An Analysis on Barriers to Biomass and Bioenergy Development in Rural China Using Intuitionistic Fuzzy Cognitive Map

Linmao Ma, Jing Yu and Long Zhang
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Linmao Ma: School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Jing Yu: School of Economics and Management, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, China
Long Zhang: Business School, Xinyang Normal University, Xinyang 464000, China

Energies, 2019, vol. 12, issue 9, 1-23

Abstract: Biomass is viewed as one of the critical renewable energies and it widely exists in nature. Developing bioenergy has been promoted as a viable mean of dealing with environment issues that are related to the utilization of fossil fuel. However, due to many obstacles, the biomass and bioenergy technology has not won widespread support in developing countries, like China, with vast land area, particularly in rural area. Furthermore, most existing researches just focused on the description of the influence factors, along with the solution to the technical problems, while many social factors are overlooked. In fact, the process of developing biomass is indeed complicated due to the need for consensus and active participation of the various stakeholders, such as the government, the industry, and the local residents. Therefore, while integrating the intuitionistic fuzzy logic and fuzzy cognitive map, this study constructs an intuitionistic fuzzy cognitive map (IFCM) that is in line with experts’ suggestions and the current literature to investigate how to promote the development of biomass through enhancing public acceptance. We conduct several simulations from the perspective of different stakeholders, according to the IFCM. The analysis results reveal the influence mechanism in the system and illustrate the effect of various factors that are stressed by every stakeholder. The research design also provides a reference for future studies.

Keywords: biomass; bioenergy; public acceptance; intuitionistic fuzzy logic; fuzzy cognitive map (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: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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