Visibility/invisibility in the 'making' of energy landscape. Strategies and policies in the hydropower development of the Piave river (Italian Eastern Alps)

Ferrario, Viviana; Castiglioni, Benedetta

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2017.05.012

Cited by 16 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 22 publications

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“…This approach could be part of the solution to the "inherent contradiction" regarding hydropower plants when related, for example, to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): on one hand, SDG 7 advocates to "ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all"; on the other hand, SDG 14 recommends to "conserve and sustainably use life below water" (Kuriqi et al, 2021). Moreover, planning at this level would allow us to better consider crucial issues such as the social acceptance of new hydropower plants (Rygg et al, 2021), their weight in terms of the creation of a new, so-called "energy landscape" (Ferrario and Castiglioni, 2017), and the benefits of locally produced energy (Rygg et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small Hydropower—Small Ecological Footprint? A Multi-Annual Environmental Impact Analysis Using Aquatic Macroinvertebrates as Bioindicators. Part 1: Effects on Community Structure

Scotti

Jacobsen

Ștefan

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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The increasing incentives stemming from many international initiatives that target sustainable energy production have led to the global success of small hydropower plants. However, there is a growing debate about the actual environmental impact these structures have on riverine ecosystems, to the extent that some researchers argue that they could have a proportionally greater impact than large hydropower plants; nevertheless, an empirical evaluation applying a long-term true “Before-After-Control-Impact (BACI)” approach has never been conducted. In a true “BACI” experiment applying generalized linear mixed models, we assessed changes in benthic macroinvertebrate communities—taxonomic composition, spatial and temporal β-diversity, and possible indicator taxa—along 6 sites located in a glacier-fed stream in the Italian Alps before and after the installation of a small “run-of-river” hydropower plant. The “BACI” results over the 5-year study showed no significant variation in the benthic macroinvertebrate communities stemming from the activity of the hydropower plant. Moreover, spatial β-diversity showed, in relation to the “control” site, a constant dissimilarity pattern throughout all the sampling years, exhibiting a constant increase proceeding downstream. On the other hand, temporal β-diversity showed changes in the benthic macroinvertebrate communities, but these changes were largely caused by variation in densities and not by the appearance or disappearance of new taxa. In summary, we were unable to detect a significant impact of the small “run-of-river” hydropower plant on the benthic macroinvertebrate communities of the glacier-fed stream under study. Despite the need of further studies that consider the different features and operational measures of small hydropower plants, our findings illustrate that, when correctly managed, small hydropower plants and the energy they produce may represent an added resource for strategic debates on energy planning processes, especially in light of the commitments at the international level of many countries in developing strategies toward a “carbon-neutral” energy sector.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Small Hydropower—Small Ecological Footprint? A Multi-Annual Environmental Impact Analysis Using Aquatic Macroinvertebrates as Bioindicators. Part 1: Effects on Community Structure

Scotti

Jacobsen

Ștefan

et al. 2022

Front. Environ. Sci.

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“…Indeed, the considered case study involved only one small HP plant, but the current management decisions, especially in mountain contexts already widely exploited for HP production, often concern systems of HP plants located in an entire watershed, where the upstream release scenario affects the downstream scenarios. Moreover, since the most suitable sites for large HP plants have already been exploited in the Alpine area, the focus is currently on the refurbishment or strengthening of the existing plants or on new small HP projects, located on the remaining unexploited rivers, with significant environmental effects (Ferrario and Castiglioni, 2017). Therefore, there is a risk of increasing pressure on still pristine river stretches, like headwaters, which have become increasingly rare (Alpine Convention-Platform Water Management in the Alps, 2011).…”

Section: Further Remarks On the Case Study And The Obtained Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Comparing Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods for the Assessment of Flow Release Scenarios From Small Hydropower Plants in the Alpine Area

Vassoney

Mochet

Desiderio

et al. 2021

Front. Environ. Sci.

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Growing energy demand and targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions are driving a significant hydropower (HP) generation expansion in the Alpine area. However, despite its advantages, HP implementation causes several impacts on the ecological status of river systems and the preservation of characteristic landscapes. The use of decision-making tools, like multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods, can provide helpful support to achieve more sustainable solutions for complex water management problems. In Aosta Valley (NW Italy), an MCDM experimental approach is being applied to define the optimal environmental flow scenario to be released by HP plants, in an attempt to balance energy production needs, economic profitability and environmental safeguard. Four criteria are considered (energy, environment and fishing, landscape, economy) and key stakeholders are involved in the entire decision-making process. However, there is a need to test also other MCDM methodologies in order to understand if an alternative approach could be more suitable for future, more complex, HP management decisions. Therefore, in this paper, seven different MCDM methods are applied to an existing small run-of-the-river HP plant for the selection of the optimal flow release scenario, i.e., SAW, WPM, AHP, TOPSIS, VIKOR, ELECTRE III, and the initially adopted method, SHARE MCA. The results obtained with the application of the different MCDM methods are investigated and statistically compared. The strengths and weaknesses of the different methodological approaches are also discussed. Based on the comparative results and the consequent evaluations, SHARE MCA, WPM, and VIKOR appear to have the most interesting characteristics in terms of overall feasibility.

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“…This approach is not without risks, including poor implementation, and cooptation, for example, praising localized benefit while downplaying lifecycle or cumulative impacts (Ferrario and Castiglioni 2017). More fundamentally, this approach may be interpreted as an opportunity to advance technomodernism (Brinkman and Hirsh 2017) and a techno-sci-Relations -6.1 -June 2018 http://www.ledonline.it/Relations/ entific energy paradigm (Frigo 2017, 13).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mutually-Beneficial Renewable Energy Systems

Burke

2018

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Visibility/invisibility in the 'making' of energy landscape. Strategies and policies in the hydropower development of the Piave river (Italian Eastern Alps)

Cited by 16 publications

References 22 publications

Small Hydropower—Small Ecological Footprint? A Multi-Annual Environmental Impact Analysis Using Aquatic Macroinvertebrates as Bioindicators. Part 1: Effects on Community Structure

Small Hydropower—Small Ecological Footprint? A Multi-Annual Environmental Impact Analysis Using Aquatic Macroinvertebrates as Bioindicators. Part 1: Effects on Community Structure

Comparing Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Methods for the Assessment of Flow Release Scenarios From Small Hydropower Plants in the Alpine Area

Mutually-Beneficial Renewable Energy Systems

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