed the predetermined numerical range (the required properties of the raw biomass A0) as a result of detection by the detection device 13B. One example of this event is a case where waste with properties that do not match those of average municipal waste is generated in a localized and temporary concentration due to a sudden event such as an accident, disaster, or fire, or due to human activities necessitated by seasonal changes such as leaf collection or tree felling. In this case, consider a case where the properties of the raw material biomass A0 stored in another storage facility 13 among the multiple storage facilities 13 are below the predetermined numerical range (required properties of the raw material biomass A0) as a result of detection by the detection device 13B. In this case, it is possible to calculate a transportation plan for transporting the raw material biomass A0 stored in the nearest storage facility 13 among the multiple storage facilities 13 so that the raw material biomass A0 stored in the other storage facility 13 is mixed with each other and distributed and transported so that the properties of the raw material biomass A0 transported to each of the multiple supply facilities 10 fall within the predetermined numerical range (as a whole). In other words, based on the detection results of the detection device 13B, the calculation unit 74 calculates a transportation plan for transporting the raw material biomass A0 to the supply facility 10 so that the variations in the properties of the raw material biomass A0 stored in each of the multiple storage facilities 13 are canceled out.

[0174] By transporting the wastewater in this manner, it is possible to suppress changes in the operating conditions of the multiple supply facilities 10 and changes in the specifications and number of various pieces of equipment, including the hydrolysis equipment, that make up the supply facility 10. Furthermore, it is possible to standardize the performance of the equipment. This has the effect of further suppressing increases in equipment costs and confusion among workers due to changes in operating conditions. Furthermore, the above effects increase the efficiency of processing in the downstream processing facility 12, thereby improving the efficiency of the entire energy generation system.

[0175] (Variation of the Seventh Embodiment) In addition to calculating the transportation plan in the above embodiment, incentive conditions or penalty conditions corresponding to the transportation plan may be set. The incentive conditions here refer to the degree of incentive given to the management entity of the storage facility 13, depending on the supply amount per unit of raw material biomass A0. Furthermore, the penalty conditions here refer to the degree of penalty imposed on the management entity of the storage facility 13, depending on the supply amount per unit of raw material biomass A0. The incentive or penalty may be monetary.

[0176] As an example, the calculation unit 74 may set the incentive conditions so that a financial incentive is paid to the entity (management entity) in charge of the storage facility 13 that supplies the raw material biomass A0 that satisfies the predetermined numerical range (required properties of the raw material biomass A0) in order to promote an increase in the supply amount of the raw material biomass A0 that falls within the above-mentioned predetermined numerical range (required properties of the raw material biomass A0). Conversely, for the raw material biomass A0 that does not fall within the predetermined numerical range (does not satisfy the required properties of the raw material biomass A0), the calculation unit 74 may set the penalty conditions so that a financial penalty is owed to the entity (management entity) in charge of the storage facility 13 that supplies the raw material biomass A0 that does not satisfy the predetermined numerical range (required properties of the raw material biomass A0), so that the supply amount decreases.

[0177] Furthermore, when the calculation unit 74 calculates the supply ratio of the raw material biomass A0 for each storage facility 13 so that variations in the properties of the raw material biomass A0 cancel each other out and calculates a transportation plan for transporting the raw material biomass A0 to the supply facility 10, the calculation unit 74 may set the monetary incentive or penalty condition in conjunction with the calculation of the transportation plan. That is, for example, the calculation unit 74 calculates a transportation plan so that the raw material biomass A0 is distributed and transported for each storage facility 13 according to the calculated supply ratio, and the raw material biomass A0 is mixed within the supply facility 10, thereby achieving the required properties of the mixed raw material biomass A0. In this case, the calculation unit 74 may set a monetary incentive or penalty condition corresponding to or based on the supply ratio.

[0178] The output control unit 76 of the information processing device 14 may output (transmit) the incentive conditions or penalty conditions (or both) calculated by the calculation unit 74 to the control device 24 of each storage facility 13. This allows the storage facility 13 side (the control device of the storage facility 13) to consider the supply amount of raw material biomass A0, etc., taking into account the incentive conditions, etc.

[0179] In this way, by setting monetary incentives or penalty conditions and notifying the responsible entity of the storage facility 13 of these conditions, the transportation plan can be executed, thereby extending an economically rational system to the storage facility 13. This can further promote the effects of suppressing the confusion among workers due to the increase in equipment costs and changes in operating conditions, as well as the effect of improving the processing efficiency of the downstream processing facility 12, and the resulting efficiency of the entire energy generation system.

