Making Decision Support System for Utilization of Biogas in Iran

Abstract

The use of renewable energy sources is often suggested to be a good solution for climate change and the dependency to fossil fuel. Biogas utilization is a one of these promising options that can mitigate these problems since biogas is produced by the fermentation of waste, so is rich in methane and has the same characteristics as natural gas. Biogas has increasingly been noticed in different countries during last decades, but Iran could not reach its deserved position in comparison with others. The authors believe that absence of a proper management and information system is the main reason for this problem. In this article a decision system is designed in order to reduce the involved risks in making decision and helping in selecting the most appropriate commercialization strategies for utilization of biogas which is achievable from Iran's livestock and poultry wastes. After a short hint to biogas and its techniques, in this article the main related criteria including biogas site selection and production techniques and utilization options in Iran have been chosen and their weights were calculated according to analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The weight obtained in this research should be considered in future development of Biogas by considering local specifications.