Multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methods have become increasingly popular in decision-making for sustainable energy because of the multi-dimensionality of the sustainability goal and the complexity of socio-economic and biophysical systems. This article reviewed the corresponding methods in different stages of multi-criteria decision-making for sustainable energy, i.e., criteria selection, criteria weighting, evaluation, and final aggregation. The criteria of energy supply systems are summarized from technical, economic, environmental and social aspects. The weighting methods of criteria are classified into three categories: subjective weighting, objective weighting and combination weighting methods. Several methods based on weighted sum, priority setting, outranking, fuzzy set methodology and their combinations are employed for energy decision-making. It is observed that the investment cost locates the first place in all evaluation criteria and CO2 emission follows closely because of more focuses on environment protection, equal criteria weights are still the most popular weighting method, analytical hierarchy process is the most popular comprehensive MCDA method, and the aggregation methods are helpful to get the rational result in sustainable energy decision-making.

Review on multi-criteria decision analysis aid in sustainable energy decision-making

Considering the energy, water and food nexus: Towards an integrated modelling approach

Access to electric power supply has always had a significant role in promoting improvements in all the society sectors, nevertheless nowadays 1.3 billion of people still do not have electricity access. Moreover, most of them live in rural areas of developing countries which are often isolated, scattered populated and characterized by poor infrastructure and services. In this situation, the growing consideration towards the target of universal access to energy has emphasized the role of rural electrification, and off-grid small-scale generation represents one of the most appropriate options. As a consequence, the scientific literature has devoted attention to this topic with a large number of papers. In this frame, the present analysis focuses on off-grid systems for rural electrification and provides a general framework to this topic and an analytical review of the literature. The work is based on the review of more than 350 papers mainly published from 2000 to 2014 within selected journals, and it is organized in two sections. In the first one we describe the role of small-scale generation systems throughout the process of electrification, the main features of rural areas and their typical energy uses, and we propose a new comprehensive taxonomy for off-grid systems for rural electrification. In the second one we develop an extensive review of the selected literature according to the proposed classification and to five main research areas: Technology: layout and components; Models and methods for simulation and sizing; Techno-economic feasibility analyses and sustainability analyses; Case studies analyses; Policy analyses. The work results in a comprehensive review which organizes and capitalizes the main fundamentals of the addressed topic and provides elements to get acquainted with the literature.

Off-grid systems for rural electrification in developing countries: Definitions, classification and a comprehensive literature review

Off-grid rural electrification experiences from South Asia: Status and best practices

Rural livelihood diversification and household well-being: Insights from Humla, Nepal

Benefits from a renewable energy village electrification system

Humla District in Nepal is a very remote area, prone to food shortages and characterized by a harsh environment. The livelihoods of agropastoralists in this district became much more vulnerable during the recent Maoist insurgency, and this vulnerability was particularly acute in some areas. As a result, people in different villages responded quite differently to an externally funded holistic community development project—one of the only projects the Maoists allowed to proceed with in Humla during the height of the unrest. Villagers' responses to this health- and conservation-oriented development project seem to correlate most closely with socioeconomic status and ability to extract resources from the local environment, as well as with the nature of the relationship with the local Maoist cadres. Villagers' perceptions of the risks of becoming involved in the holistic community development projects in this area, and their ability or willingness to take part in them, are analyzed here, drawing on anthropological analyses of perceptions of risk and the diffusion of innovations. We conclude with brief recommendations based on this evidence and our experience in the field.

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Responses to Innovation in an Insecure Environment in Rural Nepal

Synopsis The third Millennium Development Goal expresses a commitment to promoting gender equality and women's empowerment We use respectability discourse as a lens for understanding constraints and opportunities for women's empowerment A case study of Kwandu Conservancy, located in Namibia's Zambezi region, generated 49 interviews with women We also collected data through participant observation, document review, and twenty key informant interviews Our analysis revealed that a “real woman” construct embodies feminine respectability in Kwandu While the construct reinforces a woman's power to provide a livelihood through educational achievement, hard work, and collaboration with supportive community members, spouses, and children, its narrow definition of respectability also disempowers Fear of losing respect and access to resources restrict strategic choices like choosing to divorce or remain single, saving rather than sharing resources, valuing and pursuing informal knowledge, and directly challenging limitations, uncertainties, and inequalities that can deter women from achieving a ‘better life’

