Multi-Criteria Method for the Selection of Renewable Energy Sources in the Polish Industrial Sector

Abstract

Rational decision-making requires assessing the advantages and disadvantages of options, including nonmarket effects (such as environmental effects). This also applies to strategic decision-making in the industrial sector to select alternative renewable energy source (RES). Often, a variety of criteria can be used to select a renewable energy source, whereas no ideal family of criteria for renewable energy selection for industry has been defined in the literature. It was concluded that there is a need to support the actions of industrial development based on RES, which will contribute significantly to overcoming the limitations of the negative effect on the environment in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. There is a clear need for a systematic and polyvalent multicriteria approach to planning in industry. Therefore, a method for choosing the preferred renewable source of electricity for industry has been developed, which considers key criteria of RES choice: Expert opinions, the costs of obtaining the energy and maintaining energy installations, and the volume of electricity from RES. This article offers a modified multicriteria selection method based on a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (fuzzy AHP) and the technique for preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS), integrated with a qualitative price analysis (ACJ). This new method was tested through a case study on selecting a preferred RES in Polish industrial conditions. The research results indicate that the proposed method of choosing the preferred renewable energy source can be used in industrial enterprises that strive to meet their energy needs in accordance with the principles of social responsibility.

Model of Choice Photovoltaic Panels Considering Customers’ Expectations

“…Negative climate changes lead to the need to make effective decisions in the context of sustainability [1][2][3]. This is mainly manifested in anthropogenic climate changes, of which 90% arise from greenhouse gases [4]. An analysis by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) [5] showed that global emissions should be reduced to net-zero within the next few decades.…”

“…In this context, 137 countries have committed to carbon neutrality, as confirmed, for example, by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit or the Carbon Neutrality Coalition [6]. In order to reduce greenhouse gases, it is necessary to use renewable energy sources (RES) [4,7], e.g., renewable energy in the form of water, wind, solar, biomass, or geothermal energy [8]. It is considered that after 2050, 50% of the global energy supply will be produced by RES, where the volume of RES is considered as 140 times greater than the worldwide annual energy consumption [9].…”

“…The choice of the most favorable photovoltaic panel for the customer is a current problem, e.g., due to the dynamic growth of solar energy development (mainly from photovoltaic), and a need to adapt photovoltaic panels to changing customer requirements [1,2,4,16]. Additionally, the global photovoltaic industry is undergoing a transformation, and the number of different kinds of photovoltaic panels continues to grow [27].…”

Spatiotemporal Patterns and Influencing Mechanism of Urban Residential Energy Consumption in China

“…China, as the largest developing country globally, has become the largest energy consumer [1] and energy producer [2]. Energy has been a key factor in evaluating the sustainable development of an economy [3][4][5]. Residential energy consumption accounts for a large proportion of final energy consumption in China.…”

Method of Predicting Favourable Industrial Products

“…These methods were e.g. : Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP), or Fuzzy Technique for Order Preference By Similarity To Ideal Solution (FTOPSIS) (Ulewicz, Siwiec, Pacana, Tutak, Brodny, 2021;Siwiec, Bednarova, Pacana, 2020). However, these actions are still not enough.…”