IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i21p11880-d666049.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Selection of Renewable Energy in Rural Area Via Life Cycle Assessment-Analytical Hierarchy Process (LCA-AHP): A Case Study of Tatau, Sarawak

Author

Listed:
  • Cyril Anak John

    (Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia)

  • Lian See Tan

    (Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia)

  • Jully Tan

    (School of Engineering, Monash University Malaysia, Jalan Lagoon Selatan, Bandar Sunwa 47500, Malaysia)

  • Peck Loo Kiew

    (Malaysia-Japan International Institute of Technology, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Yahya Petra, Kuala Lumpur 54100, Malaysia)

  • Azmi Mohd Shariff

    (Chemical Engineering Department, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS, Seri Iskandar 32610, Malaysia)

  • Hairul Nazirah Abdul Halim

    (Faculty of Chemical Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kompleks Pusat Pengajian Jejawi 3, Arau 02600, Malaysia)

Abstract

With a growing global population and energy demand, there is increasing concern about the world’s reliance on fossil fuels, which have a negative impact on the climate, necessitating the immediate transition to a cleaner energy resource. This effort can be initiated in the rural areas of developing countries for a sustainable, efficient and affordable energy source. This study evaluated four types of renewable energy (solar, wind, biomass, and mini-hydro energy) using the integrated Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) approaches to select the best renewable energy source in Tatau, Sarawak. The criteria under consideration in this study included the environment, engineering and economics. The LCA was used to assess the environmental impact of renewable energies from gate-to-grave boundaries based on 50 MJ/day of electricity generation. The AHP results showed that solar energy received the highest score of 0.299 in terms of the evaluated criteria, followed by mini-hydro, biomass and wind energy, which received scores of 0.271, 0.230 and 0.200, respectively. These findings can be used to develop a systematic procedure for determining the best form of renewable energy for rural areas. This approach could be vital for the authorities that are responsible for breaking down multi-perspective criteria for future decision making in the transition into renewable energy.

