Impact Assessment

 

We have produced technical reports on carbon emissions and their abatement, climate change impacts and energy efficiency

These have been used for various purposes

  • input into impact assessment processes
  • review and assessment of specific components of impact assessments
  • provision of expert witness

Whenever necessary during the impact assessment process

  • we have provided specialist input to other parts of the impact assessment
  • used information generated by subject matter experts from other aspects of the assessment process to inform our recommendations

This ensures that our component of the impact assessment adds to a coherent outcome

New South Wales

Experience of impact assessment of infrastructure projects in NSW

  • a major water infrastructure project
  • a major infrastructure project
  • three separate, temporary desalination plants

Part of the review process of each project’s Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE), we provided specialist input on their carbon emissions and how to mitigate these, as well as energy efficiency issues

  • each of the original SEEs were improved by the review process
  • recommendations targeted their inventories, monitoring and reporting as well as mitigation actions

The process ultimately led to commitments by each project to utilise electricity sourced from renewable energy supplies, at a time of significantly higher costs for renewable energy

Victoria

Produced documentation for the Supplementary Environmental Effects Statement (SEES) for the major infrastructure project, Port of Melbourne’s Channel Deepening Project

We contributed the Head Technical Report on emissions and climate change

Port of Melbourne Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate Change Head Technical Report for the Port of Melbourne Corporation’s Channel Deepening Project (Supplementary Environment Effect Statement, Technical Appendix 65, pp. 5675–5766)

What was in the Report

Discussions of the Report’s methodology to determine the emissions inventory and undertake the risk assessment

  • selecting the boundary
  • estimating energy consumption
  • calculating emissions)

Review of the key features and existing conditions within Port Phillip Bay

  • tidal range
  • recent sea level rise
  • emissions from international shipping
  • sequestered carbon dioxide in the Bay’s waters

Examination of the impacts from predicted climate change

  • future global sea level rise
  • recommendation regarding the sea level rise in Port Phillip Bay over the project’s life
  • subsequent tidal level changes within the Bay

Determination of the climate impacts from the project

  • emissions from dredging
  • changes in sequestered carbon dioxide in the Bay
  • electricity used by the Project’s office-based workers
  • projected emissions from international shipping and land-based freight transport

Assessment of the project’s carbon footprint and its overall climate impacts

  • a series of mitigation and abatement recommendations and possible additional options were presented

After the Report

Subsequent to producing the Head Technical Report, additional Statements were provided to the Inquiry and Panel Hearing

Supplementary Statement on the Entrance Channel Depth

  • used as input into the Inquiry on the Port Phillip Bay Channel Deepening Project, set up by Victoria’s Minister for Planning

Expert Witness Statement

  • provided to the Port Phillip Channel Deepening Project SEES Panel Hearing to address issues raised in public submissions after the SEES was made available for public comment

Contact us if you would like to discuss how we can help your next project

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