Does environmental impact assessment really support technological change? Analyzing alternatives to coal-fired power stations in Denmark

Danish energy policy calls for development of decentralized, cleaner technologies to replace conventional power stations and, since 1990, aims to reduce CO2 emissions in 2005 to 20% below their 1988 level. These political goals require a technological change, from conventional, central power stations to cleaner, decentralized technologies such as energy conservation, cogeneration, and renewable energy. In principle, environmental impact assessment (EIA) supports this change on a project-by-project basis. The EU directive on EIA (European Council 1985) was based on the preventive principle: to eliminate pollution source rather than attempting to counteract it subsequently. According to the Danish implementation of the directive, an EIA must review a projectʹs main alternatives and the environmental consequences of the alternatives. If this were done properly, EIAs could assist Denmark in meeting its CO2 reduction goals. However, because EIA is implemented on a restricted, regional basis, it does not support technological change. Responsibility for the preparation of the EIA is given to the regional authorities through a law which does not require alternatives to be assessed that extend geographically beyond the boundaries of a regional authority. Thus, there is no certainty of serious analysis of cleaner technology alternatives to large coal-fired power stations. This conclusion is based on examination of three case studies using a participatory research method.