Sustainability Assessment Considering Socio-environmental and Economic Indicators Using Fuzzy Logic: A Case Study of Indian Hydropower Projects

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Shaktawat, Anuja^{a; *} | Vadhera, Shelly^b

Affiliations: [a] SREE, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India | [b] Electrical Engineering Department, National Institute of Technology, Kurukshetra, Haryana, India

Correspondence: [*] Corresponding Author. [email protected]

Abstract: There is a rapid expansion of energy demand in India. Hydropower as a renewable energy source has the potential to fulfill the demand to quite an extent. Hydropower development has economic, environmental and social impact on society. The sustainability assessment of power projects mostly considers power generation whereas hydropower sustainability depends on social and environmental factors too. In this paper, an attempt is made to evaluate the sustainability of Indian hydropower projects using the weighted sum method and fuzzy logic. The methodology is based on three dimensional criteria i.e. economic, social and environmental considering that all three indicators have an equal impact on sustainability. The paper will be a lighthouse for future planners and researchers in the Indian context as a tool that can be applied for sustainability assessments of planned as well as already constructed hydropower project.

Keywords: Hydropower projects, sustainability, economic indicator, social indicator, environmental indicator

DOI: 10.3233/AJW190012

Journal: Asian Journal of Water, Environment and Pollution, vol. 16, no. 2, pp. 1-7, 2019