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Worldviews as predictors of wind and solar energy support in Austria: Bridging social acceptance and risk perception research
Abstract
With increasing demand for renewable energy, research focusing on social acceptance of production facilities has firmly established itself over the past decades. While the influence of worldviews on individuals’ perceptions and behaviour has received widespread scholarly attention regarding a variety of related issues, social acceptance of renewable energy technologies (RET) has not been one of them. The study presented here addresses this shortcoming in the literature by examining the impact of various constructs, including worldviews, with respect to individuals’ acceptance of RET in their vicinity. The study builds on a representative sample of Austrian citizens. Our findings suggest that RET belief is most strongly associated with acceptance regarding the construction of RET in participants’ community. Further, we find that the more strongly participants feel about a variety of motives that generally support the use of renewable energies, the more accepting they are of local RET power plants. Regarding the effect of worldviews, we find that individuals who value the common good and equality are more supportive of RET in their vicinity. Our discussion focuses on the theoretical implications with particular attention to the results regarding the effect of worldviews.
... Nonetheless, location is only one of the factors explaining acceptance or resistance to wind farms: The NIMBY ("not in my backyard") phenomenon has long been used as the prime explanation for the discrepancy between acceptance for the technology and resistance to concrete projects, but is increasingly being criticized in academic literature. Rand and Hoen (2017) criticize the NIMBY framework as too simplistic and unable to explain the complex process leading to negative attitudes; in a similar vein Sposato and Hampl (2018) see limited value in the NIMBY framework. NIMBY resistance might rather be a result of negative attitudes, but not an explanation for them (Rand and Hoen 2017). ...
... A positive attitude toward renewable energy usually predicts high acceptance levels, while technology skepticism and belief on fossil fuel reliance reduce acceptance levels (Sposato and Hampl 2018). Attitude toward climate change and climate change concerns are often related to renewable energy acceptance (Guo et al. 2015;Tatchley et al. 2016). ...
... Therefore, full representativity cannot be assumed. However, an acceptance study with a representative Austrian sample has been already done by Sposato and Hampl (2018); the present study instead focuses on acceptance of wind parks in the Alps by visitors of the Alps and investigates factors that influence acceptance levels in this stakeholder group. ...
Large-scale wind power projects are one of the bearers of hope for a transition toward low-carbon electricity systems. The question of social acceptance of such projects near residential areas, or acceptance of the technology in general, has received significant attention in the scientific literature. Less attention has been placed on acceptability of wind farms in sparsely inhabited mountain areas; the focus of this paper therefore is on acceptance of wind farms in the Austrian Alps from the perspective of tourists and day trippers. We conducted a quantitative survey with visitors of alpine regions (n = 137) in proximity to recently constructed wind farms and identified drivers of (non-)acceptance by means of bivariate correlations and multiple linear regressions. Results indicate a high acceptance of wind technology in general and fairly high acceptance for the existing projects. Acceptance levels, however, are slightly, but significantly lower when respondents were asked to rate acceptability of wind farms in the Alps in general. Perceived benefits and reliability of wind power is the strongest predictor variable for higher acceptance levels, while annoyance through visual impact and noise is the strongest predictor variable for lower acceptance levels. Interestingly, factors like degree of information, concern regarding environmental impacts, trust in decision makers and climate change concern do not significantly affect acceptance levels. At the moment, no major opposition to wind power can be identified among tourists. Policy makers therefore should emphasize benefits of wind farms, as respective perceptions are a main predictor for acceptance. Operators should take annoyance concerns seriously, as this factor is predominant in predicting non-acceptance.
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... Though Wüstenhagen et al. provide much-needed guidance, not much empirical work since has studied these ideas in any great depth. Recent research from Europe is showing that worldviews, partisanship and political framing influence opinions of energy conservation (Dharshing et al., 2017), hydro development (Tabi and Wüstenhagen, 2017), and various renewable energy technologies (Sposato and Hampl, 2018), though studies investigating wind energy specifically are still rare. That is, despite great advancements in related fields, there is still a lack of attention to the role of political ideology or partisanship as a predictor of local support for wind energy. ...
... Bell et al., 2005;Devine-Wright, 2005;Rand and Hoen, 2017). It also contributes more generally to the mostly European environmental policy literature that shows the impact of ideological associations on support for low-carbon futures (Dharshing et al., 2017;Sposato and Hampl, 2018;Tabi and Wüstenhagen, 2017). ...
