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A multi-criteria approach to decision-making on choosing the optimal strategy for implementing the energy-saving potential at Ukrainian dairies

Abstract

Modern dairies consume a great amount of different types of energy per year accounting to a higher production cost. Energy efficiency improvement is an important way to reduce these costs. There are a variety of opportunities available at Ukrainian individual dairies to reduce energy consumption in a cost-effective manner. But, the lack of knowledge and understanding of such opportunities by Ukrainian dairies form a barrier for improving energy efficiency. That is why this paper has summarized a number of energy efficiency practices and energy-efficient technologies that can be implemented at individual Ukrainian dairies. The opportunities included in this paper based on the results of energy audits of more than twenty Ukrainian dairies conducted in which participated the author of this paper. Despite the fact that enterprises have a large potential for energy conservation, achieving a high level of energy efficiency is possible only if the optimal strategy for realizing the potential is selected. The article shows that the decision-making process regarding the selection of the optimal strategy for implementing the energy-saving potential is multidimensional. It consists of evaluating various options for a strategy according to energy, economic, technical and environmental criteria. Therefore, it is advisable to use multi-criteria analysis methods to select the optimal strategy. This will provide an understanding of possible points of view and create a set of relationships between different alternatives. The main goal of this article is to make a preliminary assessment of the possibility of using the multi-criteria method to support the selection of the optimal strategy for realizing the energy saving potential.
KEYWORDS: energy efficiency improvement, energy-saving potential, dairies, multi-criteria approach, optimal strategy

Authors

  • Anatolii Cherniavskyi (Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute)
  • Andrii Hoienko (Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute )