Delayed and Approved: A Quantitative Study of Conflicts and the Environmental Impact Assessments of Energy Projects in Chile 2012–2017

The Sistema de Evaluación de Impacto Ambiental (Environmental Impact Assessment System—SEIA) evaluates all projects potentially harmful to human health and the environment in Chile. Since its establishment, many projects approved by the SEIA have been contested by organized communities, especially in the energy sector. The question guiding our research is whether socio-environmental conflicts affect the evaluation times and the approval rates of projects under assessment. Using a novel database comprising all energy projects assessed by the SEIA, we analyzed 380 energy projects that entered the SEIA review process between 2012 and 2017 and matched these projects with protest events. Using linear and logit regression, we find no association between the occurrence of protests aimed at specific projects and the probability of project approval. We do, however, find that projects associated with the occurrence of protest events experience significantly longer review times. To assess the robustness of this finding, we compare two run-of-river plants proposed in Mapuche territory in Chile’s La Araucanía region. We discuss the broader implications of these findings for sustainable environmental decision making.

Identification of Potential Locations for Run-of-River Hydropower Plants Using a GIS-Based Procedure

The increasing demand for renewable and sustainable energy sources has encouraged the development of small run-of-river plants. Preliminary studies are required to assess the technical and economic feasibility of such plants. In this context, the identification of optimal potential run-of-river sites has become a key issue. In this paper, an approach that is based on GIS tools coupled with a hydrological model has been applied to detect potential locations for a run-of-river plant. A great number of locations has been analyzed to identify those that could assure the achievement of different thresholds of potential power. The environmental and economic feasibility for small hydropower projects in these locations has been assessed and a multi-objective analysis has been carried out to highlight the most profitable configurations. The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) has been calibrated to simulate runoff in the Taw at Umberleigh catchment (South West England). The results showed that, in the area of study, different locations could be selected as suitable for run-of-river plants.

FROM RIVER WEEDS TO REGAL FABULOUS: ICONOGRAPHY AND SYMBOLISM OF A 12TH DYNASTY EGYPTIAN DIADEM

Ancient Egyptian women’s headdresses in the form of circlets, fillets and diadems are intriguing in their complexity. In response to the increased need to indicate social status in a poorly literate dynastic society, these items of personal adornment became a powerful form of non-verbal communication. Garlands, originally made from handfuls of river plants, gradually developed into innovative and imaginatively powerful visual symbols when fashioned from metal and a variety of semi-precious stones. Botanical motifs symbolic of the Nile River and the duality of a unified Sema Tawy (Two Lands) were incorporated into magical and superstitious symbolism that encompassed social, political, religious, mythological and amuletic contexts. The headdresses that were worn were not purely ornamental but, it was believed, also provided apotropaic protection for the head. Flower motifs, material and colour played an important role in their belief system. The iconography and symbolism incorporated into a delicately crafted gold wire diadem excavated from Princess Khnumet’s 12th Dynasty (Middle Kingdom) tomb at Dashur (and currently housed in the Cairo Museum) will be systematically interpreted at primary and secondary levels in order to provide some insight into its owner. Given the relationship between form and function, a novel connection has been proposed between the iconography and symbolism, and the diadem’s use during an annual Nile inundation cultic festival.