[0180] Effect of the Present Disclosure The information processing device 14 according to the first aspect of the present disclosure includes a first acquisition unit 70 that acquires a supplyable amount of biomass A for each of a plurality of supply facilities 10 that supply biomass A, a second acquisition unit 72 that acquires a required amount of biomass A for a processing facility 12 that processes the biomass A to generate energy resources, and a calculation unit 74 that calculates a supply amount of biomass A to the processing facility 12 for each supply facility 10 based on the supplyable amount and the required amount. According to the present disclosure, the supply amount from each supply facility 10 is set taking into consideration the supplyable amount of biomass A from each supply facility 10 and the required amount of biomass A from the processing facility 12, so that the processing facility 12 can appropriately collect biomass A from each supply facility 10.

[0181] An information processing device 14 according to a second aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to the first aspect, wherein at least one of the plurality of supply facilities 10 is a facility (first supply facility 10A) that processes raw biomass A0 to produce biomass A1, and the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the supplyable amount based on at least one of the amount of raw biomass A0 supplied to the first supply facility 10A and the amount of biomass A1 produced by the first supply facility 10A. According to the present disclosure, by calculating the supplyable amount of biomass A using the amounts of raw biomass A0 and biomass A, the supplyable amount can be accurately calculated according to the actual situation, and biomass A can be more appropriately collected.

[0182] An information processing device 14 according to a third aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to the second aspect, and the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the available supply amount based on location information of at least one of the supply facility 10 and the treatment facility 12. According to the present disclosure, by using the location information of each facility, the supply amount can be set taking into consideration the characteristics (e.g., population density) of the area where the supply facility 10 is constructed, and therefore, the treatment facility 12 can appropriately collect the biomass A.

[0183] An information processing device 14 according to a fourth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to the second or third aspect, in which a first acquisition unit 70 acquires property information of at least one of the biomass A1 and the raw biomass A0, and a calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount for each supply facility 10 based on the property information as well. According to the present disclosure, the supply amount can be set taking into account the properties of the biomass, allowing the processing facility 12 to appropriately collect the biomass A.

[0184] An information processing device 14 according to a fifth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to the fourth aspect, in which the first acquisition unit 70 acquires, as property information, information on the moisture content of at least one of the biomass A1 and the raw biomass A0. According to the present disclosure, the moisture content of the biomass can be taken into consideration and the supply amount can be set to optimize the gas composition, such as hydrogen components and carbon components, when the biomass A is gasified, so that the biomass A can be appropriately collected by the processing equipment 12.

[0185] An information processing device 14 according to a sixth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to any of the second to fifth aspects, in which the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the supplyable amount based also on the storage amount of biomass A1 generated in the first supply facility 10A stored in the storage device 26. According to the present disclosure, the supply amount can be set taking the storage amount into consideration, so that the processing facility 12 can appropriately collect the biomass A.

[0186] An information processing device 14 according to a seventh aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to the sixth aspect, in which the first acquisition unit 70 calculates a predicted storage amount of biomass A1 for a predetermined period for which the supply amount is to be calculated based on the storage amount of biomass A1, and the calculation unit 74 calculates a supply amount of biomass A1 based on the predicted storage amount. According to the present disclosure, the supply amount can be set taking into consideration the predicted storage amount of biomass A1 for a predetermined future period, so that the processing facility 12 can appropriately collect the biomass A1.

[0187] An information processing device 14 according to an eighth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to the seventh aspect, in which the first acquisition unit 70 estimates a change in the storage amount of biomass A1 from the present to a predetermined period of time, and calculates a predicted storage amount based on the change in the storage amount and the storage amount of biomass A1. According to the present disclosure, by estimating the change in the storage amount and calculating the predicted storage amount, it is possible to calculate the predicted storage amount with high accuracy, and to cause the processing facility 12 to appropriately collect the biomass A1.

[0188] An information processing device 14 according to a ninth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to the eighth aspect, in which the first acquisition unit 70 acquires the supply amount of raw biomass A0 to the first supply facility 10A, and estimates the change in the storage amount of biomass by inputting the acquired supply amount of raw biomass A0 into an AI model that has undergone machine learning to determine the correspondence between the supply amount of raw biomass A0 to the first supply facility 10A and the change in the storage amount of biomass A. According to the present disclosure, by estimating the change in the storage amount through machine learning, the predicted storage amount can be calculated with high accuracy, and the processing facility 12 can be caused to appropriately collect the biomass A1.

