Example Of Essay On Economic, Social AND Environmental Assessment

Both the projects involving power generation and safe drinking water supply rely mainly on the natural sources like rain water and sunlight, and hence there is more possibility of both the ventures giving sustainable solutions to needs of the local population. Installation of solar panels and turbines for producing electricity to supply power to the households incurs high initial expenditures. Hence, giving proper guidance and training to the local technicians in using the infrastructure more effectively, and awareness to the local population are important for the sustainability of both the ventures. Each of the two ventures positively and negatively impact the socio economy and environment of the Suriname village locality as discussed below.
Since using the new technology and innovation to supply houses with uninterrupted power supply is likely to improve the quality of life, the area is likely to attract outsiders, which has the possibility of over-burdening the production capability of the units. The older generation may also find it difficult to adapt to the use of solar powered gadgets. The huge initial investment required for the project will put the government under pressure to subsidize the project costs. There are also chances of public money badly needed to be spent on health or education being invested on this project that gives returns only in the longer run.
The government can levy small service charge for supplying clean and purified water to the villagers. Providing purified and clean drinking water improves the health status of the population, and significantly reduces the average monthly spending of households on healthcare. It also creates awareness about drinking clean water to the public.
Supplying pure water after filtering and boiling is a totally new idea and many, particularly the older generation, may find it difficult to get used to drinking water without personally purifying or boiling it. For example, even as the households are supplied with clean potable drinking water, people may not believe in it and are likely to boil the water again for drinking, which requires additional fuel to purify the water again.
Unlike the dangerous carbon emission that pollutes the atmosphere while using kerosene or diesel for lighting up rural households, solar energy is known for significantly reducing the carbon emission, which is said to be consistently injuring the environment. Providing electricity generated from water power and solar energy is likely to reduce the dependency on diesel and other polluting energy sources.
Provision of uninterrupted domestic power supply may result in overuse of electricity to pump water for irrigation purposes. This may result in tilling the land and using disproportionate quantity of water for cultivation, apart from using chemical fertilizers that further pollutes the landscape of the villages. Reckless tilling of the land also promotes severe soil erosion. The modern infrastructure facilities may attract more people from outside which puts extra pressure on the limited natural sources, which may result in the collapse of the venture.
Providing clean drinking water significantly reduces domestic fuel consumption, which means trees would not be recklessly cut for domestic purposes. Decreased tree felling also means low land degradation, which is a favorable situation for farming in the villages. Worldwide 1.5 million people are affected by land degradation. The Suriname villages can set a role model to the world by overcoming the problem of land degradation by making use of this novel venture of water sanitation system.
The filter system if not cleaned periodically will result in supply of micro-organism infested water to the public. The sewage water getting mixed with the filtered water is also another possible reason which may corrupt the water supply. Continuous quality control of the water being supplied by scientific testing is also a real challenge. There is also the possibility of the beneficiaries using the purified water for other purposes like construction and industrial purposes that may not be economically viable.

Works Cited

“Solar Light for Rural Households in Ethiopia”. Retrieved January, 2015. Available: https:// www. myclimate.org/fileadmin/myc/klimaschutzprojekte/aethiopien-7124/ klimaschutzprojekt-aethiopien-7124-project-story.pdf
"World Day to Combat Desertification." Retrieved January 2015. Available: http://www. un.org/en/ events/desertificationday/background.shtml