Energy Supply Preferences as Multicriteria Decision Problems: Developing a System of Criteria from Survey Data

Endre Börcsök, Zoltán Ferencz, Veronika Groma, Ágnes Gerse, János Fülöp, Sándor Bozóki, János Osán, Szabina Török and Ákos Horváth
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Endre Börcsök: Centre for Energy Research, Konkoly-Thege M. út 29-31., 1121 Budapest, Hungary
Zoltán Ferencz: Centre for Social Sciences Institute for Sociology Hungarian Academy of Sciences Centre of Excellence, Tóth Kálmán u. 4., 1097 Budapest, Hungary
Veronika Groma: Centre for Energy Research, Konkoly-Thege M. út 29-31., 1121 Budapest, Hungary
Ágnes Gerse: Centre for Energy Research, Konkoly-Thege M. út 29-31., 1121 Budapest, Hungary
János Fülöp: Institute for Computer Science and Control, Kende u. 13., 1111 Budapest, Hungary
Sándor Bozóki: Institute for Computer Science and Control, Kende u. 13., 1111 Budapest, Hungary
János Osán: Centre for Energy Research, Konkoly-Thege M. út 29-31., 1121 Budapest, Hungary
Szabina Török: Centre for Energy Research, Konkoly-Thege M. út 29-31., 1121 Budapest, Hungary
Ákos Horváth: Centre for Energy Research, Konkoly-Thege M. út 29-31., 1121 Budapest, Hungary

Energies, 2020, vol. 13, issue 15, 1-21

Abstract: Decision support techniques have a key role in investment and strategic decisions in the energy sector. As complex decision-making problems involve the simultaneous consideration of an extensive set of different factors, it is an essential part of the methodology to define, structure, and integrate the criteria. The main purpose of the study was to develop a system of criteria and weights that are suitable for general application in the energy sector and can best describe the decision-making mechanisms present in society and various social groups. When developing the system of criteria, we moved away from the hierarchical approach related to the three pillars of sustainability; therefore, a wide range of notions were assessed based on a population representative survey data collected in Hungary. We used algebraic methods to explore the internal structure of the set of criteria that had been previously defined by means of social sciences, while the importance weights were specified by applying the method of analytic network process. Furthermore, the ranking of heating and electricity generation alternatives were determined.

Keywords: energy preferences; survey; multi-criteria decision model; analytic network process (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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