Decades after wind energy has taken hold in many developed countries, social scientists are beginning to understand the complex story of what causes differentiated responses to local development. Transitions in this literature include moving from attitudinal factors, and the infamous Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) explanation, toward place attachment, environmental justice, and how policy development might shape support for wind turbines in rural communities. While this research has advanced our understanding of some of the major questions in this area, the political arena has largely remained implicit or in the background, rather than a specific area of detailed inquiry. Addressing this gap in the literature, we detail findings from our mixed method study of interviews (n = 54) and surveys (n = 240) with local residents, developers, and other stakeholders in Ontario and Nova Scotia, Canada. We focus on the interplay of partisanship and geography, and how together they can powerfully influence attitudes toward wind energy. Specifically, we extend the existing literature and argue that when parties politicize the issue of wind energy — especially within the context of an urban/rural divide — it becomes intertwined with elements of ideology which can amplify responses and further entrench local conflict.
... Cultural worldviews can be described as "a general perspective from which a person sees and interprets the world" (Cherry et al., 2014: 563), and it is conceptualized as an overarching sense-making system for complex questions (Hedlund-de Witt, 2012). Previous research has shown that cultural worldviews are predictive of people's acceptance, attitudes, and also behavioral intentions regarding a variety of socially contested issues such as nuclear waste, national security, possession of weapons, public health, climate change (Kahan et al., 2007(Kahan et al., , 2011(Kahan et al., , 2012, climate change mitigation policies (Hart and Nisbet, 2011), and clean technologies (Cherry et al., 2014;Sposato and Hampl, 2018). Given such evidence, and in addition to previously studied variables, we introduce this concept here as we expect to find that, depending on their cultural worldviews, respondents will be more or less likely to adopt clean technology vehicles such as EVs. ...
... Previous research has shown that devotion to one or another cultural worldview predicts opposition to some and acceptance of other issues which include the disposal of nuclear waste, national security, possession of weapons, public health, and climate change (Kahan et al., 2007(Kahan et al., , 2011. The concept of cultural worldviews has proven to be highly suitable for predicting individual differences regarding environmental attitudes, sustainable lifestyle choices, climate change perceptions, and the acceptance of renewable energy technologies (Corner et al., 2012;Hedlund-de Witt, 2012;Kahan et al., 2012;Kahan, 2013;Sposato and Hampl, 2018). For instance, studies have demonstrated that individuals adjust their perceptions of climate change (e.g., Kahan et al., 2012) and even climate change mitigation policies (Hart and Nisbet, 2011) in accordance with their worldviews. ...
Although barriers to the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs), such as purchase price, range limitation, and charging infrastructure are diminishing, sales growth has still fallen short of industry expectations. As industry and governments have an interest in counteracting this negative trend by incentivizing EV purchasing, a better understanding of potential EV adopters and drivers of early adoption becomes paramount for designing effective and efficient incentive schemes. Therefore, drawing on a representative survey of Austrian citizens, this study analyzes early adopters, potential adopters, and non-adopters of EVs. Findings indicate that psychological and, to a lesser extent, socio-demographic factors play a significant role in predicting EV adoption. Non-adopters are more likely to have an individualistic and less egalitarian worldview, and also, compared to early adopters, to fall short in terms of pro-environmental and pro-technological attitude. Further, early adopters are inclined to live in regions with EV policy incentives. Using cluster analysis, this study identifies four groups of potential EV adopters based on their evaluation of EV purchasing and non-purchasing motives. The potential-adopter segments differ considerably in their socio-demographic and psychological characteristics, as well as in their preferences for policy incentives. We discuss implications of our findings for the design of effective policy schemes and marketing measures.
... hierarchy-egalitarianism and individualism-communitarianism. Several classifications of worldviews have been made by combining these two axes [62]. Other approaches use dichotomous ways of thinking and classifying, such as humanism versus normativism [55], benevolence versus meaningfulness [57], or secularism versus religion [61]. ...
... However, some analyses extend over an entire nation, e.g. Denmark as in Ladenburg (2008), Ladenburg and Dubgaard (2009), and Sovacool and Lakshmi Ratan (2012), the USA in Hoen et al. (2019), Ireland in Sovacool and Lakshmi Ratan (2012), New Zealand in Graham et al. (2009), Ontario in Jami and Walsh (2017), Austria in Sposato and Hampl (2018), Scotland in Warren and McFadyen (2010), Sweden in Ek (2005), Ek and Persson (2014), and Switzerland in Walter (2014), Vuichard et al. (2019), Spiess et al. (2015). In Ladenburg (2010), Landry et al. (2012), Teisl et al. (2018), and Warren and McFadyen (2010), tourists are also considered since the plant may be located in tourist areas. ...
... Open-ended discussion of societal, environmental, and economic impact was supported by quantitative, engineering understanding of the renewable energy technology and supporting data for the country's deployment and its available natural resources. Again, using wind J o u r n a l P r e -p r o o f energy as an example, based on this foundational engineering understanding, students were now prepared to thoughtfully consider environmental and ecological impacts such as soil erosion, deforestation, hydrodynamic wake effects on microclimate, or avian mortality on wind energy deployment, as well as societal impacts, such as best practices for land use and visual impacts of siting wind farms near residential areas (Msigwa et al., 2022;Nazir et al., 2020;Sposato and Hampl, 2018). Furthermore, comparative analysis between countries enabled discussion on how different countries tailor their strategies for deployment. ...
... Additionally, the movement for community renewable energy considers that it is important to think that within the community everyone is equal that there are reasons that will determine the location of a project such as their beliefs, respect for nature and its sacred places. (Sposato & Hampl, 2018). ...
... Diakoulaki et al. (2001) described that installing and operating renewable energy systems can benefit three categories: decrease in environmental pollution, energy-saving, and generation of new working posts. One of the authors believes that social acceptance of renewable energy technologies is not yet on the shelf other than the actual deployment of renewable energy technologies and policies (Sposato & Hampl 2018). The most significant benefit of solar energy sources is a decrease in pollution of the environment. ...
Due to China's massive usage of fossil fuels, climate change concerns have become serious challenges to the country's sustainable development. Despite the fact that China has effectively employed solar technology to address these problems, there is a paucity of research examining consumers' intention to adopt solar energy in the rural region of China. This study intends to fill this gap in the literature by studying consumers' buying intentions for solar energy in rural China for household purposes. Additionally, the study added to the theory of planned behavior by adding three new variables, namely, environmental knowledge , environmental concern, and beliefs about the benefits of solar energy. Primary data were collected from 847 respondents in Hebei Province using a comprehensive questionnaire survey. Structural equation modeling was employed to examine the data. Empirical results revealed that attitude, environmental knowledge, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and beliefs about the benefits of solar energy positively influence buying intention of solar energy. On the contrary, environmental concern had no significant effect on buying intention for solar energy. Study outcomes emphasize the critical significance of changing societal norms, boosting consumer awareness, redesigning regulatory mechanisms, and stressing the benefits provided by solar power through coherent and persistent efforts while simultaneously enhancing environmental sustainability practices.
... However, the influence of public perception and beliefs on renewable energy development and adoption is not restricted to the developing world or sub-Saharan Africa. Issues related to public beliefs, worldviews, and perceptions have also factored strongly in renewable energy policies, acceptance, and adoption efforts elsewhere (Anderson et al., 2017;Devine-Wright, 2005;Johansen & Emborg, 2018;Sposato & Hampl, 2018). ...
This book evaluates off-grid solar electrification in Africa by examining how political, economic, institutional, and social forces shape the adoption of off-grid solar technologies, including how energy injustices are manifested at different levels and spaces. The book takes a historical, contemporary, and projective outlook using case studies from pre- and ongoing electrification communities in non-Western countries such as Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, Malawi, Tanzania, and Nigeria. Beyond the diverse nature of these countries in terms of their geographical location in West, East, and Southern Africa, each offers a different experience in terms of colonial history, economic and institutional infrastructure, social and cultural context, and level of adoption of off-grid solar technologies. Notably, the book contributes to the off-grid solar and energy justice scholarship in low-income non-Western contexts. It examines various approaches to energy justice and does so by engaging with Western and non-Western philosophical notions of the concept. It takes into consideration the major principles of Ubuntu philosophy with the adoption of off-grid solar technologies, hence enriching the energy justice framework. The book interrogates the degree to which the social mission that catalysed the expansion of the off-grid solar sector is being undermined by broader structural dynamics of the capital investment upon which it is reliant. It also argues that the ascendance of off-grid solar electrification in Africa is transformative in that it enables millions of people without access to or facing uncertainties linked to centralised grid energy to have access to basic energy services.