[0189] An information processing device 14 according to a tenth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to any of the first to ninth aspects, wherein the processing facility 12 is a facility that produces fuel F from biomass A, and the second acquisition unit 72 calculates the required amount of biomass A based on the planned production amount of fuel F. According to the present disclosure, the required amount of biomass A is calculated from the planned production amount of fuel F, so that an amount of biomass A appropriate for producing the planned amount of fuel F can be collected.

[0190] An information processing device 14 according to an eleventh aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to the tenth aspect, wherein the calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of mixture G1 to be mixed with biomass A to produce fuel F, based on the planned production amount of fuel F and the calculated supply amount of biomass A. According to the present disclosure, since the supply amount of mixture G1 is calculated from the planned production amount of fuel, it is possible to mix an appropriate amount of mixture G1, and the yield of fuel F can be improved.

[0191] An information processing device 14 according to a twelfth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to any of the first to eleventh aspects, wherein at least one of the plurality of supply facilities 10 supplies a different type of biomass A from the other supply facilities 10, and the calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount for each supply facility 10 based also on the type of biomass A of each supply facility 10. According to the present disclosure, the supply amount can be set taking into consideration the type of biomass A, so that the processing facility 12 can appropriately collect the biomass A.

[0192] An information processing device 14 according to a thirteenth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to any of the first to twelfth aspects, wherein a second acquisition unit 72 acquires the required amount of biomass A for a plurality of treatment facilities 12, and a calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of biomass A from each supply facility 10 to each treatment facility 12. According to the present disclosure, even when there are a plurality of supply facilities 10 and a plurality of treatment facilities 12, it is possible to cause each treatment facility 12 to more appropriately collect biomass A.

[0193] An information processing device 14 according to a fourteenth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to any of the first to thirteenth aspects, in which the calculation unit 74 sets the price of the biomass A based on the type of biomass A. By setting the price of the biomass A according to the type, it is possible to determine the price according to, for example, the quality or value of the biomass A, and to promote the supply of biomass A to the processing facility 12.

[0194] An information processing device 14 according to a fifteenth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to any of the first to fourteenth aspects, wherein when the required amount of biomass A cannot be supplied to the treatment facility 12, the calculation unit 74 updates the amount of biomass supplied from the supply facility 10 to the treatment facility 12 to increase the amount so that the amount of biomass A supplied to the treatment facility 12 reaches the required amount. According to the present disclosure, by updating the supply amount of biomass A in this manner, the required amount of biomass A can be supplied to the treatment facility 12.

[0195] An information processing device 14 according to a sixteenth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to the fifteenth aspect, in which the calculation unit 74 sets the price of the biomass A corresponding to the increased supply amount higher than the initial price. By setting the price in this manner, an incentive can be given to businesses that agree to the update of the supply amount, and it is possible to support the supply of the required amount of biomass A.

[0196] An information processing device 14 according to a seventeenth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to any of the first to sixteenth aspects, wherein at least one of the plurality of supply facilities 10 is a facility that gasifies biomass A1 using a gasification device 40 to produce raw material gas G, and the first acquisition unit 70 calculates the supplyable amount of raw material gas G as the supplyable amount of biomass A, the second acquisition unit 72 calculates the required amount of raw material gas G as the required amount of biomass A, and the calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of raw material gas G as the supply amount of biomass A. According to the present disclosure, when gasification is performed in the supply facility 10, raw material gas G can be appropriately supplied to the processing facility 12.

[0197] An information processing device 14 according to an eighteenth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to any of the first to seventeenth aspects, and further includes a third acquisition unit 73 that acquires at least one of the quantity and properties of raw biomass A0 stored in storage facility 13 that is capable of storing raw biomass A0 to be transported to supply facility (first supply facility 10A) that processes raw biomass A0 to produce biomass A, and a calculation unit 74 calculates the supply amount of raw biomass A0 from the storage facility 13 to the supply facility (first supply facility 10A) based on at least one of the quantity and properties of the raw biomass A0. According to the present disclosure, raw biomass A0 can be appropriately supplied to the first supply facility 10A, and biomass can be more appropriately collected from each facility.

[0198] An information processing device 14 according to a 19th aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to the 18th aspect, wherein the calculation unit 74 calculates a transport plan for transporting raw material biomass A0 from one or more storage facilities 13 to a supply facility (first supply facility 10A) according to at least one of the operation volume and processing content of the supply facility. According to the present disclosure, raw material biomass A0 can be appropriately supplied to the first supply facility 10A, and biomass can be more appropriately collected from each facility.

