ABSTRACT
Energy is an all-encompassing commodity that touches the life of everyone. Managing energy effectively is of paramount importance in every organization and every nation. Energy issues have led to political disputes and wars. This chapter presents examples of the application of operations research (OR) to optimizing energy decisions. Kruger (2006) presents a comprehensive assessment of energy resources from different perspectives, which include historical accounts, fossil fuel, energy sustainability, consumption patterns, exponentially increasing demand for energy, environmental impact, depletion of energy reserves, renewable energy, nuclear energy, economic aspects, industrialization and energy consumption, and energy transportation systems. Badiru (1982) presents the application of linear programming (LP) technique of OR to energy management with a specific case example of deciding between alternate energy sources. Badiru and Pulat (1995) present an OR model for making investment decisions for energy futures. Hudson (2005) developed an OR-based spreadsheet model for energy cogeneration. All these and other previous applications of OR to energy systems make this chapter very important for both researchers and practitioners.
