Research Information System
ENERGY CONVERSION AND MANAGEMENT, vol.352, pp.121082, 2026 (SCI-Expanded, Scopus)
Storing hydrogen resources underground can accelerate the transition to
renewable energy, facilitate energy supply security, and the adoption
and expansion of hydrogen energy, a clean energy source. The selection
of sustainable underground hydrogen storage systems is a critical
research topic for addressing environmental issues caused using fossil
fuels. However, decision-makers still lack a consensus-based and
sustainability-oriented framework that can comparatively evaluate
alternative underground hydrogen storage geological formations under
economic, environmental, social, and technical uncertainties, which
constitutes a critical barrier to large-scale hydrogen deployment. This
issue has become more prominent as fossil-based fuel reserves are
gradually decreasing worldwide. In contrast, researchers and
practitioners lack a consensus on which underground storage method is
most suitable for economical, safe, and efficient hydrogen storage. If
this problem is not addressed correctly and reasonable solutions are not
obtained, continued dependence on fossil fuels may persist.
Alternatively, other renewable energy sources with relatively lower
efficiency and performance may be adopted. In both cases, significant
delays in achieving the global sustainability goal are likely to occur.
We propose an integrated fuzzy decision-making framework (F-WENSLO &
Dombi-Bonferroni & F-ARTASI) to address this selection problem
under uncertainty. The proposed framework integrates fuzzy WENSLO
(Weights by ENvelope and SLOpe) for robust sustainability-based criteria
weighting, the Dombi–Bonferroni aggregation operator to model
interdependencies among criteria explicitly, and the fuzzy ARTASI
(Alternative Ranking Technique based on Adaptive Standardized Intervals)
method to provide flexible and stable ranking of geological
alternatives beyond rigid distance-based approaches. Key advantages of
the proposed model include producing reliable and consistent solutions
that accurately reflect real-world conditions for selecting sustainable
underground hydrogen storage systems. The results revealed that C14 (job
creation and employment opportunities) (0.0603) is the most influential
criterion in selecting the most suitable storage system. In addition,
salt caverns with an
of 10,5167 have achieved the highest score, placing them in the first
position, and it is the most suitable and advantageous underground
hydrogen storage option. The suggested decision-making tool can yield
reliable and robust solutions in real-world conditions, enabling the
planning of infrastructure design for hydrogen energy systems that
incorporate sustainability dimensions. In that regard, the developed
model possesses the characteristics of an efficient and practical
roadmap that can guide policymakers and decision-makers in transitioning
from fossil-based energy sources to renewable energy sources. It has
been implemented to evaluate underground geological formations that
could facilitate the storage of hydrogen energy underground, serving as a
case study. The reliability and robustness of this tool have been
verified through extensive validation tests.