Suggested Citation

  • Cyril Anak John & Lian See Tan & Jully Tan & Peck Loo Kiew & Azmi Mohd Shariff & Hairul Nazirah Abdul Halim, 2021. "Selection of Renewable Energy in Rural Area Via Life Cycle Assessment-Analytical Hierarchy Process (LCA-AHP): A Case Study of Tatau, Sarawak," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-18, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11880-:d:666049
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/11880/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/21/11880/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lam, Hon Loong & Varbanov, Petar Sabev & Klemes, Jirí Jaromír, 2011. "Regional renewable energy and resource planning," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(2), pages 545-550, February.
    2. Basri, Nor Afifah & Ramli, Ahmad Termizi & Aliyu, Abubakar Sadiq, 2015. "Malaysia energy strategy towards sustainability: A panoramic overview of the benefits and challenges," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1094-1105.
    3. Jesuina Chipindula & Venkata Sai Vamsi Botlaguduru & Hongbo Du & Raghava Rao Kommalapati & Ziaul Huque, 2018. "Life Cycle Environmental Impact of Onshore and Offshore Wind Farms in Texas," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(6), pages 1-18, June.
    4. Ahmad, Salman & Tahar, Razman Mat, 2014. "Selection of renewable energy sources for sustainable development of electricity generation system using analytic hierarchy process: A case of Malaysia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 458-466.
    5. Stavropoulos, S. & Burger, M.J., 2020. "Modelling strategy and net employment effects of renewable energy and energy efficiency: A meta-regression," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    6. Quaranta, Emanuele & Revelli, Roberto, 2015. "Output power and power losses estimation for an overshot water wheel," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 979-987.
    7. Solangi, K.H. & Islam, M.R. & Saidur, R. & Rahim, N.A. & Fayaz, H., 2011. "A review on global solar energy policy," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 2149-2163, May.
    8. Xinhua Shen & Raghava R. Kommalapati & Ziaul Huque, 2015. "The Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Power Generation from Lignocellulosic Biomass," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(10), pages 1-14, September.
    9. van Zalk, John & Behrens, Paul, 2018. "The spatial extent of renewable and non-renewable power generation: A review and meta-analysis of power densities and their application in the U.S," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 83-91.
    10. Raadal, Hanne Lerche & Gagnon, Luc & Modahl, Ingunn Saur & Hanssen, Ole Jørgen, 2011. "Life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the generation of wind and hydro power," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(7), pages 3417-3422, September.
    11. Nonhebel, Sanderine, 2005. "Renewable energy and food supply: will there be enough land?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 191-201, April.
    12. Umar, Mohd Shaharin & Urmee, Tania & Jennings, Philip, 2018. "A policy framework and industry roadmap model for sustainable oil palm biomass electricity generation in Malaysia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 128(PA), pages 275-284.
    13. Andrew Adewale Alola & Uju Violet Alola, 2018. "Agricultural land usage and tourism impact on renewable energy consumption among Coastline Mediterranean Countries," Energy & Environment, , vol. 29(8), pages 1438-1454, December.
    14. Naqvi, Muhammad & Yan, Jinyue & Dahlquist, Erik & Naqvi, Salman Raza, 2017. "Off-grid electricity generation using mixed biomass compost: A scenario-based study with sensitivity analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 363-370.
    15. Huang, Yu-Fong & Gan, Xing-Jia & Chiueh, Pei-Te, 2017. "Life cycle assessment and net energy analysis of offshore wind power systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(PA), pages 98-106.
    16. Youngho Chang & Han Phoumin, 2021. "Harnessing Wind Energy Potential in ASEAN: Modelling and Policy Implications," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-14, April.
    17. Romero Gómez, M. & Ferreiro Garcia, R. & Romero Gómez, J. & Carbia Carril, J., 2014. "Review of thermal cycles exploiting the exergy of liquefied natural gas in the regasification process," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 781-795.
    18. Trowell, K.A. & Goroshin, S. & Frost, D.L. & Bergthorson, J.M., 2020. "Aluminum and its role as a recyclable, sustainable carrier of renewable energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    19. Rawat, Rahul & Lamba, Ravita & Kaushik, S.C., 2017. "Thermodynamic study of solar photovoltaic energy conversion: An overview," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 630-638.
