Activity 11.2

EVALUATING THE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF A RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT

When you have completed this activity you will have designed a strategy for evaluating the environmental impact of a renewable energy project.

Read the information about the different forms of renewable energy described in the Fact Sheet.
Imagine that there is a proposal to build a tidal barrage across an estuary and use the tidal power to generate electricity. Before this could happen a detailed environmental impact assessment (EIA) would be carried out. These can be very long and detailed and are carried out by engineers and scientists with specific skills and knowledge. Two of the many things an EIA would include are a description of the existing environment and the possible environmental impacts of the project.
An important strategy for assessing the impact of a proposed development is collecting information about the site. Put simply, here are some of the things you would need to know about the living and non-living characteristics of the proposed site, before a tidal barrage was built across an estuary.
Working with a partner, discuss the extent to which each of these things could be affected by the construction of a tidal barrage across an estuary.
Record your ideas on the table below by placing a tick in one of the three ‘extent of impact’ boxes.
Record your reason for rating each item the way you did.

Things you would need knowledge of before project started	Possible extent of impact			Reasons for rating
	Great	Some	Little	Reasons for rating
existing fish stocks
movement of marine fauna, including migratory species
terrestrial species reliant on the estuary, for example raptors
location and extent of seagrass beds and mangrove forests
volume of tidal flow
movement of sandbars
direction of water currents
use by recreational and commercial fishermen
human land use beside estuary, for example towns and farms
cultural heritage considerations, for example middens

Available as: