DECISION-MAKING THROUGH MULTI ATTRIBUTE UTILITY METHODOLOGY (DOMESTIC COAL AND ENERGY SECURITY)

Abstract

The evolution of the coal mining industry in Spain until today has resulted in a totally restructured sector. At the same time, Spain is highly dependent on imported oil and natural gas makes coal resources a key aspect to ensure secure energy supplies to Spanish citizens. This article investigates into the feasibility of long term alternatives of Spanish coal through a MCDM (Multi-Criteria Decision Making) process. The main contribution of this research is twofold. Firstly, to evaluate long term performance of existing coal deposits in Spain using MAUT methodology within three distinctive areas of competence: geographical location, coal mining technology and coal type. Secondly, to assess opportunities for coal resources that can be considered a means of ensuring energy supply security in the future. Our investigation shows that in spite of the reasonable availability of coal resources in the North of Spain, the only alternative that can be regarded commercially viable on an ongoing basis, seems to be coal production in Teruel. Production costs of anthracite and bituminous coal in Castilla y León and Asturias, both in the area of 90 Eur/tce, seem to be far from being in a position to compete against imported coal in the future. In our view, the future design of an Emergency Plan for security of supply reasons using coal as back-up fuel should take into account that the referred production costs could be not achievable if those mines were not functioning on an ongoing basis. Keywords: Coal, Energy resources, Mining, Security of supply