• Energy Research

This paper demonstrates and provides additional findings and instructions to produce new cold-recycled layers of pavement structures spatially and temporally sustainable. At the same time, recycled pavement structures have been enhanced with optimum amounts of new stone materials and binders made of cement and foamed bitumen. The subject of the research is based on the examination of recycled asphalt from surface and bituminous base courses of pavement structures for use on higher-type roads. The aim of the research is to model the process of producing recycled asphalt by cold recycling to optimize the process of influential parameters. In addition, one of the primary goals of the research is to demonstrate a sustainable way of producing new cold-recycled layers of pavement structures. The obtained results indicated the inevitability of the use of recycled material from pavement structures with the possibility of applying secondary and tertiary crushing of recycled mass, which depends on the type of layer for which the recycled material would be used. The research resulted in an optimum mixture variant of the stabilization layer of pavement structure that consists mainly of recycled material from a worn pavement structure improved with a relatively small amount of new aggregate with the addition of minimal stabilizers made of cement and foamed bitumen. The results showed that the optimum mixture variant of the stabilization layer is spatially and temporally stable. Additionally, the presented optimum variant of the stabilization layer enables sustainable development of road networks with minimum consumption of new natural resources.

Today’s economic systems are, on the one hand, exposed to various risks and uncertainties with their trends changing almost daily, while on the other hand, they represent an extremely complex system with a large number of sustainable influential parameters. The challenge is to model macroeconomic parameters and achieve sustainability, yet also satisfy conflict situations with an increased level of uncertainty. The aim of this paper is to create an appropriate functional model by examining the mutual influence of various macroeconomic factors. It assesses a total of four scenarios considering mutual influences of: FDI (foreign direct investments), GDP (gross domestic product), imports, exports, inflation rate, RER (real exchange rate) and employment rate as defined parameters. First, the DEA (Data envelopment analysis) model was applied to determine the initial efficiency of two countries, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) and Serbia, for the period 2005–2020. Then, PCA (Principal Component Analysis) was applied in combination with DEA to obtain more precise values. In addition, IMF SWARA (Improved Fuzzy Stepwise Weight Assessment Ratio Analysis) was applied to define weight coefficients of macro-economic parameters. Finally, the CRADIS (compromise ranking of alternatives from distance to ideal solution) model was applied for the final ranking of part of decision-making units. This developed, integrated model can be classified as a mathematical method for economic analysis and gives extended opportunities for solving different problems. The results show that 2009, 2013 and 2016 were the most favorable years in terms of the conditions set when it comes to Bosnia and Herzegovina, and 2012, 2014 and 2016 when it comes to Serbia. These years have been singled out and can be a benchmark for further handling and modeling of macroeconomic elements. In addition, correlation was tested using statistical coefficients.

The use of computers with outstanding performance has become a real necessity in order to achieve greater efficiency and sustainability for the accomplishment of various tasks. Therefore, with the development of information technology and increasing dynamism in the business environment, it is expected that these computers will be more intensively deployed. In this paper, research was conducted in Danube region countries: Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. The aim of the research was to determine what criteria are most significant for the introduction of high-performance computing and the real situation in each of the countries. In addition, the aim was to establish the infrastructure needed to implement such a system. In order to determine the partial significance of each criterion and thus the possibility of implementing high-performance computing, a multi-criteria model in a fuzzy environment was applied. The weights of criteria and their rankings were performed using the Fuzzy PIvot Pairwise RElative Criteria Importance Assessment—fuzzy PIPRECIA method. The results indicate different values depend on decision-makers (DMs) in the countries. Spearman’s and Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated to verify the results obtained.

Achieving sustainability in constant development in every area in today’s modern business has become a challenge on the one hand, and an imperative on the other. If the aspect of business excellence achievement is also added to it, the complexity of the system increases significantly, and it is necessary to model a system considering several parameters and satisfying the multi-criteria function. This paper develops a novel integrated model that involves the application of a subjective-objective model in order to achieve business sustainability and excellence. The model consists of fuzzy PIPRECIA (fuzzy pivot pairwise relative criteria importance Assessment) as a subjective method, CRITIC (criteria importance through intercriteria correlation) and I-distance method as objective methods. The goal is to take the advantages of these approaches and allow for more accurate and balanced (symmetric) decision-making through their integration. The integrated subjective-objective model has been applied in a narrow geographical area to consider and evaluate banks as a significant factor in improving the social aspect of sustainability. An additional contribution of the paper is a critical overview of multi-criteria problems in which the levels of the hierarchical structure contain a different (asymmetric) number of elements. A specific example has also been used to prove that only a hierarchical structure with an equal number of lower-level elements provides precise weights of criteria in accordance with the preferences of decision-makers referring to subjective models. The results obtained are verified throughout the calculation of Spearman and Pearson correlation coefficients, and throughout a sensitivity analysis involving a dynamic reverse rank matrix.

