De-politicising seawater desalination: Environmental Impact Assessments in the Atacama mining Region, Chile

2021 ◽  
Vol 120 ◽  
pp. 187-194
Author(s):  
Cecilia Campero ◽  
Leila M. Harris ◽  
Nadja C. Kunz
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Seawater Desalination ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Mining Region

scholarly journals Assessment of the Requirements within the Environmental Monitoring Plans Used to Evaluate the Environmental Impacts of Desalination Plants in Chile

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 2085 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sola ◽  
Sánchez-Lizaso ◽  
Muñoz ◽  
García-Bartolomei ◽  
Sáez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Monitoring ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Evaluation System ◽  
Socioeconomic Development ◽  
Seawater Desalination ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Desalination Plants ◽  
Operation Phase

Seawater desalination represents an alternative solution to face the challenge of water scarcity in Chile. However, the uncertainty toward potential environmental impacts of desalination plants represent a barrier to achieving water sustainability and socioeconomic development in Chile. This study aimed to assess the quality of environmental monitoring plans (EMP) and determine the aspects to be improved within it, in order to enhance the management of desalination plants during the operation phase and guarantee a sustainable development of the activity. The Environmental Impact Assessments (EIAs) and Environmental Impact Studies for seawater desalination projects published in the Environmental Impact Evaluation System (SEIA) in Chile between 1997 and 2018 were reviewed. The results of the brine production from desalination plants showed a significant increase in the last decade (about 1.6 Mm3 per year estimated according to the projects approved or under implementation). The EMPs data show heterogeneity and increasing requirements over time, which can be attributed to the governmental effort to improve environmental protection. Furthermore, a high frequency of irrelevant descriptors was identified in the current EMPs. The study thus recommended standardizing the environmental requirements included in EMPs based on empiric scientific knowledge to enhance the environmental protection programs in Chile.

scholarly journals Novel Application and Validation of a Method to Assess Visual Impacts of Rotating Wind Turbine Blades Within Woodland Areas

2021 ◽  
Vol 89 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
U. Nopp-Mayr ◽  
F. Kunz ◽  
F. Suppan ◽  
E. Schöll ◽  
J. Coppes
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Wind Turbine ◽  
Wind Turbines ◽  
Power Plants ◽  
Laser Scanning ◽  
Forest Canopy ◽  
Turbine Blades ◽  
Wind Turbine Blades ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Independent Field

AbstractIncreasing numbers of wind power plants (WPP) are constructed across the globe to reduce the anthropogenic contribution to global warming. There are, however, concerns on the effects of WPP on human health as well as related effects on wildlife. To address potential effects of WPP in environmental impact assessments, existing models accounting for shadow flickering and noise are widely applied. However, a standardized, yet simple and widely applicable proxy for the visibility of rotating wind turbines in woodland areas was largely lacking up to date. We combined land cover information of forest canopy extracted from orthophotos and airborne laser scanning (LiDAR) data to represent the visibility of rotating wind turbines in five woodland study sites with a high spatial resolution. Performing an in-situ validation in five study areas across Europe which resulted in a unique sample of 1738 independent field observations, we show that our approach adequately predicts from where rotating wind turbine blades are visible within woodlands or not. We thus provide strong evidence, that our approach yields a valuable proxy of the visibility of moving rotor blades with high resolution which in turn can be applied in environmental impact assessments of WPP within woodlands worldwide.

scholarly journals Recycled text and risk communication in natural gas pipeline environmental impact assessments

Energy Policy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 156 ◽  
pp. 112379
Author(s):  
Jacob D. Hileman ◽  
Mario Angst ◽  
Tyler A. Scott ◽  
Emma Sundström
Keyword(s):  
Natural Gas ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Risk Communication ◽  
Gas Pipeline ◽  
Natural Gas Pipeline ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments

Using Relict Species–Area Relationships to Estimate the Conservation Value of Reservoir Islands to Improve Environmental Impact Assessments of Dams

2021 ◽  
pp. 417-437
Author(s):  
Isabel L. Jones ◽  
Anderson Saldanha Bueno ◽  
Maíra Benchimol ◽  
Ana Filipa Palmeirim ◽  
Danielle Storck-Tonon ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Conservation Value ◽  
Relict Species ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Species Area

scholarly journals Dialogues between social and natural sciences: contribution to the debate on socio-environmental conflicts

2015 ◽  
Vol 87 (4) ◽  
pp. 2335-2348 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Milanez
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Natural Sciences ◽  
Environmental Conflicts ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
The Social ◽  
Mining Projects ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Strong Candidate ◽  
Social Environmental

ABSTRACT In this article, I argue that attempting to solve real problems is a possible approach to bring social and natural sciences together, and suggest that - as Environmental Impact Assessment necessarily brings together social and environmental issues - this debate is a strong candidate for such a task. The argument is based on a general discussion about the possibilities and limitations of Environmental Impact Assessments, the social-environmental impacts of mining activities and three case studies. The analysis of the cases indicates possibilities and limitations of the dialogue between scientists from various areas - and of the collaboration with social movements and affected communities - in avoiding negative impacts of mining projects and, eventually, increasing their sustainability.

Assessing 30 Years of Neoliberal Environmental Management in Chile

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Javiera Barandiarán
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Management ◽  
Ecosystem Services ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Conflicts Of Interest ◽  
Environmental Policies ◽  
Environmental Impact Assessments ◽  
Water Ecosystem ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Mutual Accountability

Neoliberal environmental policies operate through markets, including for carbon, water, ecosystem services, or—as in contemporary Chile—for environmental scientific knowledge. Chile illustrates how markets for science operate, such as for monitoring data or environmental impact assessments, and their negative impacts on public trust in science and on the state’s regulatory efforts. In a society governed by a market for science, environmental scientists cannot escape the suspicion that conflicts of interest compromise their independence and the credibility of their work. Chile’s neoliberal 1980 Constitution sustains this market for knowledge but will be reformed following national demonstrations in 2019. The health of Chile’s environment depends on a new constitution that democratizes both democracy and science. Rights of nature doctrines, as in Ecuador’s 2008 Constitution, can provide the constitutional foundation for strong mutual accountability between science, the state, society, and nature.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document