Large-Scale Energy Projects: Assessment of Regional Consequences

A major component of this study is a review of models and inference structures used in analysis of energy project impacts (economic, institutional, and environmental) -- the supporting databases, and the uses of such information in pertinent policy analysis. In this effort, the study emphasized the regional dimension of impact analysis. Second, in order to capture the rich and complex pattern of energy initiatives, their multidimensional impacts, and methods of assessment of such impacts, five case studies of large-scale energy projects in four countries were commissioned. Large-scale adjustments in energy supply and demand, and in economic and environmental systems are inherently surrounded by technological and political uncertainties. Further, these countries -- Canada, the USA, Sweden, and the USSR -- vary considerably in the objective conditions of energy supply and demand, in their policy formulation and decision frameworks, and in their policy implementation settings. The case studies were consequently intended to elucidate, in these diverse decision-making and implementation contexts, the antecedents and development of the energy investments: how energy crises were perceived; how they were transformed into public policy issues by the various national and regional interest groups; how the scope of energy impact assessment studies were defined; what methods and databases were used in impact analysis; and how these technical study results interfaced with policy-making groups or influenced the energy investment outcomes. The overall study attempted to integrate these two prongs of analysis -- the comparative study of impact assessment models and management methods and the rich, complex delineation of energy development case studies -- into a broad understanding of the process of policy formulation and decision making on large energy initiatives. This book attempts to capture the salient features of the process of assessment and decision making on large-scale energy initiatives, from initial specifications of the energy problem, through impact assessments, to the final stage of using such studies in policy decisions