Site selection decision framework for biomass pyrolysis project based on a mixed method under probabilistic linguistic environment and low carbon perspective: A case study in China

Due to the shortage of fossil energy, pyrolysis has become a promising way for the thermal utilization of biomass resources, so as to partly replace fossil energy as well as achieve efficient resource usage. The site selection of the biomass pyrolysis (BP) project is an important task in the preliminary planning stage of the project. Moreover, since low-carbon development has become a common global goal at present, this paper proposes a decision-making framework from the low-carbon point of view for BP project site selection. Firstly, a complete site selection decision-making criteria system embracing the novel concept of low-carbon development is established for the first time, and the subjective and objective weighting method is integrated into the comprehensive integrated weighting method based on game theory. More importantly, a brand-new distance formula for the probabilistic linguistic term set is defined to measure the deviation between information, which uses expectation, variance and scale function to make the measurement more reasonable. Based on this, an improved TODIM (an acronym in Portuguese of interactive and multi-criteria decision making) method is proposed to more accurately determine the best option. Finally, taking Guangdong Province as an example, the best choice for site selection is obtained. This work can provide insightful theoretical basis for the site selection of BP projects.