This paper presents the application of backtracking search algorithm (BSA) for solving an economic/emission dispatch (EED) problem as a multi-objective optimization problem. BSA is a newly developed evolutionary algorithm with one control parameter to solve numerical optimization problems. It utilizes crossover and mutation operators to advance optimization toward the optimal. The multi-objective BSA developed and presented in this paper uses an elitist external archive to store non-dominated solutions known as pareto front. The problem of EED is also solved by weighted sum method, which combines both objectives of the problem into a single objective. Three test systems are the case studies verifying the effectiveness of BSA. The results are compared with those of other methods in literatures and confirm the high performance of BSA. number of generating units cost function coefficients of generating unit i emission function coefficients of generating unit i minimum and maximum production limits of the ith generator output power of the ith generator power demand transmission network loss vector for power outputs of N generating units loss coefficients generation cost of generating unit i total generation cost of N generating units emission amount of generating unit i total emission amount of N generating units objective vector combined objective of several objectives weighting factor price penalty factor standard uniform distribution standard normal distribution amplitude control function of search-direction matrix feasible search space of optimization problem BSA's control parameter population size population matrix in iteration t individual i of population X in iteration t historical population matrix in iteration t final and trial population matrices binary matrix number of objectives number of non-dominated solutions objective function j maximum and minimum values of the jth objective function solution number i crowding distance of solution i membership function of solution i for objective j normalized membership function of solution i 
Multi-objective backtracking search algorithm for economic emission dispatch problem