Barriers identification and prioritization for sustainability enhancement

Seawater desalination has been recognized as a promising way for solving the water supply crisis. However, there are various barriers in technological, economic, environmental, and social-managerial aspects that influence the sustainable development. In order to promote the sustainable development of desalination industry in China, an improved DEMATEL (decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory) method was developed by combing the traditional DEMATEL method and the fuzzy best-worst method, and the relative influences of the influential factors on each factor in the initial influence matrix can be determined accurately. The improved DEMATEL was employed to investigate the cause-effect relationships among the barriers hindering the sustainable development of desalination industry in China, the most critical “causes” were identified, and some policy implications were proposed for promoting the sustainable development of China's desalination industry.