Application of Fuzzy AHP Approach for Evaluation of Sustainable Energy Sources in India

Abstract

Energy is an essential factor for the socio-economic development of societies and the nation. Energy consumption in India has risen very fast in the last few decades due to industrialization and urbanization. It will further increase in the future. To fulfill the increasing future energy demand, there is a necessity to find out the most sustainable energy source covering environmental, technical, economic, social, political and flexibility criteria. In this analysis both renewable (solar, wind, biomass, hydro) and nonrenewable (thermal, gas power, nuclear) energy sources are considered. Experts’ weight is collected in linguistic terminology and we employed a fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (AHP) approach to analyze the collected weights. By the analysis, solar energy is found as the most sustainable energy source in India. The sustainability order is followed by the wind, hydro, biomass, gas, nuclear and thermal energy respectively. Thermal energy is obtained as a least sustainable energy source in India because of scarcity in the availability of the fuels, a huge increase in fuel price and greenhouse gas emission.