A fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process based analysis for prioritization of enablers to pine briquettes based energy generation in alignment with the United Nations’ sustainable development goals: Evidence from India

Abstract

Pine needles are a major cause of forest fires in the western region of the Himalayas in India. There is a need to explore avenues for utilizing this forest bio residue. Pine needles in the form of briquettes are an important source of renewable energy as it has low carbon emissions, low-cost technological interventions, easy accessibility and direct community benefits. The purpose of this paper is to list, classify and rank the enablers supporting energy generation using briquettes made from dried pine needles. This study ranks the enablers by using the fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process which is a multi-criteria decision-making approach. This paper finds that technological enablers are key to such interventions using dried and fallen pine needles for energy generation. The second category is environment-related enablers that directly impact the environment, followed by the market-related factors including good demand for the bio briquettes by the industry, viable fuel linkage, and a sense of business approach among the main actors. Economic enablers are next in importance, including factors such as employment generation, additional income, and self-sufficiency making such initiatives attractive enough to be adopted by people. Government and lastly, social and community-related enablers are next in priority for such projects. This is the first research that recognized, classified as well as ranked these enablers to pine needle-based energy generation in Uttarakhand in achieving United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 such as climate action and affordable and clean energy.