Green supplier selection is always one of the most important challenges in all of supply chain management, especially for production companies. The purpose is to have reliable suppliers which can fulfill all requests and be flexible in any supply chain stage. The aim of this paper is to create an adequate and strong MCDM (multicriteria decision making) model for the evaluation and selection of suppliers in a real environment. The main contribution of this study is proposing a novel fuzzy–rough MCDM model containing extension stepwise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) and additive ratio assessment (ARAS) methods with fuzzy–rough numbers (FRN). The integrated FRN SWARA–FRN ARAS model was implemented in a case study of eco-friendly material production. The FRN SWARA method was used to calculate the weights of 10 green criteria, while using FRN ARAS, 6 suppliers were evaluated. The results of the applied model show that supplier S3 received the highest ranking, followed by supplier S2, while supplier S5 performed the poorest. In order to verify the strengths of the developed fuzzy–rough approach, we created a comparative analysis, sensitivity analysis, and dynamic matrix, which confirm the robustness of our model.

L'exploitation des énergies renouvelables est devenue une exigence environnementale urgente, en particulier à la lumière des niveaux élevés de pollution et de l'augmentation du réchauffement climatique causé par l'utilisation de millions de tonnes de combustibles fossiles pour la production d'énergie. La recherche a également permis de réduire le coût d'obtention des énergies renouvelables, ce qui en fait un concurrent important des sources d'énergie traditionnelles. Malgré le fait que de nombreux pays développés ont fait de grands progrès dans l'utilisation des sources d'énergie renouvelables comme une partie importante de leur bouquet énergétique, les pays en développement continuent de souffrir dans ce domaine, malgré la disponibilité de ces sources d'énergie. Dans cette étude, une approche hybride multicritères basée sur une combinaison de trois méthodes, à savoir la méthode Best-Worst, la méthode Analytical Hierarchical Process et la méthode Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking According to Compromise Solution, a été appliquée afin de sélectionner le meilleur site pour l'installation d'un parc éolien. La nouveauté de cette étude s'est manifestée par le fait que nous avons développé et utilisé ce modèle intégré pour la première fois dans la littérature. Grâce à l'application de deux méthodes pour déterminer les pondérations des critères et une pour le classement, il est possible d'obtenir des résultats plus précis et de sélectionner un emplacement optimal. Six critères ont été utilisés pour comparer les sites proposés. La méthode combinée Best-Worst et la méthode Analytical Hierarchical Process ont été utilisées pour extraire les pondérations des critères. Sur la base des six critères, une comparaison a été effectuée entre cinq sites proposés dans l'État libyen, qui dépend encore presque entièrement des combustibles fossiles pour obtenir de l'électricité. Le résultat a montré que le critère de sécurité et de qualité est le plus important avec un poids de 0,573, suivi du critère d'impression sociale avec un poids de 0,203. Selon le modèle, la ville de Derna, à l'extrême nord-est du pays, est arrivée en tête avec un poids de 0,703, suivie de la ville de Tarhuna, à l'ouest du pays, avec une valeur de 0,35. De plus, une analyse de sensibilité a été réalisée pour tester la stabilité des résultats en modifiant les poids des critères. Les résultats obtenus indiquent la force du modèle proposé lorsque les avis des experts sur les critères changent. Les critères d'évaluation et cette méthodologie peuvent être appliqués à d'autres villes pour poursuivre l'orientation vers la durabilité. La explotación de las energías renovables se ha convertido en un requisito ambiental urgente, especialmente a la luz de los altos niveles de contaminación y el aumento del calentamiento global causado por el uso de millones de toneladas de combustibles fósiles para la producción de energía. La investigación también ha ayudado a reducir el coste de obtención de energía renovable, convirtiéndola en un fuerte competidor de las fuentes de energía tradicionales. A pesar de que muchos países desarrollados han logrado grandes avances en el uso de fuentes de energía renovables como parte importante de su combinación energética, los países en desarrollo continúan sufriendo en esta área, a pesar de la disponibilidad de estas fuentes de energía. En este estudio, se aplicó un enfoque híbrido multicriterio basado en una combinación de tres métodos, a saber, el método Best-Worst, el método Analytical Hierarchical Process y el método Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking According to Compromise Solution, con el fin de seleccionar el mejor sitio para la instalación de un parque eólico. La novedad de este estudio se ha manifestado a través del hecho de que desarrollamos y utilizamos este modelo integrado por primera vez en la literatura. Gracias a la aplicación de dos métodos para determinar los criterios de ponderación y uno para la clasificación se pueden obtener resultados más precisos y se puede