Technology selection for sustainable hydrogen production: A multi-criteria assessment framework under uncertainties based on the combined weights and interval best-worst projection method

Abstract

Hydrogen has emerged as one of the most promising players in the future energy system for a better life due to multiple advantages, it is important to identify the most sustainable technology for producing hydrogen among several alternatives. This study aims to propose a novel multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) framework for prioritizing hydrogen production technologies under data uncertainties by combining the methods of interval best-worst method (IBWM), interval entropy technique (IET), and interval best-worst projection (IBWP). In the framework, the IBWM and the IET methods were integrated to offer a comprehensive weighting result by capturing both the uncertain subjective judgments and uncertain objective information regarding the importance of multiple criteria; the IBWP approach was introduced to offer a rigorous ranking result by aggregating both the absolute performance and relative balance of the alternatives regarding the multi-criteria system in uncertain conditions. An illustrative case considering five hydrogen production technologies was studied to verify the feasibility of the proposed framework, while results comparisons and sensitivity analysis were implemented to indicate the necessities and advantages of the developed MCDM methods.