The Small-Scale Hydropower Plants in Sites of Environmental Value: An Italian Case Study

Marianna Rotilio, Chiara Marchionni and Pierluigi De Berardinis
Additional contact information
Marianna Rotilio: Department of Civil, Architecture, Environmental Engineering, University of Studies of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Chiara Marchionni: Department of Civil, Architecture, Environmental Engineering, University of Studies of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy
Pierluigi De Berardinis: Department of Civil, Architecture, Environmental Engineering, University of Studies of L’Aquila, 67100 L’Aquila, Italy

Sustainability, 2017, vol. 9, issue 12, 1-15

Abstract: Since ancient times water has been accompanying technological change in the energy sector. Used as a source of hydraulic energy, it currently generates one-fifth of the global electricity production. However, according to collective imagination, hydroelectric plants are constructions of high environmental, acoustic, and visual impact, which may harm the preservation of the territory. This paper intends to address the topic of mini-hydropower that, in addition to providing the production of renewable energy, ensures a limited environmental impact even in delicate contexts with high landscape values, by elaborating a research methodology that makes these interventions compatible with them. The process of “global compatibility” checks developed to assess the feasibility of the intervention will be explained in the paper. We intend to describe here the research process undertaken to make the planning of this type of system sustainable, in contexts that need to be rehabilitated in relation both to the accessibility of citizens and to the environmental enhancement. The intervention planned will be characterized by the combined use of other renewable energy sources, in addition to water. The proposed methodology has been tested on a case study in the village of Roccacasale, in the province of L’Aquila.

Keywords: hydroelectric energy; small-scale hydropower; compatibility; renewable energy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/12/2211/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/12/2211/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:12:p:2211-:d:120961

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().