Energy Decisions and the Environment

Planning, operating, and policy making in the electric utility  and natural gas sectors involves important trade-offs among economic,  social, and environmental criteria. These trade-offs figure  prominently in ongoing debates about how to meet growing energy  demands and how to restructure the world's power industry.  Energy Decisions and the Environment: A Guide to the Use of  Multicriteria Methods reviews practical tools for  multicriteria (also called multiobjective) decision analysis that can  be used to quantify trade-offs and contribute to more consistent,  informed, and transparent decision making. These methods are designed  to generate and effectively communicate information about trade-offs;  to help people form, articulate, and apply value judgments in decision  making; and to promote effective negotiation among stakeholders with  competing interests. Energy Decisions and the Environment: A Guide  to the Use of Multicriteria Methods includes explanations of  a wide range of methods, tutorial applications that readers can  duplicate, a detailed review of energy-environment  applications, and three in-depth case studies.