Anticipating the Environmental Effects of Technology

Completion of this step requires reasonably detailed information on the following:

Nature and function of the technology;
Characteristics of the location;
Principal goals the technology is intended to meet;
Beneficiaries and other stakeholders in the technology intervention;
Overall operation of the technology; and
Visual representation of the inputs, outputs, processes and environmental interactions associated with the technology.

At the conclusion of this step the assessment team will have a comprehensive understanding of the life cycle of the technology intervention, including inputs and outputs and other resource requirements, and the associated environmental pressures. This information is fundamental to the subsequent identification of potential environmental impacts.

At this stage of the assessment it is important to undertake consultations with the various parties (both individuals and groups) who have an interest in the technology intervention, either because of the benefits it will bring, or due to the adverse impacts they or other elements of the environment might experience.

This step will help focus the assessment on the potential environmental pressures and resource demands the technology intervention will create. The level of detail provided in this step will vary depending on the assessment goals (see Section 3.2), and will influence the consequent scope of the assessment.

The scope of an assessment can be defined in many ways, including the time horizon, geographical scope, institutional coverage, technology options and applications, number of impact sectors and the range of policy options considered in the assessment.

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

expert judgement as to the importance of any subsystem to the overall findings of the assessment, in terms of such aspects as the potential impacts, stakeholder concerns and possible interventions to avoid or mitigate the impacts;
limits on funds, time, personnel, information and other resources required for the assessment;
lack of knowledge, understanding and proven methodologies related to assessment procedures; and
political considerations such as policy implications and constraints, institutional ownership and sensitivities related to who or what might be adversely impacted.

Given considerations such as those described above, it is important at this early stage to define the scope of the assessment - i.e. the boundaries that determine what aspects of the technology intervention will be considered. These limits will determine the extent of the analysis to be undertaken in subsequent steps. For example, the boundaries placed on an assessment of lead-acid battery recycling might include the recycling network and all reprocessing and reuse steps, or it might include only the crushing, smelting and refining processes. Such process-based boundaries will often lead to the defining of spatial boundaries. The time frame used in the assessment will also influence its scope. Ideally the full life cycle of the technology intervention should be assessed - from initial concept, through design, development, procurement, operation and modification, to replacement, decommissioning or disposal. While this appears to escalate the complexity and demands of the assessment, absence of a long-term view can sometimes mean that a technology considered to be environmentally friendly in the first instance can become a significant burden on the environment some time later in its life.

The specific tasks identified in this step can be varied depending on circumstances. The fundamental requirements are a comprehensive understanding of the proposed technology intervention, clarity regarding the goals the intervention is to meet, and identification of the stakeholders who should be consulted during the course of the assessment.

A descriptive name for the technology, and details of its function, should be provided.

b. Identify and characterize the existing or proposed location of the technology

Brief details on site location and important features of the natural and managed surroundings, or environs, should be described.

c. Describe the technology

The technology should be described, perhaps using the check list provided. This will provide information as to whether the technology already exists at the location, or is proposed, and whether it is an indigenous technology that is to be enhanced, an imported technology (with or without adaptation to local conditions) or a new technology that is under development. It is also helpful to indicate if the technology is going to be applied to the natural resource (extractive), process/manufacturing or service sectors.

For example, in the case of a proposed battery recycling plant, the technology would be hardware based, it might be imported from abroad with little or no local adaptation and it would involve processing a waste product.

d. In order of importance, identify the principal achievement goals for this technology and the beneficiaries and stakeholders

The outcomes the proposed technology intervention is intended to achieve should be identified and described. A distinction is made between goals that must be achieved and those which are more discretionary. The information on goals will be referred to again in Step 4 where alternative technology interventions are assessed in terms of their ability to satisfy the same goals.

In addition, the intended beneficiaries and other stakeholders associated with each goal should be listed. This information provides a check as to whether the appropriate individuals and groups have been consulted with respect to the goals of the EnTA itself, and helps facilitate further consultations during the subsequent stages of the assessment.

Where possible and practical, the technology intervention should be described in a logical and sequential manner. For example, description of battery recycling technologies might start with delivery of the spent batteries to the processing plant and subsequently follow the various reprocessing stages until all the resulting products and wastes have left the plant's precincts.

The functions and operations described in this step will have a significant influence on the scope of the assessment - that is, they will help define the boundaries of the assessment, as indicated in Section 2.11.

A technology intervention typically has many interacting components. It is useful and informative to show these in diagrammatic form, for this will help identify the various ways in which the technology might interact with the external environment. For example, the interactions might be in the form of flows of materials and energy, including the production and discharge of wastes.

It may be desirable to show complicated and detailed sub-systems in additional diagrams.