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2012 | Buch

Multi Criteria Analysis in the Renewable Energy Industry

verfasst von: José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo

Verlag: Springer London

Buchreihe : Green Energy and Technology

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Über dieses Buch

Decision makers in the Renewable Energy sector face an increasingly complex social, economic, technological, and environmental scenario in their decision process. Different groups of decision-makers become involved in the process, each group bringing along different criteria therefore, policy formulation for fossil fuel substitution by Renewable Energies must be addressed in a multi-criteria context. Multi Criteria Analysis in the Renewable Energy Industry is a direct response to the increasing interest in the Renewable Energy industry which can be seen as an important remedy to many environmental problems that the world faces today. The multiplicity of criteria and the increasingly complex social, economic, technological, and environmental scenario makes multi-criteria analysis a valuable tool in the decision-making process for fossil fuel substitution.

The detailed chapters explore the use of the Multi-criteria decision-making methods and how they provide valuable assistance in reaching equitable and acceptable solutions in the selection of renewable energy projects. Common multi-criteria decision-making methods including Analytical Hierarchy Process, PROMETHEE, ELECTRE, TOPSIS and VIKOR are explored in detail with an application case of each method included at the end of each chapter. As such, Multi Criteria Analysis in the Renewable Energy Industry is an ideal resource for those groups of individuals, institutions and administration such as local authorities, academic institutions, environmental groups, and governments that, through their priorities and evaluation systems, have interests at stake and directly or indirectly influence the decision-making process.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Frontmatter
Chapter 1. The Renewable Energy Industry and the Need for a Multi-Criteria Analysis
Abstract
Energy systems play an important role in the economic and social development of a country. The selection among different alternatives for the expansion of renewable energy sources, where the environmental dimension is added to the usual economic, technical and social criteria demands the utilization of powerful decision-aid techniques. The traditional single decision-making approach is no longer able to handle these problems. The multiplicity of criteria, and the involvement of different actors in the decision procedure, makes multi-criteria analysis a valuable tool in the policy formulation for fossil fuel energy substitution by renewable energy sources.
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Chapter 2. Multi-Criteria Analysis
Abstract
Decision-making is the study of identifying and choosing alternatives to find the best solution based on different factors and considering the decision makers’ expectations. Every decision is made within a decision environment, which is defined as the collection of information, alternatives, values and preferences available at the time when the decision must be made. The difficult point in decision-making is the multiplicity of the criteria set for judging the alternatives.
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Chapter 3. AHP
Abstract
When, for a given problem, a decision-maker wishes to evaluate the performance of a number of alternative solutions and multiple objectives are important, it may be difficult to choose between alternatives. These alternatives can be evaluated in terms of a number of decision criteria and sometimes an alternative is superior in terms of one or some of the decision criteria, but inferior in terms of some other criteria. There are several reasons for adopting the AHP method as a multi criteria decision-making tool.
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Chapter 4. Weighted Sum Method and Weighted Product Method
Abstract
In this chapter we look at two simple multi-criteria decision-making methods, the Weighted Sum method and the Weighted Product method. In the Weighted Sum method the score of an alternative is equal to the weighted sum of its evaluation ratings, where the weights are the importance weights associated with each attribute. In the Weighted Product method, instead of calculating sub-scores by multiplying performance scores times attribute importance, performance scores are raised to the power of the attribute importance weight.
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Chapter 5. PROMETHEE
Abstract
PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment Evaluation) is a multicriteria decision making method developed by Brans et al [1]. By 1994, the method has been extended to encompass six ranking formats: PROMETHEE I (partial ranking), PROMETHEE II (complete ranking), PROMETHEE III (ranking based on intervals), PROMETHEE IV (continuous case), PROMETHEE V (net flows and integer linear programming) and PROMETHEE VI (representation of human brain). The method uses the outranking methodology to rank the alternatives combined with the ease of use and decreased complexity. Based on extensions of the notion of criterion, the method is well adapted to problem where a finite number of alternative actions are to be ranked considering several criteria.
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Chapter 6. ELECTRE
Abstract
