Abstract
Bioenergy is a kind of renewable energy that can potentially contribute to a broad spectrum of economic, environmental, and societal objectives and aid sustainable development. The assessment, management, and monitoring of the diverse bioenergy production technology alternatives are complex in nature and deliver different benefits due to the lack of precise and comprehensive data. Selection of an optimal bioenergy production technology (BPT) alternative is considered a complex multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem that involves many incompatible tangible and intangible as well as qualitative and quantitative criteria. The procedure of defining and evaluating the weights of the criteria is an important concern for decision experts because the assessment and the final selection of the BPT alternative are carried out on the basis of the defined set of criteria. Intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs) have received considerable attention due to their ability to handle the imprecision and vagueness that can arise in real-life situations. Thus, this study presents an integrated approach, based on stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) and complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) approaches, for the selection of BPT alternatives. In the integrated framework, criteria weights are determined by the SWARA procedure, and the ranking of BPT alternatives is decided by the COPRAS method using IFSs. The criteria weights evaluated by this approach involve the imprecision of experts’ opinions, which makes them more comprehensible. To express the efficiency and applicability of the integrated framework, a BPT selection problem is presented using IFSs. In addition, this study involved sensitivity analysis with respect to various sets of criteria weights to reveal the strength of the developed approach. The sensitivity analysis outcomes indicate that the agricultural and municipal waste of biogas (S3) consistently secures the highest rank, despite how the criteria weights vary. Finally, a comparative study is discussed to analyze the validity of the obtained result. The findings of this study confirm that the proposed framework is more useful than and consistent with previously developed methods using the IFSs environment.
Highlights
Finding suitable sources of bioenergy production is one of the major concerns for developing countries, as fossil-fuel-based energy resources are limited and negatively affect the environment
An integrated framework has been introduced based on the stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) and the complex proportional assessment (COPRAS) approaches within an Intuitionistic fuzzy sets (IFSs) context
The criteria weights have been computed by the SWARA method, which has determined the subjective weights within an IFS context and modeled the uncertainty associated with the decision experts (DEs)’ opinions and preferences
Summary
Finding suitable sources of bioenergy production is one of the major concerns for developing countries, as fossil-fuel-based energy resources are limited and negatively affect the environment. Ghorabaee et al [40] discussed a fuzzy hybrid approach based on the SWARA, Criteria Importance Through Intercriteria Correlation (CRITIC) method and Evaluation Based on Distance from Average Solution (EDAS) techniques to handle the MCDM problems, and applied it to assess construction equipment in view of sustainability dimensions. Offers more precise information compared to diverse procedures for evaluating the benefit or cost criteria it delineates the ratios of the ideal and the worst solutions at the same time According to these benefits, various authors have extended the COPRAS approach into various disciplines in recent years [46,47,48]. There has been increasing concern about the production and conversion of bioenergy from biomass, so, in this study, the BTP selection problem is discussed from a sustainability perspective To address this concern, an integrated IF-SWARA-COPRAS framework is developed that can successfully tackle the inherent uncertainty and hesitancy in decision-makers’ opinions.
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
