Coastal project EIA Flashcards
What complicates EIA in coastal context?
It is complicated by both the regulatory and natural environment
What are the marine consents and licensing system (England and Wales)?
- Marine licence= development- Marine Management Organisation
- National Infrastructure projects (e.g. energy 100MW): planning Inspectorate.
- Flood defence consent- ENVT. AGENCY
- Planning permission- above mean low water- (LOCAL PLANNING AUTHORITY).
- Harbour works consents- Harbour Authority (consenting bodies/ authority).
- Landownder consent- Crown Estate
What is a crown estate?
The Crown Estate is a diverse portfolio of UK buildings, shoreline, seabed, forestry, agriculture and common land that generates valuable revenue for the government every year. The Crown Estate works with HM Treasury
Describe the severn estuary.
- A major international shipping terminal
- Internationally important for wildlife: SPA, SAC, Ramsar
- 60-85,000 wintering birds per year feeding on mudflats
- Habitat loss predicted due to sea level rise and coastal squeeze
- Important for fisheries (Salmon and eels), recreation, landscape and cultural heritage (e.g. Severn Bore)
- 14m tidal range
- Barrages have been considered since 1974
- Potentially a predictable source of renewable energy
Very predictable source of energy
Huge potential for renewables
What is the UK energy policy? (2007-2011).
- Put ourselves on a path to cutting co2 emissions by some 60% by about 2050, with real progress by 2020 (in 2011 target increased to 80% reduction by 2050).
- To maintain the relability of energy supplies
- promote competitive markets in UK and beyond
- To ensure that every home is adequately affordably heated
- 15% of our energy will be from renewables by 2020
Tidal energy may be a huge source
What were the four shortlisted options?
- 8GW Barrage: Cardiff-Weston (£34.3 bn)
- Shoots barrage- 1GW further upstream (17.7bn) (equivalent to a large fossil fuel plant).
- Beachley barrage above river Wye- 625 MW (7bn)
- Bridgewater bay lagoon- 1.36GW (12bn)
- Fleming lagoon- 1.36GW (6.6bn)
more recent alternatives include the lagoons
Describe option 1: 8GW barrage
Specifications:
- 214X40 MW turbines
- Generate 8.6 GW during flow and 2 GW on average
( Equivalent to three of the latest nuclear power stations)
- Sufficient to provide 5-6% of current electricty useage of England and Wales
- Cut carbon emissions by 16 million tonnes per year (vs. coal).
Shipping locks for navigation to major port (Sharpness, Gloucester, Cardiff, Bristol). - causes delays
- Major flood defence benefit, preventing storm surges on the severn
- Construction possible in 6-8 years
(Nuclear- 16 yrs or more construction).
What are the economic benefits of option 1?
- 200,000 many years of employments
- 35,000 jobs during peak period
- 40,000 permanent jobs in Somerset and South Wales thanks to benefits of proximity of the new Severn crossing point
What are the negative impacts of option 1?
- Bird habitat: major compensatory habitat creation would be needed under EU law (habita loss inevitable due to sea level rise: wetlands/ mudflats submerges for much of tidal cycle).
- Disruption to migratory fish
- Changes in sediment- increased siltation and erosion likely and hard to predict
- Increased flood risk on seaward side
Describe Bridgewater bay lagoon
Would impound a section of the estuary on coast between east of HInkley Point and Weston-super-mare, which would generate 1.36GW
Describe Fleming/ Welsh Grounds lagoon
generate the same amount of power from a section of the Welsh shore between Newport and the severn road crossings.
Where did some of the opinions of the project come from?
Head of sustainable development- RSPB
Friends of the earth
Head of marine renewables at the renewables energy association
need to upway the balance between local and global environments
- severn estuary is already being degraded by climate change and sea level rise
Do the costs add up for option 1?
Expensive compared to alternatives of generating renewables e.g. wind turbines- however, is potentially more plausible than nuclear power generation
appears to be sufficient capacity to use other technologies to meet Government targets for renewable power generation
what were the details of the appropriate assessment?
- Identified extensive residual effects after mitigation, including
- reduction of birds
- Reduced extent of key habitat features (marshes, mudflat etc).
- Decline or population collapse of protected migratory fish species (possible extinction of the twait shed; impacts on sea lamprey, river lamprey, allis shed and Atlantic sea trout and European Eel).
Operational impacts of option 1?
- Tidal regime
- direct mortality of aquatic species
- barrier to movement
- habitat fragmentation
- Noise, light, vibration, electromagnetic field
- Habitat loss
- Reduced reproductive success
Construction and decommissioning effects of option 1?
- Permenant habitat loss
- Habitat loss
- Fragmentation
- spread of non-natives
- Sediment generation
- Pollution
- Noise, light, vibration
What was the final decision?
- consultation continued until 2010
- Multiple schemes possible
- Decision to cancel project announced by Energy Secretary Chris Huhne (October 2010)
> no strategic case
Financially impractical
other options more cost effective
Impacts excessive
Why did the story continue?
2012- another consortium came forward to lobby government
A proposal backed by Peter Hain would be privately financed but environmental groups still object.
> requries a public bill in government.
” Severn barrage: pre-election consent not likely”- UK Energy Minister Greg Barker
Ministers say case for £25bn plans unproven
What are details of the Swansea Bay Barrage
Novemeber 2014- proposal submitted to planning inspectorate
Conseneted in 2015- but funding not confirmed
(Go ahead- dependent on Government support and competition with other organisations).
What was the tidal lagoon power Ltd proposal?
- A £850m, six mile long U shaped seawall by the swansea docks
- Enough electricity to power 120,000 homes for 120years
- 1 of 5 proposed by Tidal Lagoon, including Liverpool Bay and Colwyn Bay, N. Wales
What were the tidal lagoon power Ltd benefits?
- 2000 construction jobs in 2 years
- Opportunities for local industries- making turbine housings, sluice gates, flood doors, precast concrete, electrics
- Regeneration of regional economy
- Up to 100,000 tourist visitors a year
- International sport centre
- Arts and culture
- Local recreation
How does it work?
> harness tidal range with an impounding seawall, capable of holding 4 sq miles of water
would let it run out through 16 turbines at both high and low tides, generating electricty
At low tide, water would flow from lagoon into sea and at high tide, water would flow from sea to lagoon
Mitigation?
Alternative sea wall designs:
- geotextile option
- uarry run option
(maintains low technology risk and use sustainable construction methods across whole period)
Relevance to climate change and flood defence
> the lagoon will reduce swanseas vulnerability to tidal flooding- and reduce costs on existing coastal defence infrastructure
has been tested with physical models to with stand a 1-500 year storm event