The methods belonging to the ELECTRE family (ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité) devised by Roy grew from the idea that rigorous mathematical axioms are unsuited to describing a complex reality like the one of a contradiction-laden decision process. ELECTRE methods are based on the partial aggregation of preferences, which is based on the principle that the decision-maker is not perfectly rational and can therefore express, for each pair of actions (a and b), not only the preference (P) or indifference (I) towards one action or the other, but also a less marked preference labeled ‘weak’ (Q) or a situation of incomparability (R).
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Chapter 7. TOPSIS
Abstract
The principle behind the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solutions (TOPSIS) is simple. An ideal and a negative-ideal solutions are formed. The ideal solution is formed as a composite of the best performance value exhibited by any alternative for each attribute and the negative-ideal solution is the composite of the worst performance values. The chosen alternative should be as close to the ideal solution as possible and as far from the negative-ideal solution as possible. In this chapter, the method is applied to the selection of a renewable project for electric generation.
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Chapter 8. VIKOR
Abstract
The Compromise Ranking Method, also known as the VIKOR method (VlseKriterijumska Optimizacija I Kompromisno Resenje in serbian, means Multicriteria Optimization and Compromise Solution), is an effective toll in multi-criteria decision making.
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Chapter 9. A Multi-Criteria Data Envelopment Analysis
Abstract
To estimate the efficiency scores of companies, various methods have been developed during the past two decades. These methods are generally classified as parametric and non-parametric methods. In the parametric methods, a cost of production function is estimated, whereas in the non-parametric methods, it is not necessary to estimate the cost or production function. Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) are the major parametric and non-parametric models respectively. In this chapter a Multiple Criteria Data Envelopment Analysis (MCDEA) model is developed and applied to the selection of a renewable project based on the concept of efficiency.
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Chapter 10. Multi-Attribute Utility Theory
Abstract
Multi-attribute utility theory is an extension of Utility theory developed to help decision-makers assign utility values, taking into consideration the decision-maker’s preferences, to outcomes by evaluating these in terms of multiple attributes and combining these individual assignments to obtain overall utility measures. Utility theory has generally been used to develop a relationship between utility and costs incurred as a consequence of a particular decision.
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Chapter 11. Fuzzy PROMETHEE
Abstract
In many decision-making problems the decision maker’s judgments are not crisp, and it is relatively difficult for the decision maker to provide precise numerical values for the criteria or attributes. These kinds of criteria make the evaluation process hard and vague. To deal with vagueness of human thought Zadeh [1] first introduced the fuzzy set theory, which was oriented to the rationality of uncertainty due to imprecision or vagueness. A major contribution of fuzzy set theory is its capability of representing vague data. In a classical set, an element belongs to, or does not belong to, a set whereas an element of a fuzzy set naturally belongs to the set with a membership value from the interval [0,1]. In this chapter, the procedure of the PROMETHEE method described in Chap.​ 5 will be applied making the assumption that the performance of alternative solutions are fuzzy while the preferences of the decision-maker, such as the parameters of generalized criteria and the weighting factors, are not. That is, the performance of alternative solutions can be determined only approximately and therefore is introduced into the calculations as a fuzzy number.
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Chapter 12. FAHP
Abstract
The AHP method introduced by Saaty (The analytical hierarchy process. McGraw-Hill, NY) shows the process of determining the priority of a set of alternatives and the relative importance of attributes in a multi-criteria decision-making problem. The primary advantage of the AHP approach is the relative easy with which it handles multiple criteria and performs qualitative and quantitative data. However AHP is frequently criticized for its inability to adequately accommodate the inherent uncertainty and imprecision associated with mapping decision-maker perceptions to extract numbers Hu (Expert Syst Appl 36:7142–147, 2009)
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Chapter 13. The Shapley Value
Abstract
In fuzzy Multi-criteria decision-making problems, the ranking of alternatives must take into account their fuzzy scores in all criteria, the weights assigned to each decision criterion, the possible difficulties of comparing two alternatives when one is significantly better than the other on a subset of criteria, but much worse on at least one criterion from the complementary subset of criteria, and the decision maker’s attitude towards the risk associated with evaluation.
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Backmatter
Metadaten
Titel
Multi Criteria Analysis in the Renewable Energy Industry
verfasst von
José Ramón San Cristóbal Mateo
Copyright-Jahr
2012
Verlag
Springer London
Electronic ISBN
978-1-4471-2346-0
Print ISBN
978-1-4471-2345-3
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-2346-0