Special Issue "Uncertain Decision Making Methods in Energy Policies for Sustainable Development"

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "Energy Economics and Policy".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 June 2022.

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas
grade E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Construction Management and Real Estate, Laboratory of Operational Research, Research Institute of Sustainable Construction, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
Interests: multicriteria decision making; energy; sustainable development; machine learning, entropy, fuzzy sets theory; fuzzy multicriteria decision making; sustainability
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Madjid Tavana
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Professor and Distinguished Chair of Business Analytics at La Salle University in United States, where he serves as Chairman of the Business Systems and Analytics Department. He also holds an Honorary Professorship in Management Information Systems and Operations Research at the University of Paderborn in Germany
Interests: information systems; operations research; optimization analysis; multicriteria decision making; sustainable fuzzy sets theory; fuzzy multicriteria decision making; sustainability
Prof. Dr. George Philippidis
E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Patel College of Global Sustainability, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL 33620, USA
Interests: sustainable development, renewable energy, renewable fuels, energy policy, integration of renewable energy into the fossil infastructure, sustainable power for small island developing states
Special Issues and Collections in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear colleagues,

Given the critical role of energy in economic growth and the adverse environmental effects often associated with its use, energy policy is an essential factor of sustainable development programs. Managing energy-related environmental impacts is a main objective of energy policy and making energy development more sustainable at the national and international levels. Energy policies for sustainable development are the critical challenge for energy sector development, as the energy sector is a significant driver of economic growth and has a significant negative impact on the environment, especially on global climate change. In recent years, there are numerous economic, technical, social and environmental criteria are used to solve energy policies for sustainable development by decision-makers under the uncertain environments. Multicriteria decision‐making (MCDM) methods are used as effective tools to help decision-makers while solving energy policies problems. Therefore, in this special issue, we invite authors to submit original research and critical survey original research articles that propose uncertain decision-making methods to rationalize the complex process of decision-making in for sustainable development based energy policy making problems.

Dr. Abbas Mardani
Prof. Dr. Edmundas Kazimieras Zavadskas
Prof. Dr. Madjid Tavana
Prof. Dr. George Philippidis
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All papers will be peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Decision-making methods for sustainable development
  • Decision-making methods for energy policies
  • Sustainability assessment in energy
  • Energy policy modeling
  • International climate policy
  • Societal challenges in energy policy
  • Environmental impacts in the energy industry
  • Economic benefits for energy efficiency

Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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Article
Generic Feasibility Assessment: Helping to Choose the Nuclear Piece of the Net Zero Jigsaw
Energies 2021, 14(5), 1229; https://doi.org/10.3390/en14051229 - 24 Feb 2021
Viewed by 496
Abstract
The United Kingdom has declared a climate change policy of 100% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. Efforts thus far have been limited solely to electricity generation methods. While progress has been admirable, effort now must be directed at the nation’s non-electrical [...] Read more.
The United Kingdom has declared a climate change policy of 100% reduction in carbon dioxide emissions by 2050. Efforts thus far have been limited solely to electricity generation methods. While progress has been admirable, effort now must be directed at the nation’s non-electrical energy use. Nuclear energy is an essential part of any energy future, since it is low-carbon, firm and supplies synchronous electricity; however the nation’s nuclear strategy to date has been erratic, costly and lacking in strategic oversight. A multitude of reactor designs are on offer for potential uptake, and decision-makers must have clarity of vision on what these systems must deliver before forming a strategy. Choosing between these systems, given the uncharted energy future faced by the UK is a daunting prospect. Generic feasibility assessment offers a tool for decision-makers to assist them in selecting the most suitable nuclear system for chosen future conditions. Generic feasibility assessment offers an alternative to traditional multi-attribute decision analyses, which can be confusing to even committed stakeholders when large numbers of attributes are weighted and compiled. Generic feasibility assessment forms part of a toolkit which will be of utility in achieving net zero by 2050, given the short time that remains. Full article
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Article
Algorithm for Reducing Truck Noise on Via Baltica Transport Corridors in Lithuania
Energies 2020, 13(24), 6475; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13246475 - 08 Dec 2020
Viewed by 578
Abstract
The section of Via Baltica going through the territory of the Republic of Lithuania is the most traffic intensive land logistics corridor in the country. The annual transportation volume has been increasing on this road; thus, the reduction of pollution caused by vehicles [...] Read more.
