Abstract
Poor access to clean and reliable energy technologies is a major challenge to most developing countries. The decision to introduce new technologies is often faced by low adoption rates or even public opposition. In addition, the data required for effective decision making is often inadequate or even lacking, thus constraining the planning process. In this study, a methodology for participatory appraisal of technologies, integrating desirability functions to the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT)-analytical hierarchy process (AHP) methodology was developed. Application of the methodology was illustrated with an example for participatory appraisal of four bioenergy technologies in Uganda. Results showed that the methodology is effective in evaluating stakeholder preferences for bioenergy technologies. It showed a high potential to be used to identify and rate factors that stakeholders take into consideration when selecting bioenergy systems. The method could be used as a tool for technology screening, or reaching consensus in a participatory setup in a transparent manner.
Highlights
Ensuring a sustainable supply of energy is one of the major challenges of the 21st century
Results of the SWOT-analytical hierarchy process (AHP) phase is illustrated in Figure 4, and details of individual scores of the SWOT groups and factors are given in Table A1 of the Appendix
Results of the SWOT-AHP phase presented here demonstrates the ability of the methodology to identify issues that stakeholders consider as critical for selecting bioenergy technologies
Summary
Ensuring a sustainable supply of energy is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. Fossil fuels reserves are not uniformly distributed over the World, compromising the energy security of countries without the resources. Developing countries have more diverse concerns including lack of access to adequate clean energy, extensive deforestation due to fuelwood harvesting and expansion of agricultural land. The end results are negative impacts such as soil erosion, loss of biodiversity and reduced availability and access to fuelwood resources by the population. With reduced accessibility to fuelwood, households fall down the energy ladder; resorting to low quality energy sources such as agricultural residues and dried cattle manure, which have adverse impacts on the health of users due to increased indoor air pollution from cooking devices [2], which is known to be a serious health burden in developing countries. It is estimated that close to two million [3] people die prematurely every year due to ailments caused by indoor pollution, of which 400,000 [4] cases are in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA)
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