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Application of multi-criteria decision making to sustainable energy planning-A review S. D. Pohekar , and M. Ramachandran Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani 333 031, India Received 1 December 2003;  accepted 19 December 2003.  Available online 31 January 2004. Abstract Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) techniques are gaining popularity in sustainable energy management. The techniques provide solutions to the problems involving conflicting and multiple objectives. Several methods based on weighted averages, priority setting, outranking, fuzzy principles and their combinations are employed for energy planning decisions. A review of more than 90 published papers is presented here to analyze the applicability of various methods discussed. A classification on application areas and the year of application is presented to highlight the trends. It is observed that Analytical Hierarchy Process is the most popular technique followed by outranking techniques PROMETHEE and ELECTRE. Validation of results with multiple methods, development of interactive decision support systems and application of fuzzy methods to tackle uncertainties in the data is observed in the published literature. Author Keywords: Author Keywords: Multi-objective optimization; Multi-criteria decision making; Decision support systems; Sustainable energy planning Article Outline 1. Introduction 2. Overview of multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) methods 2.1. Weighted sum method (WSM) 2.2. Weighted product method (WPM) 2.3. Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) 2.4. Preference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE) 2.5. The elimination and choice translating reality (ELECTRE) 2.6. The technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solutions (TOPSIS) 2.7. Compromise programming (CP) 2.8. Multi-attribute utility theory (MAUT) 3. Multi-criteria decision making applications in energy planning 3.1. Multi-objective optimization 3.2. Decision Suppor

A new state energy plan released Tuesday calls for more conservation, more use of renewable sources such as solar and wind power, a tougher New York building code and a disclosure requirement for a building's utility usage when it's sold. Gov. David Paterson said the plan he accepted from the State Energy Planning Board provides the blueprint for a continuing transition to a clean energy economy over the next decade. Initiatives for 2010 include the building sale disclosure and removing loopholes that have limited the effectiveness of the state's energy code. Both require legislative action. Others include procuring 100 megawatts more of solar energy statewide and requesting bids for an offshore Long Island wind project.

A new state energy plan released Tuesday calls for more conservation, more use of renewable sources such as solar and wind power, a tougher New York building code and a disclosure requirement for a building's utility usage when it's sold. Gov. David Paterson said the plan he accepted from the State Energy Planning Board provides the blueprint for a continuing transition to a clean energy economy over the next decade. Initiatives for 2010 include the building sale disclosure and removing loopholes that have limited the effectiveness of the state's energy code. Both require legislative action. Others include procuring 100 megawatts more of solar energy statewide and requesting bids for an offshore Long Island wind project.

Ecogeek has a post on an offshore wind farm planned for the US great lakes - Nation's First Freshwater Offshore Wind Farm Planned for Lake Erie. It's an exciting time in wind energy these days. The U.S. will be getting its first offshore wind farm thanks to Cape Wind's long-awaited approval, and now plans for the first freshwater offshore wind farm in the U.S. have been announced as well. The Lake Erie Energy Development Corp has signed a deal with GE to purchase five offshore wind turbines destined for the Ohio waters of the lake. The 4-MW turbines will be placed three to five miles offshore though their exact planned location isn't known. This is expected to be the first order of many from the development corp that has made a goal of having 1 GW of freshwater-based wind energy online by 2020."

The California Energy Commission, the state's energy policy and planning agency, is planning to curb the sale of energy inefficient flat screen TVs.

The largest fully industrialized populus in the world could be entirely powered by a small fraction of solar desert energy, according to new plan The U.S. has some big plans for solar, both with building new power plants and through businesses and consumers adding solar panels to rooftops and unused land. However, no U.S. solar effort thus far compares to the ambitious plan that European Union (EU) officials are considering.

The report presents how climate will change according to climate models concerning the planning and building of electric power networks from the present state to the period from 2016 to 2045. The essential impacts of changes in weather conditions on planning and building of electric network are defined regionally based on the climate change scenarios. The importance of the effects is shown as costs and failure durations for different line structures. Moreover, the influence of the climate change on the loading capacity of the power system components is presented. On the basis of all these factors it will be judged how strong an effect the climate change has in the present electric power network and how one should be prepared for it.

Ministers are planning a U-turn on Britain's pledges to combat climate change that "effectively abolishes" its targets to rapidly expand the use of renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power.

A Michigan public university plans to test a floating wind turbine platform to demonstrate how wind energy could work on Lake Michigan. Grand Valley State University's Michigan Alternative & Renewable Energy Center received $1.4 million in federal funding to conduct the study. The university plans to have the platform installed by the fall of 2010. Meanwhile, We Energies plans to issue a request for proposals in early November that will be the start of a $3 million study sanctioned by the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin to determine the feasibility of wind turbines on Lake Michigan. We Energies spokesman Brian Manthey said the energy utility is not involved in the Michigan study, but will collaborate with Grand Valley State to share information

Industrial greenhouse gases prevented from entering the atmosphere through the use of so-called carbon capture and storage (CCS) technology are to be credited as not emitted under the EU emissions trading scheme, according to Commission plans to be put forward next year.

Intel has begun pilot programs to test a home health laptop, application, and database system that puts patients remotely in sync with their health care providers. The Intel Health Guide, which includes a laptop for patients and an online interface for health care administrators, received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in July. Now Aetna, Scan Health Plan, Erickson Retirement Communities, and the Providence Medical Group in Oregon have each begun pilot programs to test how well the system works, or doesn't work, with their patients.

The Paper I submitted to the ECEEE Summer Study 2007.

Technology Review has an article on efforts to expand and modernise the European energy grid, easing the way for large scale renewables, particularly offshore -Europe Backs Supergrids. Last month, the European Commission (EC) called for construction of regional electric transmission connections across the North Sea, around the Baltic region, and around the Mediterranean Sea, to distribute solar and wind power to and across Europe. It's all part of a plan to boost renewable energy from 8.5 percent of European energy consumption to 20 percent by 2020--and even more thereafter. But the EC, the European Union's executive body, acknowledges that getting these so-called supergrids built will mean forging new agreements between European countries for transmission planning and investment--much as the United States needs more cooperation between states to, for example, move wind power from the Midwest to major cities. "The wind power which consumers demand cannot be delivered without new networks," the EC report says, and "there is little strategic planning" between nations to build the required connections.