Evaluation of alternative fuels for light duty vehicles using superiority and inferiority ranking method (SIR)

The world's dual energy crises are limited resources of fossil fuels (oil and gas products) and environmental pollution. Transportation sector is in charge of a major share of environmental pollution and energy consumption. In recent years, attempts have been made about substitution of alternative fuels in the sector. Despite the adverse consequences of excessive consumption of gasoline in Iran, its consumption has not significantly reduced. As in 2011, among the all types of fuels used in the transportation sector, gasoline with a share of 47% approximately (120.8 million barrels of oil equivalents) is the most prevalent fuel in this sector. In this study, considering a midterm horizon, a multi criteria framework is developed, wherein nine different alternative fuels for light duty vehicles are evaluated against a wide range of criteria including cost and technological considerations and sustainability and security of energy, through a MADM method named superiority and inferiority ranking (SIR). It is concluded that the most suitable alternative fuel for light duty vehicles in Iran is CNG followed by gasoil and also ethanol has the highest priority among the alternative renewable fuels.