A perspective on the role of multi-criteria decision-making in assessing the sustainability of alternative shipping fuels
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Published Version
Date
2026-07-08
Authors
Sorkhab, Mohammadali Babanejadi
Gray, Nathan
Wall, David
Murphy, Jerry D.
O'Shea, Richard
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier Ltd
Published Version
Abstract
The shipping sector was responsible for 2.9% of global greenhouse gas emissions in 2018. Alternative low/zero-carbon fuels could reduce these emissions. Of issue is high financial investment, long development times, and difficulties in selecting the most sustainable fuel. Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods can aid decision-makers in comparing alternative shipping fuels from technical and sustainability perspectives. MCDM provides methodologies to deal with multiple, often conflicting, criteria with varying degrees of importance or allowable trade-off. This paper provides a perspective on the use of the MCDM methods for comparing alternative shipping fuels. The work indicates that: 1) future research should use Life Cycle Assessment for a more holistic approach to assessing the environmental impact of each fuel; 2) process simulation software can be used to develop the data required for comparing different fuel production pathways; 3) objective weighting methods can be used more in future research; 4) input from port stakeholders should be considered in future research; and 5) to generate a robust comparison, infrastructural requirements should be considered. To enhance the methodological robustness of the results, compensatory aggregation methods should be used with weights that represent a trade-off among criteria rather than their relative importance. When applying such aggregation methods, researchers must clarify whether poor performance in one criterion can be compensated by strong performance in another one.
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Keywords
Alternative fuels , Multi-criteria decision making , Shipping fuel , Sustainability assessment , [ERI] , [EngineeringArchitecture] , [MaREI]
Citation
Sorkhab, M B, Gray, N, Wall, D, Murphy, J D & O'Shea, R 2026, 'A perspective on the role of multi-criteria decision-making in assessing the sustainability of alternative shipping fuels', Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 571, 148658, pp. 1-25. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2026.148658