Location selection for waste-to-energy plants by using fuzzy linear programming

Highlights: • Renewable energy investment with uncertain information is analyzed. • The investments on waste to energy power plants are examined. • The most suitable locations for waste to energy power plants are determined. • The capacities of the power plants are identified using fuzzy linear programming. • Both comparative and sensitivity analyses are performed in the case study. Effective energy management has become more prominent with the population growth and increasing industrialization. In order to provide an effective planning, it is important to use all kinds of renewable energy sources efficiently. The main renewable energy sources are solar, geothermal, biomass, hydropower and wind. Agricultural, forest, animal and municipal solid wastes are considered as potential resources for biomass. However, the uncertainty in the obtained amount of biomass complicates the related facility investment decisions. Fuzzy linear programming is quite useful to handle impreciseness in resource availability constraints. Therefore, in this paper, the most suitable locations for waste-to-energy power plants in Central Anatolia Region of Turkey are investigated by using a fuzzy linear programming model. It is concluded that Ankara, Konya, Kayseri, Eskisehir, Sivas and Aksaray are the most suitable cities for the investment.