[0199] An information processing device 14 according to a twentieth aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to the eighteenth or nineteenth aspect, and when there are multiple storage facilities 13, the transportation plan is planned so that variations in the properties of the raw material biomass A0 stored in the multiple storage facilities 13 are canceled out. According to the present disclosure, the raw material biomass A0 can be appropriately supplied to the first supply facility 10A, and biomass can be more appropriately collected from each facility.

[0200] An information processing device 14 according to a twenty-first aspect of the present disclosure is the information processing device 14 according to the nineteenth or twentieth aspect, wherein the calculation unit 74 calculates a transportation plan and sets an incentive or penalty condition corresponding to the transportation plan. According to the present disclosure, the efficiency of the entire energy generation system can be further promoted.

[0201] An energy generation system 2 according to a 22nd aspect of the present disclosure includes an information processing device 14 according to any one of the 1st to 21st aspects and a processing facility 12. According to the present disclosure, it is possible to cause the processing facility 12 to appropriately collect biomass A.

[0202] The energy generation system 2 according to a twenty-third aspect of the present disclosure further includes a supply facility 10, and sets a transport plan for the biomass A from the supply facility 10 to the treatment facility 12 based on the supply amount calculated by the calculation unit 74. According to the present disclosure, the treatment facility 12 can be caused to appropriately collect the biomass A.

[0203] An information processing method according to a twenty-fourth aspect of the present disclosure includes the steps of acquiring a supplyable amount of biomass A for each of a plurality of supply facilities 10 that supply biomass A, acquiring a required amount of biomass A for a processing facility 12 that processes the biomass A to generate energy resources, and calculating, for each supply facility 10, a supply amount of biomass A to the processing facility 12 based on the supplyable amount and the required amount. According to the present disclosure, the processing facility 12 can be caused to appropriately collect biomass A from each supply facility 10.

[0204] A program according to a twenty-fifth aspect of the present disclosure causes a computer to execute the following steps: acquiring a supplyable amount of biomass A for each of a plurality of supply facilities 10 that supply biomass A; acquiring a required amount of biomass A for a processing facility 12 that processes the biomass A to generate energy resources; and calculating, for each supply facility 10, the supply amount of biomass A to the processing facility 12 based on the supplyable amount and the required amount. According to the present disclosure, the processing facility 12 can be caused to appropriately collect biomass A from each supply facility 10.

[0205] Although the embodiments of the present disclosure have been described above, the embodiments are not limited to the contents of these embodiments. Furthermore, the above-described components include those that can be easily imagined by a person skilled in the art, those that are substantially the same, and those that are within the so-called equivalent range. Furthermore, the above-described components can be combined as appropriate. Furthermore, various omissions, substitutions, or modifications of the components can be made without departing from the spirit of the above-described embodiments.

[0206] REFERENCE SIGNS LIST 1 Energy regeneration system 2 Energy generation system 10 Supply facility 10A First supply facility 10B Second supply facility 12 Processing facility 14 Information processing device 70 First acquisition unit 72 Second acquisition unit 74 Calculation unit A, A1, A2 Biomass A0 Raw material biomass G Raw material gas F, F1 Fuel

Claims

1. An information processing device including: a first acquisition unit that acquires a supplyable amount of biomass for each of a plurality of supply facilities that supply the biomass; a second acquisition unit that acquires a required amount of biomass for processing facilities that process the biomass to generate energy resources; and a calculation unit that calculates a supply amount of the biomass to the processing facilities for each of the supply facilities based on the supplyable amount and the required amount.

2. The information processing device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of supply facilities is a facility that processes raw biomass to produce the biomass, and the first acquisition unit calculates the supplyable amount based on at least one of the amount of raw biomass supplied to the supply facility and the amount of biomass produced in the supply facility.

3. The information processing device according to claim 2, wherein the first acquisition unit calculates the available supply amount based on location information of at least one of the supply facility and the processing facility.

4. The information processing device described in claim 2, wherein the first acquisition unit acquires property information of at least one of the biomass and the raw biomass, and the calculation unit calculates the supply amount for each of the supply facilities based also on the property information.

5. The information processing device according to claim 4, wherein the first acquisition unit acquires the moisture content of at least one of the biomass and the raw material biomass as the property information.

