Training Programme on Application of En vironmental T echnology A ssessment (EnTA)

Training Programme on

Application of

Environmental Technology Assessment(EnTA)

Workshop Objective

• To equip you with the understanding and methods, a tool and other resources related to EnTA, thereby ensuring that you are able to:– conduct an EnTA in a competent manner and– transfer this understanding of, and competency in,

EnTA to other individuals and organisations.

Outcomes of an EnTA

Consensus rather than conflict Improved decision making regarding

selection of environmentally sound technologies

Facilitate sustainable development

Programme

• Getting Started – including introductions• EnTA – methodology, information requirements,

support materials and tools• Training Case Study• National/Region Case Studies• “Learning by Doing” – group work on case studies• Reporting Back• Developing National Capacity in EnTA• Evaluation and Close

• Training Case Study– Polyethylene Production – based on

imaginary country of Udanax

• National/Regional Case Studies

Case Studies

Key Objectives of Session

• This section of the training package is designed to give you an overview of the nature and purpose of Environmental Technology Assessment (EnTA).

• By the end of this session you will have an understanding of:– the key terms, potential users and applications of

EnTA;– the key concepts, characteristics and procedures of an

EnTA.

Brainstorming Session

• Identify the limitations of Environmental Impact Assessment

Definition of EnTA

EnTA is a systematic procedure whereby a proposed technology investment is described and appraised in terms of its potential influence on the environment, the implications for sustainable development and the likely cultural and socio-economic consequences.

Potential Users of EnTA

• Decision makers and managers in industry.• Development planners and other governmental

officials.• Community and other non-governmental

organisations.• All individuals and groups with a commitment to

sustainable development.

The Need for EnTA

• EnTA helps identify environmentally sound technologies.

• EnTA helps improve the quality of decision making to ensure the most appropriate decisions are made on the technology choice.

• EnTA helps build consensus among stakeholders.

Environmentally Sound Technologies

Environmental Technologies Production & ConsumptionTechnologies

Environmental TechnologyVerification (ETV)

Environmental Verification of Technologies (EVT)

Generic and Global

Specific and Local

Environmental TechnologyAssessment (EnTA)

Terminology

The Basics of EnTA

Objective of EnTA

• To provide an evaluation of the environmental consequences of different technology options

This includes assessing the effects a technology has on the health and welfare of the community, natural ecosystems and on the sustainability of resource use

Characteristics of EnTASummary• technology focused• focused at enterprise level rather than national policy level• considers alternatives • simplifying, largely qualitative and subjective• involves and reflects interests of multiple stakeholders• scoping tool - to be used at the “idea stage”, rather than after development of

a formal/full proposal (then use EIA)• proactive environmental management tool• multidisciplinary• comprehensive and integrated - with respect to the broad implications of the

technology system• identifies if more sophisticated assessment tools should be used• voluntary

EnTA Approach

• identification of need, problem, opportunity• choice of alternatives• selection of sites and technologies• design• obtaining appropriate rights and approvals• construction• operation and maintenance; inputs & outputs• repairs, upgrading, expansion• abandonment, decommissioning, disposal,

replacement

EnTA examines the total technological process over its entire lifecycle:

Components of a Technological System

Wastes & Products

Human Resources

Resource Use

Infrastructure

Supporting Technologies

• In practical terms the scope of the assessment is likely to be determined by such factors as:

–Time horizon

–Political considerations

–Expert judgement

–Resource limitations

–Technology options and applications• Given considerations of these factors it is possible

to define the scope of the assessment.

Scope of the Assessment

Steps in EnTA

The EnTA Process is NOT linear

Evaluating Environmental Consequences

Step 2: Identify Environmental Pressures

Factors that Determine Environmental Consequences

• The characteristics of the pressures (e.g. the nature and quantity of the resources consumed and wastes released).

• The nature of the pathways.• The characteristics of the receiving

environment (e.g. community values, hazard pathways, number of people or animals exposed, and sensitivity of the receiving environment.

Relationships between DICE and the EnTA process.

• Resource use

• Wastes and hazardous products

• Human resources requirements

• Infrastructure requirements

• Requirements for supporting technologies

Sources of Environmental Pressures

Outcome Categories

• Human Health and Safety

• Local natural environment

• Global environment

• Scarce/non-renewable resource use

• Social systems

(= “Endpoints”)

Information Required to Conduct an EnTA

Technical resources: • If the assessment is being undertaken in relation to a

process technology a number of technical documents can help ensure adequacy of the information available to the assessment team.

