Evaluation of different types of alternative energy sources in China using hybrid methods

Abstract

In recent years, alternative energy sources(AES) including hydropower, wind power, nuclear energy, solar power, and biomass are becoming increasingly popular in China. Comprehensive evaluation of each AES is of vital importance for the further development of energy production and utilization. This study combines the Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) with Multi-Criteria Decision-Making(MCDM) methods and assesses AES in China comprehensively. The results show that hydropower is the best AES in China. However, the study cannot rank the rest of the AES because different evaluation criteria weights and different MCDM methods lead to different results for the AES ranking. By analyzing Chinas policies, the technical aspect should be considered first, following environmental factors, economic feasibility, and social sustainability. There are several limitations of evaluation methods and more studies need to be done.