Implementation of environmental decision making tool for renewable energy utilization: A case of wind and solar

In this paper, an Environmental Decision Making Tool with Renewable Energy (EDMTRE) is proposed with the resources cost as constraints. Modifed ReCiPe Version 1.3 Model is adopted to represent the midpoint indicators. A three-method hybrid; Modified Firefly Algorithm with Levy Flights and Derived Mutation (MFA-LF-DM) with parameters brightness, distance, attractiveness, movement, randomness reduction and mutation is used to validate the EDMTRE on IEEE 30-unit system. The levy flights reduce the random movement of the objective function while the derived mutations are improve the exploration of the candidate solution. The uncertainties and variability of the renewable sources are modelled using Structural Path Analysis (SPA). The results are analyzed under optimal emissions, health and ecosystems end points. From the simulated mid-point indicators, it is apparent that the deployment of RE results in more accurate environmental emissions when the resource cost is constrained. Further, the effects of PV technology to the environment are four times more adverse compared to wind.