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A multi-scale spatial approach to address environmental effects of small hydropower development
Ryan A McManamay1, Nicole Samu, Shih-Chieh Kao
1Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 1 Bethel Valley Rd., MS-6351, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN, 37831-6351, USA, mcmanamayra@ornl.gov.
Environmental Management
|September 17, 2014
Summary
This study introduces a spatial approach to estimate hydropower development's environmental effects, aiding planning and sustainability discussions. It helps identify trade-offs between energy capacity and environmental concerns at various scales.
Area of Science:
- Environmental Science
- Energy Policy
- Spatial Planning
Background:
- Global hydropower development is increasing, yet planning faces challenges due to difficulties in translating ecological data into actionable strategies.
- Existing environmental assessments are often site-specific, limiting their utility for large-scale or future hydropower planning.
Purpose of the Study:
- To propose and demonstrate a novel spatial approach for estimating the environmental effects of hydropower development across multiple scales.
- To integrate environmental concerns with energy potential using spatial data and planning tools.
- To inform policy decisions and foster dialogue on balancing energy needs with environmental sustainability.
Main Methods:
- Developing spatial footprints of hydropower infrastructure and novel methods to represent environmental concerns using spatial data.
- Applying reserve-design planning and multi-metric ranking to analyze trade-offs between environmental factors and energy capacity.
- Utilizing two case studies in the US at national and river basin scales to test the spatial framework.
Main Results:
- The spatial framework effectively identifies environmental concerns and relates them to areas of varying energy capacity.
- Visualization of trade-offs between environmental considerations and potential energy output was achieved through integrated planning techniques.
- The approach highlighted information gaps and assessed the sustainability of different hydropower development scenarios.
Conclusions:
- Spatial frameworks offer a valuable tool for preliminary environmental assessments in hydropower planning, complementing in-depth studies.
- This approach can inform policy decisions at basin and national levels by measuring development sustainability.
- The methodology encourages collaboration between scientists and stakeholders to optimize energy development and environmental protection.
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