Energy allocations for cooking in UP households (India): A fuzzy multi-objective analysis

Abstract Planning for proper deployment of energy resources for different end uses is important. The choice of energy resources involves an effort to synthesise suggestions coming from various areas as well as the subjectivity of the decision maker. The fuzzy approach is becoming important in such decision scenarios. In this paper, the multi-objective energy resource allocation problem is studied in a fuzzy manner, with the linear fuzzification of objectives, which include economic, environmental, technical and other concerns. The concept of operational adequacy measure, as a measure of the degree of satisfaction, is introduced. The cooking energy sources for the household sector of Uttar Pradesh (India) are considered as an illustration of the approach. Scenario development has also been implemented. LPG, biogas and fuelwood should be readily promoted under all circumstances. Solar thermal energy can be promoted except in the ‘economic-oriented’ scenario, where charcoal gets preference. Grid electricity finds favour in the ‘energy conservation and rationalisation’ scenario. The overall operational adequacy measure is 0.454, which decreases under different scenarios. The minimum satisfaction is achieved in the ‘environment-oriented scenario’. A ranking of the objective functions and the optimal and non-optimal sources has also been determined.