Selection among renewable energy alternatives based on a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process in Indonesia

In the past two decades, the consumption of fossil fuels worldwide has significantly increased, resulting in shortages of energy sources, increasing energy prices and increasing amounts of pollutant releases to the environment. For these reasons, developing alternative energy sources is critical to mitigating future energy crises and reducing the negative effects of pollutants to the environment. One popular class of alternative energy sources is renewable energy sources. Specifically, in Indonesia, renewable energy is available in the form of solar, hydro-power, geothermal, wind energy and biomass. Each type of renewable energy source has its advantages and disadvantages, so that selecting the most appropriate source among them is very important to gain the optimal benefit. The purpose of this work is to develop a selection methodology and to determine the most appropriate renewable energy sources for electricity generation for Indonesia. A selection methodology was proposed, based on fuzzy AHP, which involved a new procedure for the aggregation of expert opinions. Some selection criteria appropriate for Indonesia were also introduced. Hydro power was found to be the best renewable energy source, followed by geothermal, solar, wind energy and biomass. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.