Climate Emergency - Best Practicable Environmental Option
This UK Peace Technology Forum project aims to contribute knowledge relevant to the climate emergency by providing advice on identifying the Best Practicable Environmental Option (BPEO) for key human activities as part of sustaining our planet.
BPEO is a risk assessment methodology involving assessments of the impact of human activities on air, water and land to identify the best option for sustaining our environment and addressing the climate emergency that faces the people inhabiting this planet. The BPEO is the option that minimises the overall impact on the environment at acceptable cost. Related techniques include BATNEEC (Best Available Technology Not Entailing Excessive Cost) or risks based on keeping environmental impacts as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA) or practicable (ALARP).
BPEO can be applied on a global scale, such as carbon emission asessments, on a macro scale to assess, for example, the impact of electricity generation options, or local impacts of industrial processes the local environment,or at a micro level, such as the use of household cleaning products.
The BPEO concept was developed by the UK Royal Commission on Environmental Protection and was used in the UK to assess the BPEO for idustrial processes regulated under the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive 1996. The main principles for evaluating the BPEO can be summarised as:
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all the appropriate preventive measures are taken against pollution, in particular through application of BAT;
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no significant pollution is caused;
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waste production is avoided in accordance with the Waste Framework Directive (2006/12/EC); where waste is produced, it is recovered or, where that is technically and economically impossible, it is disposed of while avoiding or reducing any impact on the environment;
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energy is used efficiently;
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the necessary measures are taken to prevent accidents and limit
their consequences;
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the necessary measures are taken upon definitive cessation of activities to avoid any pollution risk and return the site of operation to a satisfactory state.
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