| The main purpose of this dissertation is to contribute to the economic valuation of the environmental impacts associated with each of the renewable energy sources used in the generation of electricity in Portugal. The renewables covered in this research are: wind, solar photovoltaic, hydropower, and forest biomass. To achieve this goal, we use two stated preference methods: the contingent valuation and the discrete choice experiments. In these approaches, individuals do not actually have to make any behavioural change: they are only asked to state how they would behave in a certain scenario. This information is gathered though surveys conducted among the Portuguese population, including not only the general population but also the individuals living near twelve different facilities installed in distinct locations from north to south of continental Portugal. The use of questionnaires is a key research tool, allowing gathering crucial informations on respondents, including their opinion and perception regarding the renewables' environmental impacts and how their well-being is affected by the activity of the facilities installed in the proximity of their residences. One important motivation for this work is the evident lack of information about these crucial issues regarding the renewable energy sources in Portugal. This dissertation aims to be a valuable contribution to solve this lack of information by generating a consistent and integrated database containing the results of a systematic valuation of the renewables' environmental impacts in Portugal. This information will be of extreme importance, particularly for policy-makers in the energy planning area, whose decisions should be taken by considering all the stakeholders and including the economic valuation of all the externalities, not only the positive but also the negative ones, associated with each renewable energy source. In this context, the final aim of this dissertation is to contribute to more informed, consistent, sustainable and therefore more efficient decisions regarding the renewables' development in Portugal. |