The section of Via Baltica going through the territory of the Republic of Lithuania is the most traffic intensive land logistics corridor in the country. The annual transportation volume has been increasing on this road; thus, the reduction of pollution caused by vehicles has become important. If gas emissions are regulated, and carriers have to pay pollution taxes, this does not apply to noise levels. The article presents the traffic intensity in this logistics corridor, measurements of the noise level at the characteristic points, its relation to the number of vehicles passing through it and an expert evaluation of proposed methods for noise energy reduction. Environmental noise is an unwanted or harmful sound that propagates in terms of both duration and geographical coverage. Noise is associated with many human activities, but road, rail and air traffic noises have the greatest impact. Due to irrationally arranged transport network, the transit flow of freight transport crosses residential areas of the city, places of rest and recreation of the population, causing high noise levels in adjacent areas. This is the biggest problem for the urban environment. Environmental noise affects many Europeans and is therefore considered by society to be one of the biggest environmental problems. This article presents an assessment of a new traffic noise algorithm. The presented expert survey on noise energy reduction allows choosing the most appropriate method for reducing noise energy in Via Baltica transport logistics corridor. Based on the expert survey, a hierarchical table for noise energy reduction was compiled. It will allow assessing the validity of individual noise energy reduction solutions. It has become relevant for improving infrastructure of other transport corridors and choosing the most appropriate solutions to reduce vehicle noise pollution. A further application of this model can be focused on economic evaluation, forecasting of expected benefits and so on. Full article
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Article
Estimating the Energy Demand and Growth in Off-Grid Villages: Case Studies from Myanmar, Indonesia, and Laos
Energies 2020, 13(20), 5313; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13205313 - 13 Oct 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 788
Abstract
Under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world has pledged to “leaving no one behind”. Responding to goal No. 7 on the agenda, efforts to provide modern energy to all the world population must be pushed forward. This is important because electrification in [...] Read more.
Under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the world has pledged to “leaving no one behind”. Responding to goal No. 7 on the agenda, efforts to provide modern energy to all the world population must be pushed forward. This is important because electrification in the rural area can indirectly support opportunities for social and economic development resulting in an acceleration of the eradication of poverty. The research goal of this study is to contribute insights about the scale of energy demand in unelectrified villages in the Southeast Asian countries and to discuss some factors that might influence the energy demand growth. This is done by making projections based on surveys and interviews, including a time-use survey, in three off-grid villages located in Myanmar, Indonesia, and Laos. Our analysis presented the living condition, highlight the types of energy sources, how, and in what rhythms people use energy on a daily basis in those villages. The demands in each case study villages were then projected based on several constructed scenarios. It was found that the factors of household size, proximity to the city, climate, and topography may influence the present and future growth of energy demands in the villages. The estimated energy demand may be useful for project managers to design a pilot off-grid energy system project in a similar environment and pointed out important factors to consider when formulating off-grid energy policies in the region. Full article
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Article
The Analysis of Japan’s Energy and Climate Policy from the Aspect of Anticipatory Governance
Energies 2020, 13(19), 5153; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13195153 - 02 Oct 2020
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 954
Abstract
This study is a preliminary and experimental one to analyze Japan’s energy transitions to mitigate climate change from anticipatory governance aspects. Japan’s energy policy principles have been energy security, environmental considerations, economic efficiency, and safety (3E + S). According to the energy agency, [...] Read more.
This study is a preliminary and experimental one to analyze Japan’s energy transitions to mitigate climate change from anticipatory governance aspects. Japan’s energy policy principles have been energy security, environmental considerations, economic efficiency, and safety (3E + S). According to the energy agency, the long-term energy outlook is also drawn up by “ambitious multiple track scenarios” and “multilayered and diversified flexible energy supply-demand structure.” This approach resonates with the aspects of anticipatory governance. It promotes the idea of preparing for multiple future scenarios, including the unthinkable worst case future scenario such as a nuclear accident (foresight), the interactions between the policymakers and the public (engagement), and the reflexive processes of policy innovations with a normative decision for the selection of energy mix (integration). However, this study finds that Japan’s energy policy lacks the aspects of anticipatory governance. It sticks to fixed energy policy institutionalized in the 1970s to promote nuclear energy and coal as oil alternatives. It rarely has interactions between the policymakers and the public and thus lacks a societal (normative) decision about a future energy path to energy transitions to mitigate climate change. Instead, Japan’s energy policy has not necessarily met its declared policy objective of 3E + S since the unprecedented Fukushima nuclear accidents occurred and cannot uphold an ambitious target for CO2 emissions reduction. Full article
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Article
A Fuzzy-Based Product Life Cycle Prediction for Sustainable Development in the Electric Vehicle Industry
Energies 2020, 13(15), 3918; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13153918 - 31 Jul 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 957
Abstract
The development of electric vehicles (EVs) has drawn considerable attention to the establishment of sustainable transport systems to enable improvements in energy optimization and air quality. EVs are now widely used by the public as one of the sustainable transportation measures. Nevertheless, battery [...] Read more.
The development of electric vehicles (EVs) has drawn considerable attention to the establishment of sustainable transport systems to enable improvements in energy optimization and air quality. EVs are now widely used by the public as one of the sustainable transportation measures. Nevertheless, battery charging for EVs create several challenges, for example, lack of charging facilities in urban areas and expensive battery maintenance. Among various components in EVs, the battery pack is one of the core consumables, which requires regular inspection and repair in terms of battery life cycle and stability. The charging efficiency is limited to the power provided by the facilities, and therefore the current business model for EVs is not sustainable. To further improve its sustainability, plug-in electric vehicle battery pack standardization (PEVBPS) is suggested to provide a uniform, standardized and mobile EV battery that is managed by centralized service providers for repair and maintenance tasks. In this paper, a fuzzy-based battery life-cycle prediction framework (FBLPF) is proposed to effectively manage the PEVBPS in the market, which integrates the multi-responses Taguchi method (MRTM) and the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) as a whole for the decision-making process. MRTM is formulated based on selection of the most relevant and critical input variables from domain experts and professionals, while ANFIS takes part in time-series forecasting of the customized product life-cycle for demand and electricity consumption. With the aid of the FPLCPF, the revolution of the EV industry can be revolutionarily boosted towards total sustainable development, resulting in pro-active energy policies in the PEVBPS eco-system. Full article
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Article
Assessing the Performance of Sustainable Development Goals of EU Countries: Hard and Soft Data Integration
Energies 2020, 13(13), 3439; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13133439 - 03 Jul 2020
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 783
Abstract
The European Union (EU) energy policy for sustainable development has been the topic of continuous debate, research, and analysis, which frequently focused on objectives and the evaluation of quantitative and qualitative performance. Different approaches can be used for the assessment of sustainable development [...] Read more.
The European Union (EU) energy policy for sustainable development has been the topic of continuous debate, research, and analysis, which frequently focused on objectives and the evaluation of quantitative and qualitative performance. Different approaches can be used for the assessment of sustainable development goals. The authors of the article conducted a literature review of relevant research papers dated 2016–2020. The most common are quantitative methods based on hard data. Some qualitative studies based on soft data are also available but rare. This article proposes hybrid Rough Set Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and Rough Set Network DEA models that integrate both approaches. Also, the models allow the inclusion of uncertainty in the underlying data. The article uses hard data of the International Energy Agency (IEA) and the results of the EU survey regarding the influence of the socio-economic environment on CO2 emissions in EU countries. The authors demonstrate that multifaceted and objective assessment is possible by merging concepts from the set theory and operational research. Full article
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Article
Financial Liberalisation, Political Stability, and Economic Determinants of Real Economic Growth in Kenya
Energies 2020, 13(13), 3426; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13133426 - 03 Jul 2020
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 793
Abstract
This study aimed to analyse financial liberalisation, political stability, and economic determinants of Kenya’s real economic growth using time series data over the period of 1970–2016. The authors specified quadratic and interactive models to be estimated by employing a quantile regression analysis. The [...] Read more.
This study aimed to analyse financial liberalisation, political stability, and economic determinants of Kenya’s real economic growth using time series data over the period of 1970–2016. The authors specified quadratic and interactive models to be estimated by employing a quantile regression analysis. The traditional and quantile unit root test was used in testing the stationarity issue. The co-integration findings indicated that the capital account openness and financial development impede on real economic growth; and the political stability also had potential influence on the real economic growth of Kenya. Interestingly, there is a nonlinear U-shape link between financial development and real economic growth that undermined the real economic growth at its onset, but as it advanced, it enhanced the growth of the country in the long run. The policymakers should ensure that the capital account is more liberalised so that it will continue to stimulate the financial development. In the same way, the liberalisation of the domestic financial market should be taken in earnest to overcome the negative effects of financial repression in totality, while maintaining the stable political atmosphere. Full article
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Article
Analyzing Crude Oil Prices under the Impact of COVID-19 by Using LSTARGARCHLSTM
Energies 2020, 13(11), 2980; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13112980 - 10 Jun 2020
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 1459
Abstract
Under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the concurrent oil conflict between Russia and Saudi Arabia, oil prices have exhibited unusual and sudden changes. For this reason, the volatilities of the West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent and Dubai crude daily oil price [...] Read more.
Under the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic and the concurrent oil conflict between Russia and Saudi Arabia, oil prices have exhibited unusual and sudden changes. For this reason, the volatilities of the West Texas Intermediate (WTI), Brent and Dubai crude daily oil price data between 29 May 2006 and 31 March 2020 are analysed. Firstly, the presence of chaotic and nonlinear behaviour in the oil prices during the pandemic and the concurrent conflict is investigated by using the Shanon Entropy and Lyapunov exponent tests. The tests show that the oil prices exhibit chaotic behavior. Additionally, the current paper proposes a new hybrid modelling technique derived from the LSTARGARCH (Logistic Smooth Transition Autoregressive Generalised Autoregressive Conditional Heteroskedasticity) model and LSTM (long-short term memory) method to analyse the volatility of oil prices. In the proposed LSTARGARCHLSTM method, GARCH modelling is applied to the crude oil prices in two regimes, where regime transitions are governed with an LSTAR-type smooth transition in both the conditional mean and the conditional variance. Separating the data into two regimes allows the efficient LSTM forecaster to adapt to and exploit the different statistical characteristics and ARCH and GARCH effects in each of the two regimes and yield better prediction performance over the case of its application to all the data. A comparison of our proposed method with the GARCH and LSTARGARCH methods for crude oil price data reveals that our proposed method achieves improved forecasting performance over the others in terms of RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) and MAE (Mean Absolute Error) in the face of the chaotic structure of oil prices. Full article
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Article
A Group Decision Framework for Renewable Energy Source Selection under Interval-Valued Probabilistic linguistic Term Set
Energies 2020, 13(4), 986; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13040986 - 22 Feb 2020
Cited by 15 | Viewed by 1198
Abstract
In recent years, the assessment of desirable renewable energy alternative has been an extremely important concern that could change the environment and economic growth. To tackle the circumstances, some authors have paid attention to selecting the desirable renewable energy option by employing the [...] Read more.
In recent years, the assessment of desirable renewable energy alternative has been an extremely important concern that could change the environment and economic growth. To tackle the circumstances, some authors have paid attention to selecting the desirable renewable energy option by employing the decision-making assessment and linguistic term sets. With a fast-growing interest in multi-criteria group decision-making (MCGDM) problems, researchers are tirelessly working towards new techniques for better decision-making. Decision makers (DMs) generally rate alternatives linguistically with different probabilities occurring for each term. Previous studies on linguistic decision-making have either ignored this idea or have used an only a single value for representing the weight of the linguistic term. Since expression of the complete probability distribution is hard and implicit hesitation exists, representation of weights of the linguistic terms using a single value becomes imprecise and unreasonable. To avoid this challenge, an interval-valued probabilistic linguistic term set (IVPLTS) is used, which is a generalization of (probabilistic linguistic term set) PLTS. Inspired by the usefulness of IVPLTS concept, we develop a decision framework for rational decision making. Initially, some operational laws and axioms are presented. Further, a novel aggregation operator known as interval-valued probabilistic linguistic simple weighted geometry (IVPLSWG) is developed for aggregating DMs’ preferences. Also, criteria weights are determined using the newly developed interval-valued probabilistic linguistic standard variance (IVPLSV) approach and alternatives are ranked using the extended VIKOR (VlseKriterijumskaOptimizacijaKompromisnoResenje) method under IVPLTS environment. Finally, a numerical example of renewable energy assessment is demonstrated to show the practicality of the developed decision framework. Also, the strengths and weaknesses of the developed decision framework are illustrated by comparison with existing ones. Full article
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Article
A Multi-Attribute Decision Making Process with Immediate Probabilistic Interactive Averaging Aggregation Operators of T-Spherical Fuzzy Sets and Its Application in the Selection of Solar Cells
Energies 2019, 12(23), 4436; https://doi.org/10.3390/en12234436 - 21 Nov 2019
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 949
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to present new interactive averaging aggregation operators by assigning associate probabilities for T-spherical fuzzy sets (T-SFSs). T-SFS is a generalization of several existing theories such as intuitionistic fuzzy sets and picture fuzzy sets to handle imprecise information. [...] Read more.
The objective of this paper is to present new interactive averaging aggregation operators by assigning associate probabilities for T-spherical fuzzy sets (T-SFSs). T-SFS is a generalization of several existing theories such as intuitionistic fuzzy sets and picture fuzzy sets to handle imprecise information. Under such an environment, we developed a series of averaging interactive aggregation operators under the features that each element is represented with T-spherical fuzzy numbers. Various properties of the proposed operators are also investigated. Further, to rank the different T-SFSs, we exhibit the new score functions and state their some properties. To demonstrate the presented algorithm, a decision-making process algorithm is presented with T-SFS features. To save non-renewable resources and to the protect environment, the use of renewable resources is important. Solar energy is one of the best renewable energy resources and is also environment-friendly and thus the selection of solar cells is typically a multi-attribute decision-making problem. Therefore, the applicability of the developed algorithm is demonstrated with a numerical example in the selection of the solar cells and comparison of their performance with the several existing approaches. Full article

Review

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Review
A Review of Uncertain Decision-Making Methods in Energy Management Using Text Mining and Data Analytics
Energies 2020, 13(15), 3947; https://doi.org/10.3390/en13153947 - 01 Aug 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 735
Abstract
The managerial and environmental studies conducted in the energy research area reflect its substantial importance, particularly when optimizing and modifying consumption patterns, transitioning to renewable sources away from fossil ones, and designing plans and systems. The aim of this study is to provide [...] Read more.
The managerial and environmental studies conducted in the energy research area reflect its substantial importance, particularly when optimizing and modifying consumption patterns, transitioning to renewable sources away from fossil ones, and designing plans and systems. The aim of this study is to provide a systematic review of the literature allowing us to identify which research subjects have been prioritized in the fields of energy and sustainability in recent years, determine the potential reasons explaining these trends, and categorize the techniques applied to analyze the uncertainty faced by decision-makers. We review articles published in highly ranked journals through the period 2003–2020 and apply text analytics to cluster their main characteristics; that is, we rely on pre-processing and text mining techniques. We analyze the title, abstract, keywords, and research methodology of the articles through clustering and topic modeling and illustrate what methods and fields constitute the main focus of researchers. We demonstrate the substantial importance of fuzzy-related methods and decision-making techniques such as the Analytical Hierarchy Process and Technique for Order Preferences by Similarity to Ideal Solutions (TOPSIS). We also show that subjects such as renewable energy, energy planning, sustainable energy, energy policy, and wind energy have gained relevance among researchers in recent years. Full article
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