Analyzing the development of the third-generation biodiesel production from microalgae by a novel hybrid decision-making method: The case of Iran Mina Alavi Naeini a , Mostafa Zandieh b, * , Seyyed Esmaeil Najafi a , Seyed Mojtaba Sajadi c a Department of Industrial Engineering, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran b Department of Industrial Management, Management and Accounting Faculty, Shahid Beheshti University, G.C., Tehran, Iran c Faculty of Entrepreneurship, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran article info Article history: Received 22 January 2019 Received in revised form 24 December 2019 Accepted 1 January 2020 Available online 2 January 2020 Keywords: Microalgae SWOT analysis Fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) Step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) Weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) abstract Recently, the increase in energy demand motivated the researchers to study renewable energy sources. A significant portion of energy is consumed in transportation. Biofuels such as biodiesel are significant renewable sources of energy that can be utilized in this sector. In Asian countries such as Iran, with widespread use of diesel engines, biodiesel engines are likely to be combined in the system without modifications, since they share similar functionalities with diesel engines. Biodiesels can be extracted from different feedstocks such as microalgae that can grow in Iran. To perform a thorough analysis of the development of biodiesel in Iran, this paper applied strength-weakness-opportunity-threat (SWOT) structure to obtain suitable strategies. These strategies are ranked using a group decision-making method in fuzzy linguistic environment. Step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis (SWARA) is employed to weight the criteria, while fuzzy cognitive map (FCM) is utilized to consider casual re- lationships. Finally, weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) is utilized to rank the strategies. As indicated in the results, a necessity in third-generation biodiesel production from micro- algae is support by government with subsidy and financial policies. Additionally, developing technologies and encouraging private sectors to invest in this area are important strategies as well. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction Since 1973, global demand for energy has been constantly increasing, and it is anticipated to grow even further by approxi- mately 50% by the year 2030 [5,6]. The current trend in the use of non-renewable resources (such as fossil fuels) is going to diminish their reservoir, increase their costs, and create environmental is- sues such as global warming, resulting from emissions of the greenhouse gases (GHGs) [7]. An appropriate alternative in over- coming these problems is using renewable energy resources [5]. In the context of this study, biomass is a renewable source of energy that can be utilized to produce biofuel, following a processing procedure using proper bioenergy technology specific to the type of the biomass and the desired biofuel [7]. A number of such bio- energy technologies include transesterification, anaerobic digestion (AD), metathesis, hydro processing, pyrolysis, Fischer- Tropsch and gasification [7 ,8]. The maximum demand in biofuels is for transportation pur- poses. In this sector, biodiesel and bioethanol are two common types of biofuels [9], the former can be employed in diesel engines in combination with fossil-based diesel and thus, it is recognized as an important biofuel [6,9, 10]. Currently, three different types of biodiesels are being produced, known as the first, second, and third-generation biodiesels. The first-generation biodiesel is extracted from edible vegetable oils, while the second-generation is derived from non-edible feedstocks such as energy crops, used cooking oils, forest residues, animal fats, etc. Moreover, the sources of the third-generation biodiesel are wet biomasses including microalgae [8, 11]. Producing biodiesel from non-edible feedstocks is a more sustainable task compared to the biodiesel derived from edibles [9]. Therefore, the current researches focus on extracting second and third-generation of biodiesels. Most of the developing countries meet their energy demands via either non-renewable energy resources or imported fossil fuels * Corresponding author. E-mail address: m_zandieh@sbu.ac.ir (M. Zandieh). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Energy journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/energy https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2020.116895 0360-5442/© 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. Energy 195 (2020) 116895