Initiated by extensive plans to develop on-shore wind power in Norway it has been an intense debate in media about the environmental impacts related to the development of different renewable electricity technologies. In particular, development of wind power in Trøndelag and Norway has experienced intense local and regional resistance.
It is, however, difficult to find scientific evidence supporting that some technologies have a smaller environmental footprint than another, by systematically comparing the environmental performance of off-shore wind power, on-shore wind power, small and large hydropower as well as refurbishment and extension of existing hydropower plants. This study aims at selecting a number of possible or planned renewable electricity project and systematically compare their environmental footprint, i.e. with respect to greenhouse gas emissions (carbon footprint), impacts on wilderness areas, habitat degradation, water footprint and other relevant environmental indicators.
The study can be divided into the following activities:
- Literature review on studies comparing environmental performance between electricity technologies
- Selection of case studies for a comparing environmental performance (in Norway or abroad)
- Carry out a GIS-based analysis on environmental impacts/develop new analytical method
- Do a ranking of the different technological alternatives
Figure 1: Which technology gives the best environmental performance; large hydropower, small hydropower or wind power, with the same electricity output?
Supervisor: Tor Haakon Bakken & Mahmoud Saber Kenawi (PhD-student)