• These include documents that describe the process, a process diagram, simplified materials and energy balances, the amounts and physical and chemical forms of raw materials, products and wastes, costs, conceptual basic engineering information and details of the critical points where decisions have to be made on environmental, economic and social grounds.

Information Required to Conduct an EnTA (cont.)

Resource use:• Information should be available for all the

material, water, energy, and land resources required to establish the technology and to produce the desired outputs (e.g. services or products). This includes all of the inputs to a process, as well as the support requirements (e.g. buildings, and land). Particular attention should be paid to identification of all toxic, non-renewable and scarce materials used by the technology.


Wastes and products:• All of the gaseous, liquid and solid wastes, and noise,

produced by the technology should be described. These are often the major source of environmental pressures. There is a need to identify the products produced by the technology, with attention being given to those that have the potential to cause significant pressures on environmental systems – for instance toxic substances (e.g. pesticides that have the potential for accidental release into the environment during storage or transportation).


Infrastructure:

• All of the supporting facilities, services and utilities needed by the technology should be described. This might include roads, public transportation services and sewers


Supporting technologies:• Technology interventions often require other supporting

technologies in order to operate effectively. Examples include storage facilities and waste treatment plants. These supporting technologies place additional demands on the environment, due to such effects as resource consumption and waste emissions. As with infrastructure, it is especially important to identify the supporting technologies that will be introduced or used as a direct consequence of the proposed technology intervention.


Human resources:• It is important to describe all the labour

requirements needed to build, maintain, operate and eventually decommission the technology. Of special interest in this category is the number of people that may need to be recruited from outside the locality where the technology will be used. A large influx of labour can make significant demands upon the environment, resources, infrastructure, and social cohesion, and on support services, especially in a small community.


Human health:• This information category focuses on the potential impacts

of a technology on the health, safety and well being of the community and workers. Impacts may be associated with injury, discomfort or death. There are three main impact pathways that need to be considered in the assessment of human health and safety:

– Communicable Diseases - Vector borne diseases (e.g. malaria), sanitary hygiene diseases, risk associated with handing of infectious wastes;

– Injury - Risk of accidents from traffic, explosions, falls, heat stress, operation of machinery, handling of physically hazardous wastes and resources (e.g. sharps), loss of hearing; and

– Exposure to hazardous chemicals - Inhalation (e.g. air pollution), dermal contact, ingestion of contaminated food and water (e.g. pesticide residue) of hazardous chemicals and of radioactive material.


Local natural environment• This category focuses on the effects a technology may have on

organisms, their habitats, the life supporting capacity of natural ecosystems, and on biodiversity. Of particular concern is the loss of endangered and rare plant and animal species, and destruction of endangered and limited habitats. Three principal impact pathways should be considered when assessing impacts in this category:– Habitat loss or alteration through land clearance (e.g. as a consequence

of raw material demand or development of a site);– Physical disruption of habitat; for example, the construction of pipelines

that inhibit the migration of animals; and– The chemical contamination of the environment through the release of

wastes that have a direct toxic effect on flora and fauna (e.g. pesticides) or that alter the functionality of an ecosystem through such processes as eutrophication (e.g. the discharge of nutrients or other chemicals with high biological oxygen demand (BOD)) and acidification.


Resource sustainability• This impact category relates to the effect that the technology has upon

the continued existence and availability of valued and scare resources. There are two principal ways a technology can affect resource sustainability:

– By consuming a resource at a rate greater than it is replenished or greater than the rate at which it may be continually supplied over the lifetime of the technology; and

– By contaminating a resource that is either used by the technology operators or by other parties, but which has no direct link to the technology (e.g. contamination of groundwater by an industrial manufacturing process).

• In general, three basic resource categories should be considered in the assessment:

– Living Resources: Consumption or destruction of flora and fauna resources such as crops, forests (e.g. tropical rainforests), and fisheries;

– Non-living resources: Mineral and chemical resources such as the fossil fuels used in energy generation or the materials used in production, and also the consumption or contamination of water resources; and

– Land resources: The land required by the industrial site, wastes, and by supporting infrastructures and services which may reduce its potential for later use.