... However, the influence of public perception and beliefs on renewable energy development and adoption is not restricted to the developing world or sub-Saharan Africa. Issues related to public beliefs, worldviews, and perceptions have also factored strongly in renewable energy policies, acceptance, and adoption efforts elsewhere (Anderson et al., 2017;Devine-Wright, 2005;Johansen & Emborg, 2018;Sposato & Hampl, 2018). ...
This chapter compares and contrasts the various case studies examined in this book, and the exercise brings to the fore similarities and differences with regard to transmission mechanisms for off-grid solar electrification policy and application of energy justice theorizing. The final segment of the chapter reflects on the renewable energy sector, with a particular focus on off-grid solar electrification. It critically interrogates the notion that the ascendance of off-grid solar electrification in Africa is ‘transformative’. It argues that Africa’s renewable energy economies are integrated into the global renewable energy economy in a manner that reproduces structural dependence, rather than fostering structural transformation. It brings to the fore multiple forms of dispossessions which are often overlooked in the renewable energy literature.
... However, the influence of public perception and beliefs on renewable energy development and adoption is not restricted to the developing world or sub-Saharan Africa. Issues related to public beliefs, worldviews, and perceptions have also factored strongly in renewable energy policies, acceptance, and adoption efforts elsewhere (Anderson et al., 2017;Devine-Wright, 2005;Johansen & Emborg, 2018;Sposato & Hampl, 2018). ...
Off-grid solar photovoltaic technology, especially solar home systems, has been gaining popularity as a viable channel for tackling the problem of energy access in Africa. The upbeat and mobilizing narratives surrounding the use of this off-grid solar technology often obscures the multiple injustices which are noticeable in their inner workings. This chapter offers a critical review of the diverse injustices linked to the use of solar home systems in Africa. I highlight distributional, recognition and procedural injustices with regards to energy access. I equally show entanglement of key principles of Ubuntu with the adoption of solar home systems. Injustices and violations of Ubuntu principles are manifested at various levels and spaces, including within households. Injustices cannot be ignored, especially when claims about ‘just transition’ are evoked.
... However, the influence of public perception and beliefs on renewable energy development and adoption is not restricted to the developing world or sub-Saharan Africa. Issues related to public beliefs, worldviews, and perceptions have also factored strongly in renewable energy policies, acceptance, and adoption efforts elsewhere (Anderson et al., 2017;Devine-Wright, 2005;Johansen & Emborg, 2018;Sposato & Hampl, 2018). ...
Off-grid solar technologies, that is those solar energy technologies which function outside the centralized grid such as lanterns, pico-systems, solar home systems, micro- or mini-grids, are increasingly being used in Africa to help reduce the electricity access gap as well as deal with the limitations of the national grid. After over a decade of the growth of the off-grid solar sector in the continent, the time is ripe to take stock of the sector. This book does so by examining how political, economic, institutional, and social forces shape the adoption of off-grid solar technologies in Africa, including how injustices linked to off-grid solar electrification are manifested at different levels and spaces. Opening the edited volume, this chapter begins by giving context of energy access in the continent. This is followed by a conceptualization of energy justice, which draws on Western and non-Western perspectives. I then show how different chapters contribute to the purpose of this volume in three parts: history and politics of off-grid solar electrification, manifestations of energy injustices, and enabling uptake. Based on discussions in the various chapters, I position the book as one that contributes to the off-grid solar and energy justice scholarship in low-income non-western contexts.
... Studies show that the interlinked effect of renewable energy policies and incentivisation schemes on perception and public acceptance of the technology are more complex than the NIMBY label [18][19][20]. Wustenhagen et al. [21] categorized the influential determinants on the acceptance of renewable energy into three types of social acceptance, which were broken down into issues of socio-political acceptance, market acceptance, and community acceptance. This research falls in the latter category, taking on the notion that both experts and lay people are an integral part of a community-based research. ...
Experiences of wind turbines (WT) shape public perception and acceptance of the technology, influencing government policy, deployment, and land-use policies of wind turbines. This paper attempts to find changes in public perceptions over the last three decades and differences between experts and the public over different land-use options. A semi-structured questionnaire that integrates a visual survey of 10 images of WT technology in different urban, landscape and seascape settings was presented to both groups. The perceptions of siting, proximity, landscape type, and maturity of urban wind turbines’ technology in renewable energy generation were contrasted. The results revealed that both the public and experts alike significantly preferred images of WT inclusion in seascape and landscape settings and responded negatively to images of WT as an addition to buildings in urban contexts. Images of wind turbines around transport settings were ranked in the second set of acceptances, after landscape settings, indicating that closer proximity to WT is acceptable, but for a short duration. The analysis also highlighted a preference by the public for aesthetically engaging WT, even if they resulted in lower energy yields, but were less accepted by the experts who based their judgment on technical performance.