6. An information processing device described in any one of claims 2 to 5, wherein the first acquisition unit calculates the supplyable amount based also on the amount of biomass already generated in the supply equipment stored in a storage device.

7. The information processing device according to claim 6, wherein the first acquisition unit calculates a predicted storage amount of the biomass for a specified period for which the supplyable amount is calculated based on the storage amount of the biomass, and the calculation unit calculates the supply amount of the biomass based on the predicted storage amount.

8. The information processing device according to claim 7, wherein the first acquisition unit estimates the trend in the storage amount of the biomass from the present to the specified period, and calculates the predicted storage amount based on the trend in the storage amount and the storage amount of the biomass.

9. The information processing device according to claim 8, wherein the first acquisition unit acquires the supply amount of raw biomass to the supply facility, and inputs the acquired supply amount of raw biomass into an AI model that has undergone machine learning to determine the correspondence between the supply amount of raw biomass to the supply facility and the trend in the storage amount of biomass, thereby estimating the trend in the storage amount of biomass.

10. An information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the processing equipment is equipment for producing fuel from the biomass, and the second acquisition unit calculates the required amount of the biomass based on the planned production amount of the fuel.

11. The information processing device according to claim 10, wherein the calculation unit calculates a supply amount of a mixture to be mixed with the biomass to produce the fuel based on the planned production amount of the fuel and the calculated supply amount of the biomass.

12. An information processing device described in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein at least one of the plurality of supply facilities supplies a different type of biomass from the other supply facilities, and the calculation unit calculates the supply amount for each of the supply facilities based also on the type of biomass of each of the supply facilities.

13. An information processing device described in any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the second acquisition unit acquires the required amount of biomass for multiple processing facilities, and the calculation unit calculates the supply amount of biomass from each of the supply facilities to each of the processing facilities.

14. The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein the calculation unit sets a price for the biomass based on the type of the biomass.

15. An information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5, wherein, when the required amount of biomass cannot be supplied to the processing equipment, the calculation unit updates the supply amount of biomass from the supply equipment to the processing equipment to increase the amount so that the supply amount of biomass to the processing equipment reaches the required amount.

16. The information processing device according to claim 15, wherein the calculation unit sets the price of the biomass by the increased supply amount higher than the initial price.

17. The information processing device of claim 1, wherein at least one of the plurality of supply facilities is a facility that gasifies biomass using a gasification device to generate raw material gas, the first acquisition unit calculates the supplyable amount of the raw material gas as the supplyable amount of the biomass, the second acquisition unit calculates the required amount of the raw material gas as the required amount of the biomass, and the calculation unit calculates the supply amount of the raw material gas as the supply amount of the biomass.

18. An information processing device as described in claim 1, further comprising a third acquisition unit that acquires at least one of the amount and properties of the raw biomass stored in a storage facility capable of storing the raw biomass to be transported to the supply facility that processes the raw biomass to produce the biomass, and the calculation unit calculates the amount of the raw biomass supplied from the storage facility to the supply facility based on at least one of the amount and properties of the raw biomass.

19. The information processing device according to claim 18, wherein the calculation unit calculates a transportation plan for transporting the raw biomass from one or more storage facilities to the supply facility according to at least one of the operating volume and processing content of the supply facility.

20. The information processing device described in claim 19, wherein, when there are multiple storage facilities, the transportation plan is planned so that variations in the properties of the raw biomass stored in each of the multiple storage facilities cancel each other out.

21. The information processing device according to claim 19 or 20, wherein the calculation unit, in addition to calculating the transportation plan, sets an incentive or penalty condition corresponding to the transportation plan.

22. An energy generation system comprising: an information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5; and the processing facility.

23. The energy generation system according to claim 22, further comprising the supply facility, and setting a transport plan for the biomass from the supply facility to the processing facility based on the supply amount calculated by the calculation unit.

24. An information processing method comprising the steps of: acquiring a supplyable amount of biomass for each of a plurality of supply facilities that supplies the biomass; acquiring a required amount of biomass for a processing facility that processes the biomass to generate energy resources; and calculating, for each of the supply facilities, the supply amount of biomass to the processing facility based on the supplyable amount and the required amount.

25. A program that causes a computer to execute the steps of: acquiring a supplyable amount of biomass for each of a plurality of supply facilities that supplies the biomass; acquiring a required amount of biomass for a processing facility that processes the biomass to generate energy resources; and calculating, for each of the supply facilities, the amount of biomass to be supplied to the processing facility based on the supplyable amount and the required amount.

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