Small Decentralized Hydropower Program National ... - Cd3wd.com

lugares que utilicen la corriente de1 tie, la desviacih
(I, caidas de una irrigation. En el cast) de la conten-
cion, hay una ventaja mitigante. Existe potential al
rededor de1 reservorio para desarrollo econdmico y
recreative.
Hablando generalmente, la genera&n de la hidro-
ener@a no consume agua alguna, de modo que, con
la posible exception de una contenci6n de mayor
tamano, la hidroelectricidad no es una fuente de
perdida de1 agua para el sistema. El desarrollo de
energia hidroelectrica podria ser complementario a
otros usos de1 agua tales coma la irrigation y el
suministro de agua potable. Pueae proveer energia
para dichos usos. Los costos de1 capital pueden
tambien reducirse considerablemente en 10s cases en
que el desarrollo se realice en forma integrada.
Si se estudia comparativamente 10s impactos
ambientales de la hidroenergia pequena con la3
tecnologia con convencionales de pequeiia escala, se
nota, corn0 ya mencionamos anteriormente la
ausencia de residuos de; proceso tales coma desper-
dicio de calor, emisiones de aire, substancias de
desperdicio solidas o Mxicas. Desde el punto de vista
de1 desarrollo regional, donde se estudia la
instalacion de varias plantas pequenas, la ventaja
agregada puede ser significativa. Esto es doblemente
importante cuando se tome en cuenta 10s impactos
ambientales de la extraction de petroleo, procesa-
miento y embarque - cosas que no ocurren con las
tecnologias de la energia renovabie.
T&mica
Hay varias tecnicas que se emplean al conducir
asesoramientos ambientales. La selection de la
tecnica depende de factores tales coma la infor-
macion disponible, personal calificado, disponibilidad
de fondos, de instrumcntos analiticos, de equipos de:
campo y laboratorio, para mencionar solo algunos.
Muchos estudios emplean una combination de
tkcnicas. La present&on que viene a continuacibn
brevemente se refiere a cineo de estas tecnicas.
Estudio de Caso
Esta tecnica se usa a menudo cuando hay
necesidad de generalizar acerca de 10s impactos
ambientales. La generalization puede ser geogrkfica
de region especifica tales coma national, regional, o
especifica a la cuenca de1 tie. La generalizacidn
puede tambien ses especifica a ciertas medidas, i.e.,
gran escala, pequena escala, 0 a una configuration
particular i.e., contention, corriente de1 150,
desviacion, etc. El proposito es el de adquirir infor-
macion sobre un lugar en particular y luego
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not available. This involves assembling a team of
experts, who may or may not have seen the site
or sites and extracting the environmental impacts
via an intensive group work period. This session
may last a few hours, a day or a week and may be
recorded on tape, through the use of a “rap-
porteur” or through written responses from the
participants. The process involves i-raving the
assembled group address the impacts with
respect to their pro;essional judgemertt and then
polling them to arrive at a consensus. The keys
to this process are a gcod discussion format and
a dynamic moderator or facilitator.
Study References
There are a number of U.S. institutes and
organizations invoived in examining ihe environ-
mental impacts of hydropower. The following
discussion presents a brief overview of some of
these activities.
0 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Institute for
Water Resources, Ft. Belvoir, Virginia
A three-year $7 million study is examining
the feasibility and potential of expanded
hydropower in the U.S. through the develop-
ment of an inventory, assessment of energy
needs and the execution of a series of policy
and technical overview studies. One of these
studies consists of an in-depth assessment of
the environmental impacts of hvdropower, a
comparison of impacts between hydropower
and other energy technologies and between
various hydropower configurations, and an
analysis of environmental policy issues.
* U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge
National Labora tory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee
An environmental assessment has been
prepared of the Department’s Small
Hydropower Development Program and special
research studies are underway to develop new
information concerning specific problem areas.
The objective is to develop information to sup-
port the Department’s program of demonstra-
tions as well as to test theories and investi-
gate new problem areas that may arise
through the Department’s Office of Permits,
the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission (FERC).
l New England River Basins Commission,
Boston, Massachusetts
A study of the feasibility of hydropower
development in the New England states has