Development of the LiftWEC technology requires identification of potential environmental and social impacts at the design stage. In this way, relevant findings on the potential Environmental and Social Impact of the system can be considered within the design and attempts made to mitigate or alleviate these concerns before significant spending is already underway.

A preliminary literature review has been carried out to identify the potential environmental and social concerns from ocean energy projects similar to the LiftWEC device. This work is feeding into the completion of an Environmental Impact Assessment for a potential LiftWEC system. Combined with the ongoing completion of a Life Cycle Assessment, these works have established the foundations of a catalogue which will identify and detail the potential technology stressors and environmental receptors of potential LiftWEC systems. An outline of the Life Cycle Analysis approach is presented in the figure below.