seleccionar la ubicación óptima. Se utilizaron seis criterios para comparar los sitios propuestos. Se utilizaron el método combinado Best-Worst y el método Analytical Hierarchical Process para extraer las ponderaciones de los criterios. Con base en los seis criterios, se realizó una comparación entre cinco sitios propuestos en el estado de Libia, que aún depende casi por completo de los combustibles fósiles para obtener electricidad. El resultado mostró que el criterio de seguridad y calidad es el más importante con un peso de 0.573, seguido del criterio de impresión social con un peso de 0.203. Según el modelo, la ciudad de Derna, en el extremo noreste del país, ocupó el primer lugar con un peso de 0,703, seguida de la ciudad de Tarhuna, en el oeste del país, con un valor de 0,35. Además, se realizó un análisis de sensibilidad para probar la estabilidad de los resultados cambiando los pesos de los criterios. Los resultados obtenidos indican la fortaleza del modelo propuesto cuando cambian las opiniones de los expertos sobre los criterios. Los criterios de evaluación y esta metodología se pueden aplicar a otras ciudades para continuar la orientación hacia la sostenibilidad. Exploiting renewable energies has become an urgent environmental requirement, especially in light of the high levels of pollution and increased global warming caused by the use of millions of tons of fossil fuels for energy production. Research has also helped reduce the cost of obtaining renewable energy, making it a strong competitor to traditional energy sources. Despite the fact that many developed countries have made great strides in using renewable energy sources as an important part of their energy mix, developing countries continue to suffer in this area, despite the availability of these energy sources. In this study, a hybrid multi-criteria approach based on a combination of three methods, namely the Best-Worst method, the Analytical Hierarchical Process method and the Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking According to Compromise Solution method, was applied in order to select the best site for the installation of a wind farm. The novelty of this study has been manifested through the fact that we developed and used this integrated model for the first time in literature. Thanks to applying two methods for determining criteria weights and one for ranking can be obtained more precise results and can be selected optimal location. Six criteria were used to compare the proposed sites. The combined Best-Worst method and the Analytical Hierarchical Process method were used to extract criteria weights. Based on the six criteria, a comparison was made between five proposed sites in the state of Libya, which is still almost entirely dependent on fossil fuels to obtain electricity. The result showed that the safety and quality criterion is the most important with a weight of 0.573, followed by the social impression criterion with a weight of 0.203. According to the model, the city of Derna, in the far northeast of the country, came out on top with a weight of 0.703, followed by the city of Tarhuna, in the west of the country, with a value of 0.35. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was performed to test the stability of the results by changing the weights of the criteria. The results obtained indicate the strength of the proposed model when the experts' opinions on the criteria change. The evaluation criteria and this methodology can be applied to other cities to continue the orientation towards sustainability. أصبح استغلال الطاقات المتجددة مطلبًا بيئيًا عاجلًا، خاصة في ظل ارتفاع مستويات التلوث وزيادة الاحترار العالمي الناجم عن استخدام ملايين الأطنان من الوقود الأحفوري لإنتاج الطاقة. كما ساعدت الأبحاث في تقليل تكلفة الحصول على الطاقة المتجددة، مما جعلها منافسًا قويًا لمصادر الطاقة التقليدية. على الرغم من أن العديد من البلدان المتقدمة قد خطت خطوات كبيرة في استخدام مصادر الطاقة المتجددة كجزء مهم من مزيج الطاقة لديها، إلا أن البلدان النامية لا تزال تعاني في هذا المجال، على الرغم من توافر مصادر الطاقة هذه. في هذه الدراسة، تم تطبيق نهج هجين متعدد المعايير يعتمد على مزيج من ثلاث طرق، وهي الطريقة الأفضل والأسوأ، وطريقة العملية الهرمية التحليلية وقياس البدائل والتصنيف وفقًا لطريقة الحل الوسط، من أجل اختيار أفضل موقع لتركيب مزرعة الرياح. تجلى حداثة هذه الدراسة من خلال حقيقة أننا طورنا واستخدمنا هذا النموذج المتكامل لأول مرة في الأدب. بفضل تطبيق طريقتين لتحديد أوزان المعايير وطريقة واحدة للترتيب، يمكن الحصول على نتائج أكثر دقة ويمكن اختيار الموقع الأمثل. تم استخدام ستة معايير لمقارنة المواقع المقترحة. تم استخدام طريقة Best - Worst المدمجة وطريقة العملية الهرمية التحليلية لاستخراج أوزان المعايير. بناءً على المعايير الستة، تم إجراء مقارنة بين خمسة مواقع مقترحة في دولة ليبيا، والتي لا تزال تعتمد بشكل شبه كامل على الوقود الأحفوري للحصول على الكهرباء. أظهرت النتيجة أن معيار السلامة والجودة هو الأهم بوزن 0.573، يليه معيار الانطباع الاجتماعي بوزن 0.203. وفقًا للنموذج، جاءت مدينة درنة، في أقصى شمال شرق البلاد، في المقدمة بوزن 0.703، تليها مدينة ترهونة، في غرب البلاد، بقيمة 0.35. بالإضافة إلى ذلك، تم إجراء تحليل للحساسية لاختبار استقرار النتائج عن طريق تغيير أوزان المعايير. تشير النتائج التي تم الحصول عليها إلى قوة النموذج المقترح عندما تتغير آراء الخبراء حول المعايير. يمكن تطبيق معايير التقييم وهذه المنهجية على مدن أخرى لمواصلة التوجه نحو الاستدامة.

