as a screen number (see Fig. 5.4). As can be seen from Fig. 5.4, for the dimension
Environmental, no sub-criteria passes the cutoff point (3), which implies we keep
this main criterion but no comparison is done for its sub-criteria.
In the next step of this research, BWM is employed to determine the weight of the
selected criteria. In this regard, we collected the opinion of 15 experts through an
online questionnaire designed based on BWM. All experts were identified through
their profile on LinkedIn. The detail of all experts engaged in the weighting process
is presented in Table 5.2. The result of BWM for the three dimensions of sustainability (i.e., economic, social, and environmental) is explained as follows.
Result of MCDM
In this part of chapter, we discuss the weight of relevant criteria and sub-criteria, the
arithmetic mean of weights obtained from different experts by BWM. To clarify the
dispersion of experts’ opinion, we also calculate the standard deviation of the weight
of criteria presented in Fig. 5.4.
According to experts’ opinion, economic, social, and environmental aspects of
candidate places have the maximum impact on bioethanol distribution centers in
Iran, respectively (see Table 5.3). Unstable economic condition of Iran which
increases the risk of investment and also lack of adequate infrastructure are two
main reasons that justify the high weight of economic dimensions.
In the economic category, investment cost with the weight of 0.255 is identified as
the most influential sub-criterion (see Table 5.4). Besides the high risk of investing,
the high inflation rate in Iran and the existence of sanctions which limits the import
of equipment to Iran are other two reasons that support the high weight of investment
cost. In this category, transportation and infrastructure, operational costs, marketrelated factors, and economic risks are also other important criteria (see Table 5.4).
The result of weighting analysis for the criteria categorized into social category
indicates that the weight of skilled labor in the location selection of bioethanol
distribution centers is more than the other two criteria (see Table 5.4). High unemployment rate of educated people in Iran could explain this high weight. Human
resources and cost of living are also weighted as the second and third criteria in this
category (see Table 5.4).
The high weight of incentives in comparison with land cost presented in Table 5.5
point out the undeniable role of government to facilitate the implementation of such
centers in Iran. From among the six sub-criteria categorized into transportation and
infrastructure category, quality and reliability of transportation modes with the
weight of 0.238 is more important than the other five sub-criteria. Since infrastructure, which affects the quality of transportation service, is not the same in different
places of Iran, candidate places that could support different types of transportation
are considered with high priority. Connectivity to multimodal transport, transportation costs, extension transportation convenience, logistics service provider, and
density of shipping lines are other important sub-criteria in this category (see
Table 5.5). The high weight of Lead time and responsiveness categorized as
sub-criterion into market-related factors category could be due to the large size of
the country. In other words, there is a link between the location of distribution
5 Location Selection of Bioethanol Distribution Centers
83
Environmental, no sub-criteria passes the cutoff point (3), which implies we keep
this main criterion but no comparison is done for its sub-criteria.
In the next step of this research, BWM is employed to determine the weight of the
selected criteria. In this regard, we collected the opinion of 15 experts through an
online questionnaire designed based on BWM. All experts were identified through
their profile on LinkedIn. The detail of all experts engaged in the weighting process
is presented in Table 5.2. The result of BWM for the three dimensions of sustainability (i.e., economic, social, and environmental) is explained as follows.
Result of MCDM
In this part of chapter, we discuss the weight of relevant criteria and sub-criteria, the
arithmetic mean of weights obtained from different experts by BWM. To clarify the
dispersion of experts’ opinion, we also calculate the standard deviation of the weight
of criteria presented in Fig. 5.4.
According to experts’ opinion, economic, social, and environmental aspects of
candidate places have the maximum impact on bioethanol distribution centers in
Iran, respectively (see Table 5.3). Unstable economic condition of Iran which
increases the risk of investment and also lack of adequate infrastructure are two
main reasons that justify the high weight of economic dimensions.
In the economic category, investment cost with the weight of 0.255 is identified as
the most influential sub-criterion (see Table 5.4). Besides the high risk of investing,
the high inflation rate in Iran and the existence of sanctions which limits the import
of equipment to Iran are other two reasons that support the high weight of investment
cost. In this category, transportation and infrastructure, operational costs, marketrelated factors, and economic risks are also other important criteria (see Table 5.4).
The result of weighting analysis for the criteria categorized into social category
indicates that the weight of skilled labor in the location selection of bioethanol
distribution centers is more than the other two criteria (see Table 5.4). High unemployment rate of educated people in Iran could explain this high weight. Human
resources and cost of living are also weighted as the second and third criteria in this
category (see Table 5.4).
The high weight of incentives in comparison with land cost presented in Table 5.5
point out the undeniable role of government to facilitate the implementation of such
centers in Iran. From among the six sub-criteria categorized into transportation and
infrastructure category, quality and reliability of transportation modes with the
weight of 0.238 is more important than the other five sub-criteria. Since infrastructure, which affects the quality of transportation service, is not the same in different
places of Iran, candidate places that could support different types of transportation
are considered with high priority. Connectivity to multimodal transport, transportation costs, extension transportation convenience, logistics service provider, and
density of shipping lines are other important sub-criteria in this category (see
Table 5.5). The high weight of Lead time and responsiveness categorized as
sub-criterion into market-related factors category could be due to the large size of
the country. In other words, there is a link between the location of distribution
5 Location Selection of Bioethanol Distribution Centers
83