Who is a "real woman"? Empowerment and the discourse of respectability in Namibia's Zambezi region

Nepalese agropastoralists’ confrontations with forces of change in the last generation have altered villagers’ abilities to gain access to health services, clean water, and nutrition in Humla District, Nepal. Development efforts and Nepal’s recent armed conflict, in particular, introduced novel technologies and ideologies that a subsection of villagers have responded to in a fashion that we did not expect. In this article, based on theories about the diffusion of innovation and risk, we argue that, together, villagers and other change agents have cocreated new contexts of vulnerability in the postconflict setting of rural Nepal, as observed in remote Humla District. Using ArcGIS to represent landscapes of health and health-seeking behavior, we explore the integration of neoliberal health development in this postconflict setting in which medical pluralism, caste, Hinduism, and cultural conservatism all shape decision making. Based on in-depth and long-term research conducted in the region over the past 15 years, we describe the strengths and weaknesses of GIS as a tool for enhancing our understanding of this “health landscape.” In Humla, topography is a major determinant of access to healthcare. Our analyses reveal interesting relationships among health, culture, and vulnerability and provide insight into directions for future health interventions in similar contexts elsewhere.

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The Search for "Strong Medicine": Pathways to Healthcare Development in Remote Nepal Using GIS

1.6 - 2 billion people in developing countries live in dark homes, without access to electricity, and 2.4 billion rely on traditional biomass for their daily energy services, such as cooking, heating and lighting. Lack of electricity and heavy reliance on traditional biomass are hallmarks of poverty in developing countries, and women and children in particular suffer enormous health problems due to open fire places. The high migration and urbanization rates in developing countries will continue, forcing governments to focus more on urban energy service provision and extension. That widens the gap between poor and rich, highlighting the relationship between poverty and access to electricity further. Nepal, with the majority of its people living in difficult to access areas with no roads is a typical example of that. Belonging to the poorest and most undeveloped countries, the per capita electricity consumption is among the lowest in the world. The geographical remoteness, the harsh climatic conditions, low population density with minimal energy demand and low growth potential, are some of the reasons why rural electrification costs in Nepal are prohibitive and the isolated rural mountain villages in Nepal will not be reached within the foreseeable future through grid extensions alone.

Nepal is not rich in fossil fuel resources but it has plenty of renewable energy resources, in particular water that is running down from the vast Himalayan mountain ranges in over 6,000 rivers. With 300 sunny days a year, the sun’s freely available solar energy can also be converted into electricity.

In some of the most remote Himalayan valleys in Nepal, among the poorest and most marginalized groups of people, some encouraging steps have been taken in regard to elementary rural village electrification. The local available, renewable energy resources have been tapped into, and through Remote Area Power Supply (RAPS) systems, miniscule amounts of power, in the “watt” range rather than “kilo-watt”, has been generated for elementary rural village electrification. In this way several villages have been electrified, for lighting purposes only, through different types of village integrated solar photovoltaic systems and the smallest kinds of hydro power plants, called pico hydro. The lights considered most appropriate and sustainable are 1 watt energy consuming white light emitting diodes (WLED), providing a minimum, but just sufficient light output.

This paper aims to highlight the urgency for appropriate and sustainable elementary rural village electrification in Nepal, in order to create opportunities to bring light into the dark, smoke filled homes of the poorest of the poor. It discusses the possible, appropriate technologies, such as solar PV systems for single homes and whole villages, pico hydro power plants and small wind generators, for small scale rural village power generation schemes. It describes and discusses some of the implemented village solar PV and pico hydro power plant projects, including the experiences gained and the lessons learned.

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Kimber Haddix McKay

Papers

Benefits from a renewable energy village electrification system

Responses to Innovation in an Insecure Environment in Rural Nepal

Who is a "real woman"? Empowerment and the discourse of respectability in Namibia's Zambezi region

The Search for "Strong Medicine": Pathways to Healthcare Development in Remote Nepal Using GIS

Renewable energy village power systems for remote and impoverished Himalayan villages in Nepal