ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to provide policymakers the full range of information they require. It provides a general conceptual framework and its application in assessing physical technologies. The specific formulation is a modified version of the applied policy analysis framework used in a large-scale study for the US Environmental Protection Agency, Technology Assessment of Western Energy Resource Development. Integrated impact assessments are applied policy studies intended to contribute to policy-making by making it possible to minimize undesirable and unanticipated consequences which might result when a policy to achieve a desired benefit is chosen. Most integrated impact assessment approaches either adopt or tend to emphasize classical rationality. The descriptions of technologies and locations, and the results of the analyses of impacts likely to occur when technologies and locations interact, can be used to inform policy-makers about the costs, risks, and benefits of various technology and siting options.
