Abstract :
Energy needs are increasing all over the world. The current sources of energy are decreasing rapidly and their usage is causing environmental pollution including air and water pollution. Due to this reason, the need of the hour is to switch towards renewable and sustainable energy sources. The selection of a suitable renewable energy source is the most important task to meet the country’s energy need, especially in a scenario where these alternatives negatively affect the surrounding environment. Involvement of multiple benchmarks such as technical, environmental, economic, land occupy, and sustainability are making energy planning more complex for decision makers. Wind, biomass, hydrothermal, geothermal and solar are the alternative renewable energy sources in Pakistan. In such circumstances, companies need tools and techniques to find out the best solution in the contest of conflicting objectives, multiple alternatives and different criteria. Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques are the decision supporting techniques which are ideal for such scenarios. After accessing the potential of energy generation from different renewable energy resources in Pakistan through literature review and discussion with experts, this research work presents a hybrid model for decision support about the selection of the renewable energy source in Pakistan. In order to develop this model, two MCDM techniques, i.e. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) are employed in this study. The results of the analysis suggest that solar power is the best option in Pakistan. The proposed model will help the policy makers and energy planners for the development of long run energy policies for the country.
Keyword :
Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), Energy Planning, Renewable Energy, Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS)