Entropy-based Multi-criteria Analysis of Thermochemical Conversions for Energy Recovery from Municipal Solid Waste Using Fuzzy VIKOR and ELECTRE III: Case of Azerbaijan Region, Iran

Rapidly population growth, higher living-standards, technological advancement and increasing diversity of solid waste have made solid waste management an important and urgent issue for most of the countries. In this study, we address the complexity of waste-to-energy (WtE) planning, considering energy security and sustainability, as a treatment for solid waste in the Azerbaijan region of Iran. Decision-making for energy planning includes multiple quantitative and qualitative criteria making reliance on crisp values very difficult. Hence, fuzzy logic with linguistic terms is used to consider the uncertainty in the criteria values that have been determined by a group of experts. In the first step, the Viekriterijumsko Kompromisno Rangiranje (VIKOR) is applied to select the best WtE technology. Suitable installation site is then chosen based on the ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la REalité (ELECTRE) III method. The Fuzzy entropy method has been developed to determine the weights of the criteria. A case study is completed for the Azerbaijan region of Iran. Plasma WtE technology has been found to be the best alternative for WtE energy technology and Zanjan province ranked as the best location for the establishment of the site. In the sensitivity analysis, plasma technology is predominantly ranked as the most appropriate technology through different cases of weights, each of which focusing on a specific aspect of criteria. A linear assignment method is used in sensitivity analysis for the WtE technology selection.