Decision Analysis: A Tool to Guide the R and D Selection of Alternative Energy Sources

摘要

The array of alternative energy sources which are vying for the federal government's R and D dollar is formidable when compared to the politically acceptable amount which can be used to fund the research. To guide how these funds should be dispersed, a rational, defensible procedure is needed which can repeatedly be applied as new technologies and new information become available. The procedure advanced in this paper is a decision analysis technique known as multi attribute decision analysis (MADA) and its use is illustrated in an evaluation and ranking of solar thermal electric power generating systems. Since the ultimate purchase decision is made in the market place, the preferences of potential users have been sampled and brought to bear on the ranking. The focus of this description is on the formulation of the problem structure and the decision model, the treatment of uncertainty, and how the results relate to the questions asked by and of the Department of Energy, which funded the study. A final note proposes how decision analysis can be used to address the broader questions of choice among competing technologies with cautions concerning misuse of the procedure. (ERA citation 05:028653)