Utilizing Fuzzy DANP to Rank Factors for Optimal Siting of Renewable Energy Farms

Energy consumption, much higher than the global average in developing countries, witnessed a growing and alarming trend in past years. An accepted reality for human communities is that the world’s energy demand is hastily increasing, and cheap fossil energy resources will gradually, yet certainly, be exhausted in future decades. To conserve these worthy fossil resources for future generations, prevent environmental damages due to burning these fuels, and respond to the increasing demand for energy, humans should use clean and renewable energies and discover proper locations to generate renewable energies. Today, locating studies prevail to determine the sites of renewable energy farms and reach industrial development. These studies consider various criteria to select the best location for establishing renewable energy farms. The present research attempted to identify and rank factors influencing the location of renewable energy farms using the fuzzy DANP approach.