Sustainable traffic system management under conditions of uncertainty and inappropriate road infrastructure is a responsible and complex task. In Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), there is a large number of level crossings which represent potentially risky places in traffic. The current state of level crossings in BiH is a problem of the greatest interest for the railway and a generator of accidents. Accordingly, it is necessary to identify the places that are currently a priority for the adoption of measures and traffic control in order to achieve sustainability of the whole system. In this paper, the Šamac–Doboj railway section and passive level crossings have been considered. Fifteen different criteria were formed and divided into three main groups: safety criteria, road exploitation characteristics, and railway exploitation characteristics. A novel integrated fuzzy FUCOM (full consistency method)—fuzzy PIPRECIA (pivot pairwise relative criteria importance assessment) model was formed to determine the significance of the criteria. When calculating the weight values of the main criteria, the fuzzy Heronian mean operator was used for their averaging. The evaluation of level crossings was performed using fuzzy MARCOS (measurement of alternatives and ranking according to compromise solution). An original integrated fuzzy FUCOM–Fuzzy PIPRECIA–Fuzzy MARCOS model was created as the main contribution of the paper. The results showed that level crossings 42 + 690 (LC4) and LC8 (82 + 291) are the safest considering all 15 criteria. The verification of the results was performed through four phases of sensitivity analysis: resizing of an initial fuzzy matrix, comparative analysis with other fuzzy approaches, simulations of criterion weight values, and calculation of Spearman’s correlation coefficient (SCC). Finally, measures for the sustainable performance of the railway system were proposed.

Urban mobility planning must urgently confront the challenges attendant to the low carbon transition and green transformation. The necessary paradigm shift from the traditional approaches to embracing environmental sustainability requires maintaining a firm and stable balancing act between opposing forces. The policy-making process in the transition period is complex and requires a detailed analysis that the academic literature lacks. This study analyzes the decision-making process for urban mobility planning to contribute the academic literature on sustainable transitions. In order to illustrate the complexities in the decision-making process, we design an original case scenario. In the case, the planners are supposed to choose the best project from among four recent green strategies. In the process, they need to take the conflicting requirements on the social, economic, environmental and technical issues into account. Sixteen constraints reflect the available physical and financial conditions. Because the decision-making process includes complexities, a novel two-stages model is introduced in the method that is used to solve the problem. In the first stage, the fuzzy D PIvot Pairwise RElative Criteria Importance Assessment (PIPRECIA) algorithm is applied to determine the weights. In the second stage, the fuzzy D Dombi (fuzzy 2D) algorithm is proposed to evaluate the alternatives. The results show that societal dynamics are crucially important in choosing the best alternative. Among four alternatives, the one that is inclusive and makes the existing investments more efficient is highly prioritized. Our findings offer policy implications emphasizing the importance of green mobility projects that favors the social benefits as well as financial issues.