    20. Fthenakis, Vasilis & Kim, Hyung Chul, 2009. "Land use and electricity generation: A life-cycle analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 13(6-7), pages 1465-1474, August.
    21. Jha, Shibani K. & Puppala, Harish, 2017. "Prospects of renewable energy sources in India: Prioritization of alternative sources in terms of Energy Index," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 116-127.
    22. Norasikin Ahmad Ludin & Nurfarhana Alyssa Ahmad Affandi & Kathleen Purvis-Roberts & Azah Ahmad & Mohd Adib Ibrahim & Kamaruzzaman Sopian & Sufian Jusoh, 2021. "Environmental Impact and Levelised Cost of Energy Analysis of Solar Photovoltaic Systems in Selected Asia Pacific Region: A Cradle-to-Grave Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-21, January.
    23. Ludin, Norasikin Ahmad & Mustafa, Nur Ifthitah & Hanafiah, Marlia M. & Ibrahim, Mohd Adib & Asri Mat Teridi, Mohd & Sepeai, Suhaila & Zaharim, Azami & Sopian, Kamaruzzaman, 2018. "Prospects of life cycle assessment of renewable energy from solar photovoltaic technologies: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 11-28.
    24. repec:eco:journ2:2017-04-06 is not listed on IDEAS
    25. Garrett-Peltier, Heidi, 2017. "Green versus brown: Comparing the employment impacts of energy efficiency, renewable energy, and fossil fuels using an input-output model," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 439-447.
    26. Wan Syakirah Wan Abdullah & Miszaina Osman & Mohd Zainal Abidin Ab Kadir & Renuga Verayiah, 2019. "The Potential and Status of Renewable Energy Development in Malaysia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, June.
    27. Chaouki Ghenai, 2012. "Life Cycle Analysis of Wind Turbine," Chapters, in: Chaouki Ghenai (ed.), Sustainable Development - Energy, Engineering and Technologies - Manufacturing and Environment, IntechOpen.
    28. Tae Hyoung Kim & Chang U Chae, 2016. "Environmental Impact Analysis of Acidification and Eutrophication Due to Emissions from the Production of Concrete," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(6), pages 1-20, June.
    29. Petinrin, J.O. & Shaaban, Mohamed, 2015. "Renewable energy for continuous energy sustainability in Malaysia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 967-981.
    30. Tang, Shengwen & Chen, Jingtao & Sun, Peigui & Li, Yang & Yu, Peng & Chen, E., 2019. "Current and future hydropower development in Southeast Asia countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 239-249.
    31. Hannan, M.A. & Begum, R.A. & Abdolrasol, M.G. & Hossain Lipu, M.S. & Mohamed, A. & Rashid, M.M., 2018. "Review of baseline studies on energy policies and indicators in Malaysia for future sustainable energy development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 551-564.
    32. Aliashim Albani & Mohd Zamri Ibrahim, 2017. "Wind Energy Potential and Power Law Indexes Assessment for Selected Near-Coastal Sites in Malaysia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-21, March.
    33. Mohamed R. Gomaa & Hegazy Rezk & Ramadan J. Mustafa & Mujahed Al-Dhaifallah, 2019. "Evaluating the Environmental Impacts and Energy Performance of a Wind Farm System Utilizing the Life-Cycle Assessment Method: A Practical Case Study," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-25, August.
    34. Campos-Guzmán, Verónica & García-Cáscales, M. Socorro & Espinosa, Nieves & Urbina, Antonio, 2019. "Life Cycle Analysis with Multi-Criteria Decision Making: A review of approaches for the sustainability evaluation of renewable energy technologies," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 343-366.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Dinçer, A.Ersin & Demir, A. & Yılmaz, K., 2023. "Enhancing wind turbine site selection through a novel wake penalty criterion," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    2. Ramesh Allipour Birgani & Amirhossein Takian & Abolghasem Djazayery & Ali Kianirad & Hamed Pouraram, 2022. "Climate Change and Food Security Prioritizing Indices: Applying Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Social Network Analysis (SNA)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-17, July.
    3. Rachna, & Singh, Amit Kumar, 2024. "Analyzing policy interventions to stimulate suitable energy sources for the most polluted states of India," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    4. Yang Li & Jingjing Pei & Fang Zhang, 2023. "Comprehensive Ecological Planning and Evaluation of Towns from the Perspective of Sustainable Development," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(14), pages 1-18, July.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Abdeshahian, Peyman & Lim, Jeng Shiun & Ho, Wai Shin & Hashim, Haslenda & Lee, Chew Tin, 2016. "Potential of biogas production from farm animal waste in Malaysia," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 714-723.
