ENERGY RESOURCE-ALLOCATION INCORPORATING QUALITATIVE AND QUANTITATIVECRITERIA - AN INTEGRATED MODEL USING GOAL PROGRAMMING AND AHP

Energy resource allocation presents a multi-criteria decision making p roblem with the criteria being quantitative and/or qualitative. Solvin g such a problem requires an integrated approach. In this paper, an in tegrated model using goal programming and the Analytic Hierarchy Proce ss (AHP) has been developed for energy resource allocation. It incorpo rates nine quantitative and three qualitative criteria. The model has been applied to the household sector of Madras, India. A detailed sens itivity analysis has also been carried out. Three additional scenarios have been developed. Use of the model suggested: natural gas, fuelwoo d and solar thermal for cooking; biogas and electricity generated from fuelwood for water pumping; and all decentralized electricity generat ion technologies for lighting and operating household appliances. Grid electricity was perferred only for lighting.