Minerva Singh

Supporting Policy Formulation for Sustainable Biofuel Production: Through the Use of Multi Criteria Decision Making Methodologies Minerva Singh

The increased demand for biofuels is expected to put additional strain on the available agricultural resources while at the same time causing environmental degradation. Hence, new energy policies need to be formulated and implemented in order to meet global energy needs while reducing the impact of biofuel crop farming and production. To allow for the same, the author has made use of the concepts of Fuzzy logic and Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) in the form of Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) to develop software functionalities. The software functionalities provide a framework wherein the qualitative aspects of decision making (such as stakeholder viewpoints) maybe reconcilled with quantitative data. The efficacy of using quantitative methods for sustainability decision making has been illustrated through a number of case study based models. These models have used data from the Philippines and India in order to pinpoint suitable land and crop options for these countries. It should be noted that these methodologies can be applied outside of a software environment and can be used to develop a wide variety of sustainability models/scenarios.