    2. Emblemsvåg, Jan, 2022. "Wind energy is not sustainable when balanced by fossil energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    3. Li, Jinying & Li, Sisi & Wu, Fan, 2020. "Research on carbon emission reduction benefit of wind power project based on life cycle assessment theory," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 456-468.
    4. Lau, Lin-Sea & Choong, Yuen-Onn & Wei, Chooi-Yi & Seow, Ai-Na & Choong, Chee-Keong & Senadjki, Abdelhak & Ching, Suet-Ling, 2020. "Investigating nonusers’ behavioural intention towards solar photovoltaic technology in Malaysia: The role of knowledge transmission and price value," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 144(C).
    5. Alaa A. F. Husain & Maryam Huda Ahmad Phesal & Mohd Zainal Abidin Ab Kadir & Ungku Anisa Ungku Amirulddin & Abdulhadi H. J. Junaidi, 2021. "A Decade of Transitioning Malaysia toward a High-Solar PV Energy Penetration Nation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-16, September.
    6. Mohd Chachuli, Fairuz Suzana & Ahmad Ludin, Norasikin & Md Jedi, Muhamad Alias & Hamid, Norul Hisham, 2021. "Transition of renewable energy policies in Malaysia: Benchmarking with data envelopment analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    7. Mahmoud G. Hemeida & Ashraf M. Hemeida & Tomonobu Senjyu & Dina Osheba, 2022. "Renewable Energy Resources Technologies and Life Cycle Assessment: Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(24), pages 1-36, December.
    8. Hannan, M.A. & Begum, R.A. & Abdolrasol, M.G. & Hossain Lipu, M.S. & Mohamed, A. & Rashid, M.M., 2018. "Review of baseline studies on energy policies and indicators in Malaysia for future sustainable energy development," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 551-564.
    9. Wan Syakirah Wan Abdullah & Miszaina Osman & Mohd Zainal Abidin Ab Kadir & Renuga Verayiah, 2019. "The Potential and Status of Renewable Energy Development in Malaysia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-16, June.
    10. Mendecka, Barbara & Lombardi, Lidia, 2019. "Life cycle environmental impacts of wind energy technologies: A review of simplified models and harmonization of the results," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 462-480.
    11. Elif Oğuz & Ayşe Eylül Şentürk, 2019. "Selection of the Most Sustainable Renewable Energy System for Bozcaada Island: Wind vs. Photovoltaic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(15), pages 1-33, July.
    12. Tang, Shengwen & Chen, Jingtao & Sun, Peigui & Li, Yang & Yu, Peng & Chen, E., 2019. "Current and future hydropower development in Southeast Asia countries (Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 129(C), pages 239-249.
    13. Andrew Chapman & Timothy Fraser & Melanie Dennis, 2019. "Investigating Ties between Energy Policy and Social Equity Research: A Citation Network Analysis," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(5), pages 1-18, April.
    14. Shalini Verma & Akshoy Ranjan Paul & Nawshad Haque, 2022. "Selected Environmental Impact Indicators Assessment of Wind Energy in India Using a Life Cycle Assessment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-16, May.
    15. Ioannidis, Romanos & Koutsoyiannis, Demetris, 2020. "A review of land use, visibility and public perception of renewable energy in the context of landscape impact," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    16. Jun Sheng Teh & Yew Heng Teoh & Heoy Geok How & Thanh Danh Le & Yeoh Jun Jie Jason & Huu Tho Nguyen & Dong Lin Loo, 2021. "The Potential of Sustainable Biomass Producer Gas as a Waste-to-Energy Alternative in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-31, April.
    17. Amaducci, Stefano & Yin, Xinyou & Colauzzi, Michele, 2018. "Agrivoltaic systems to optimise land use for electric energy production," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 545-561.
    18. Kong, Karen Gah Hie & How, Bing Shen & Lim, Juin Yau & Leong, Wei Dong & Teng, Sin Yong & Ng, Wendy Pei Qin & Moser, Irene & Sunarso, Jaka, 2022. "Shaving electric bills with renewables? A multi-period pinch-based methodology for energy planning," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PD).
    19. Abdul, Daud & Wenqi, Jiang & Tanveer, Arsalan, 2022. "Prioritization of renewable energy source for electricity generation through AHP-VIKOR integrated methodology," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1018-1032.
    20. Tan, Raymond R. & Aviso, Kathleen B. & Barilea, Ivan U. & Culaba, Alvin B. & Cruz, Jose B., 2012. "A fuzzy multi-regional input–output optimization model for biomass production and trade under resource and footprint constraints," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 90(1), pages 154-160.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11880-:d:666049. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.