Environmental and Energy in Iceland: A Comparative Analysis of Values and Impacts

Comparative analysis of values and impacts related to environmental and energy in Iceland was presented. Within an Icelandic framework plan for energy, environmental values and impacts were estimated in multicriteria analyses for 19 hydroelectric and 22 geothermal developments. Values and impacts were assessed through 6 agglomerated attributes, richness/diversity, rarity, size/continuity/pristineness, information/symbolic value, international responsibility and visual value. The results showed that landscape and wilderness, had the highest mean value and were also most affected by energy development. Over 40% of the hydroelectric development had a predicted mean impact value of >4, compared with 10% of the geothermal projects. Excluding two outsized hydropower options, there was a significant correlation between plant capacity and impact on geology and hydrology but not with other environmental variables.