Global environment• This category is concerned with the impact of the

technology at a global scale, typically as a cumulative impact. These impacts may or may not be associated with a significant effect on a given local ecosystem or community. Particular emphasis is placed on the release of substances that:– Enhance global warming (i.e. greenhouse gases such as carbon

dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides); and those that– Deplete the stratospheric ozone layer, for example

chloroflurocarbons


Social and cultural• This category is related to the effects of a technology on a

community’s values, social services and social cohesion. These impacts are in addition to those related to human health, safety and well being. There are many ways in which a technology may affect the social structure and well being of a community, but the EnTA process will normally focus on three principal concerns:– Cultural resources and values– Social disruption to the community– Equity issues


Critical cost elements• Cost elements of a technology element that are

subject to significant change (i.e. “volatility”) under certain conditions.

• For example, in the case of lead acid battery recycling, scrap batteries account for about 60% of production costs. In other processes, energy or labour might be significant cost factors.

Support Materials and Tools

• EnTA Manual

• Worksheets

• Case Studies

• Conventional Training Package

• EnTA Online (plus user’s guide)

When is an impact significant?

Discussion

DiscussionWhat is the effect of the impact?

What is the danger posed by this pressure (i.e. will an emission cause only a minor irritation or will it likely result in death)?

What is the magnitude of the effect?

How large is the overall effect (i.e. how much land is needed, how much waste is produced)?

What is the receiving environment?

What are the characteristics of the impacted environment (i.e. number of people affected, vulnerability of the ecosystem)?

What is the occurrence and duration?

How often will this happen and long will the effects last (once every year, continuous)?

The Training Case Study

• Overview of Case Study Technology

• Application and Operating Environment of Case Study Technology

Case Study Technology• Polyethylene Production

– Ethylene monomer is transformed into solid polyethylene particles

– In current process, as the ethylene is polymerized, the reactive mixture is scrubbed with dilute aqueous caustic solutions

– Leads to high volume pollutants in the wastewater stream

– The discharge is sulphitic and non-recoverable– Proposal is to use a neutralisation and steam

stripping technology for the treatment of the spent caustic

Case Study Technology (cont.)

A CP Alternative?• Fluidized Bed Polymerization Process• Using a highly active metallic catalyst

makes the process continuous, with no requirement for scrubbing and solvents

• Thus no water-based effluents• Hydrocarbon waste can be collected and

incinerated

Case Study Technology (cont.)

Assessment Task:

• Assess the environmental and related performances of the proposed technology and two plausible alternatives

• Prepare a well documented recommendation as to which technology is preferable

Operating Environment

• Ana Plastics manufactures solid poly-ethylene particles, with the product delivered to various manufacturers of plastic products

• Udanax City is introducing new effluent discharge regulations and the existing plant will be non-compliant

• Current plan is to install a wastewater treatment plant to neutralise the spent caustic waste

• Alternative is to change the production process and eliminate the discharge of liquid wastes

Overview of Udanax

Area: 700,000 km2 and 1,100 km of coastline.

Climate: Temperate to hot (14°C – 30°C)

Rainfall: 650 mm/year in coastal areas, and 780 mm/year in inland areas

Population: 20 million (Udanax City Population2.3 million)

Natural Resources: Minerals limited, fossil fuels substantial

Electricity: burning fossil fuels

Industry: heavy industry, light manufacturing, moderate service industry, extensive agriculture, growing tourism industry and important export fishing industry.

(cont.)

Overview of Udanax (cont.)

Potable Water: Limited, coming from both surface areas and ground water.

Transport Network: Well developed

Sanitation Services: 90% of Udanax City (primary treatment only).

Education: Primary school level

Employment: 50% agriculture and fishing, 30% government, community, social and personal services, >10% manufacturing.

Political System: Constitutional monarchy

Pollution & Waste Laws: Water Pollution Regulations (1981)Environmental Assessment Act (1985)Waste Disposal Regulations (1958)

Location of Ana Plastics

Ana Plastics

National/Regional Case Studies

Working in Groups

Agree on a …..

• Facilitator, to ensure that:

– best use is made of the expertise in the group

– all members can and do contribute

– all tasks are completed, with appropriate allocation of time to each

• Rapporteur, to ensure that:

– results of discussion are recorded

– findings of group can be communicated to others

Training Programme on Application of En vironmental T echnology A ssessment (EnTA)

Documents

Transcript of Training Programme on Application of En vironmental T echnology A ssessment (EnTA)