Environmental management at Olkaria geothermal project, Kenya

Abstract

Geothermal development can have numerous impacts, which if not mitigated can make geothermal resource not environmentally viable. Geothermal utilization can cause surface disturbances, physical effects due to fluid withdrawal, noise and emissions of chemicals. It can also affect the neighbouring communities either socially or economically. The environmental impacts can be mitigated by using several mitigatingmeasures like reducing the drill pad sizes, rehabilitating the opened areas by planting grass and trees, and putting in place monitoring programs. The emissions of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere are far less than with most other energy resources. With the new Environmental Management and Co-ordination Act 1999, KenGen requires to put in place an effective Environmental Management System (EMS) and possibly seek ISO14000 certification so as to be compliant with all national and internationalenvironmental standards.