A sustainable energy planning endeavor for selecting a waste-to-energy option

Abstract

Sustainable energy planning endeavor includes choosing among various energy alternatives on the basis of multiple sustainability indicators. The conventional methods like the technical feasibility or cost benefit analysis is not sufficient to incorporate all the elements of an environmentally sound energy plan. A sustainable selection of the energy alternatives considers social and environmental criteria along with technical and economic. Therefore, the sustainable selection provides a different result than the conventional one. Multiple criteria decision analysis can operate with a wide range of sustainability indicators and provide a valid decision support for choosing among alternatives based on the goal and scope of the study. In this study, a Waste-to-Energy option is chosen for a cement industry located in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The sustainability indicators are identified and ranked based on the interview taken from three decision makers. Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process method is adopted which utilized the subjective judgments taken from three decision makers to assign the relative weight values for the sustainability indicators. Finally these relative weight values are utilized to compare a set of Waste-to-Energy alternatives and find the best solution by adopting TOPSIS method.