Applications of FAHP in analysing energy systems

Energy systems play a crucial role in the socio-economic development of human civilization. A sustainable energy system has balanced energy production and consumption with a minimal impact on the environment, giving the opportunity for a country to employ its social and economic activities. The existing fossil-based energy systems have contributed to depletion in reserves of fossil fuels in addition to increasing the risk of environmental degradation, leading to global problems such as climate change. Hence, renewable energy sources and ecologically clean technologies are promoted globally as a measure to conserve the environment. As per predictions of the International Energy Agency (IEA) in 2011, solar powered generators are expected to produce most of the world’s electricity in the coming 50 years (Suganthi et al., 2015). However, the cost, lower efciency, and difculty in scalability for applications at commercial scale are the major concerns in the case of renewable technologies. The other alternative is to optimize the performance of existing energy systems based on fossil sources and develop the technology to minimize environmental emissions. Energy investment decisions for evaluation of energy sector plans, choice of sources and technologies, and policies are inherently multiobjective in nature. Energy modeling and energy planning are important for future economic development and environmental security, which depends on several qualitative and quantitative factors that need to be addressed and analyzed appropriately (Zhou et al., 2006). This analysis enforces the need for decision-making methods that would make it easier to select the best set of alternatives in different aspects.