Abstract
Colombia is one of the emerging economies of the South American continent. Besides, the energy demand is increasing faster than the energy production. On the other hand, a low carbon economy has been set as a strategic priority for the Colombian government.
To fulfil this objective, one of the main actions deals with the development of the use of the renewable energy sources, and those include conventional (i.e. hydropower) and the so-called non-conventional renewable energy technologies: solar photovoltaic, wind, mini-hydro, geothermal and biomass power.
However the non-conventional renewable energy technologies are encountering different barriers against their development. In this paper we identify them by reviewing the literature and interviewing different experts in the Colombian energy sector. Eleven barriers form the final list and have been classified into 3 clusters. All the barriers are presented and explained below.
The ANP provides a framework for dealing with decision-making or evaluation problems. It presents its strengths when working in scenarios with scarce information. ANP generalizes the problem modelling process using a network of criteria and alternatives (all called elements), grouped into clusters. All the elements in the network can be related in any possible way, i.e. a network can incorporate feedback and interdependence relationships within and between clusters. This provides an accurate modelling of complex settings and allows handling the usual situation of interdependence among elements in assessment scenarios.
As a result the main barriers are distinguished from the not so influential barriers. Therefore, recommendations can be drawn for a development plan of non-conventional renewable energy resources. Scarce public resources can be applied to the main barriers.
Besides, non-conventional renewable energy sources are ranked showing which are more influential, i.e. which ones are having the main problems with the barriers. Again
