An analytical network process model for deciding on Turkiye’s Coal Mining Policy

Coal is a necessary energy source for electric generation and other industrial uses. Countries that use this energy source as a domestic and natural resource should consider their coal mining policies. It is a hard task for the people who are responsible for the development and planning of investments since coal mining policy is affected by economic, political, social, national, and environmental factors. In addition; lots of sub-factors, which can be clustered under these factors, have a great impact on deciding on a coal mining policy. These factors and sub-factors are not independent from each other but also have interrelationships. This paper proposes a multi-criteria decision-making model for selecting the best coal mining policy in Turkiye by using the Analytical Network Process (ANP) method in which all these effective factors and their relationships are considered. Turkiye faces energy supply issues since energy demand has increased owing to rapid economic expansion, rising population, and growing industrialization. Turkiye is heavily dependent on imported energy sources such as oil, gas, and hard coal since the country’s natural energy resources are restricted to lignite and hard coal. In this respect, Turkiye needs to develop a coal mining policy according to its conditions. The main purpose of this study is to investigate Turkiye’s most appropriate coal policy by taking different perspectives and evaluating the issue as a decision problem. After the modeling studies by using ANP, it is concluded that much more coal production should be supplied by making new investments in the coal mining sector in Turkiye. The ANP method found as a useful and practical technique for deciding on mining policy problems.