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.