RESEARCH ARTICLE Sustainability and CDM potential analysis of a novel vs conventional bioenergy projects in South Asia by multi-criteria decision-making method Rizwan Rasheed 1,2 & Hajra Javed 1 & Asfra Rizwan 1 & Abdullah Yasar 1 & Amtul Bari Tabinda 1 & Yusra Mahfooz 1 & Yubo Wang 3 & Yuehong Su 2 Received: 15 July 2019 /Accepted: 13 April 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020 Abstract In this study, the multi-attribute utility theory model, one of the most widely utilized multi-criteria decision-making methods, is employed to analyze the relative sustainability and cleaner development mechanism (CDM) potential of a novel bioenergy project in Pakistan and four registered CDM bioenergy installations in China, India, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Four major sustainability evaluation criteria selected for the study are technology, economy, environment, and social aspects, whereas “simple multi-attribute rating technique” (SMART) and “additive synthesis method” were utilized for the calculation of weighting factors. The most significant indicator was emission reduction, and least significant indicator was job creation with 24% and 15% respective weightages, in the sustainability scoring. Moreover, for three considered evaluation scenarios, (I) base case, (II) per kilowatt, and (III) per kilowatt hour, the bioenergy project in Pakistan has the highest comparative sustainability values of 0.735, 0.592, and 0.492 respectively. This analysis will provide an insight assistance to developing countries for establishing sustainable energy installations under CDM. Keywords Sustainability . Clean energy, cleaner development . Sustainable energy . Carbon trading . Bioenergy . Pollution prevention Introduction One of the greatest threats being faced by humanity is that of climate change. The world today is consuming 13 TW of energy out of which 80% is being produced by the burning of fossil fuels. International Energy Outlook (IEO) has predicted that the world’ s energy demand will increase exponentially by 2025, with emerging economies using two-thirds more energy. This depen- dence on fossil fuel consumption is posing risks such as resource depletion as well as climatic changes. Burning of fossil fuels results in the release of greenhouse gases (GHGs), such as CO 2 , water vapors, methane, and sulfur dioxide which are the major contributors to global warming. Despite the stated factors, non-renewable resources still contribute 83–85% to the energy mix while the contribution of renewable resources is merely 15– 17% (Szabó et al. 2013;Simsek et al. 2018; Braide et al. 2020). These anthropogenic activities need to be controlled and man- aged leading to their eventual replacement by cleaner, renewable technologies. Developing as well as developed countries are looking for solutions to overcome the problem of climate change. Some countries have taken the step of signing agreements to share the responsibility of the human activities’ consequences (Schmidt et al. 2017; González et al. 2017). One such interna- tional agreement is that of Kyoto protocol which commits the parties to bind to international emission reduction targets. The agreement is linked to “United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)” (Occhipinti and Verona 2020). Responsible Editor: Muhammad Shahbaz * Rizwan Rasheed riz_mian@hotmail.com; rizwanrasheed@gcu.edu.pk 1 Sustainable Development Study Centre, Government College University Lahore, Katchary Road, Lower Mall, Lahore 54000, Pakistan 2 Department of Architecture and Built Environment, University of Nottingham, Nottingham NG7 2RD, UK 3 School of Economics and Management, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China Environmental Science and Pollution Research https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-08862-6