... Additionally, the movement for community renewable energy considers that it is important to think that within the community everyone is equal that there are reasons that will determine the location of a project such as their beliefs, respect for nature and its sacred places. (Sposato & Hampl, 2018). ...
Primeiro livro da coletânea voltada às Ciências Sociais Aplicadas, que tem como título Coletânea internacional de pesquisa em administração e negócios V.1, essa obra é editada pela Seven Publicações Ltda, tendo a composição de 13 capítulos voltados ao desenvolvimento e disseminação do conhecimento nas áreas de administração e negócios.
... Additionally, the movement for community renewable energy considers that it is important to think that within the community everyone is equal that there are reasons that will determine the location of a project such as their beliefs, respect for nature and its sacred places. (Sposato & Hampl, 2018). ...
Primeiro livro da coletânea voltada às Ciências Sociais Aplicadas, que tem como título Coletânea internacional de pesquisa em administração e negócios V.1, essa obra é editada pela Seven Publicações Ltda, tendo a composição de 13 capítulos voltados ao desenvolvimento e disseminação do conhecimento nas áreas de administração e negócios.
... How risk and benefits are perceived and contested can be considered to play an important role in shaping people's attitudes to technology, such as nuclear energy [160], renewable energy [161], as well as carbon capture, utilisation and storage technologies [23]. It is therefore important to examine how impacts are conceptualised, made sense of, and dealt with in practice in CCUS projects. ...
This manuscript presents a systematic meta-narrative review of peer-reviewed publications considering community acceptance and social impacts of site-specific Carbon Capture Utilization and Storage (CCUS) projects to inform the design and implementation of CCUS projects who seek to engage with communities during this process, as well as similar climate mitigation and adaptation initiatives. A meta-narrative approach to systematic review was utilized to understand literature from a range of site specific CCUS studies. 53 peer-reviewed papers were assessed reporting empirical evidence from studies on community impacts and social acceptance of CCUS projects published between 2009 and 2021. Three separate areas of contestation were identified. The first contestation was on acceptance, including how acceptance was conceptualized, how the different CCUS projects engaged with communities, and the role of acceptance in social learning. The second contestation related to communities: how communities were represented, where the communities were located in relation to the CCUS projects, and how the communities were defined. The third contestation was around CCUS impacts and the factors influencing individuals’ perceptions of impacts, the role of uncertainty, and how impacts were challenged by local communities, politicians and scientists involved in the projects. The next step was to explore how these contestations were conceptualised, the aspects of commonality and difference, as well as the notable omissions. This facilitated a synthesis of the key dimensions of each contestation to inform our discussion regarding community awareness and acceptance of CCUS projects. This review concludes that each CCUS project is complex thus it is not advisable to provide best practice guidelines that will ensure particular outcomes. This systematic review shared recommendations in the literature as to how best to facilitate community engagement in relation to CCUS projects and similar place-based industrial innovation projects. These recommendations focus on the importance of providing transparency, acknowledging uncertainty and encouraging collaboration.
... Importantly, this study is the first to document the influence of ecosystem values on aquaculture perceptions, supporting findings in the energy sector suggesting that worldviews and values are one of the most important predictors of attitudes (e.g. [66]). Opposition to aquaculture is therefore dependent not only on perception of risks but also reflects individual constructs like value systems, and perceptions of how aquaculture is implemented (i.e., trust in actors). ...
Salmon farming has become a controversial topic, with public opposition and conflicts challenging the sustainability of the sector. As a result, a deeper understanding of public perceptions and factors influencing opinions becomes critical for developing sustainable and socially acceptable aquaculture. Based on previous social acceptance literature, this research aimed to investigate the influence of potential motivators on opinion towards salmon aquaculture. In a case study of rural and urban Nova Scotians, 495 people provided their perceptions of salmon aquaculture. Moreover, geographical factors, socio-demographics, and contextual factors were investigated. Geographic differences in factors and attitudes across urban and rural groups suggest an important mediating influence of residence type (urban and rural) on opinion. Ordinal regression analysis found that opinion was primarily influenced by individual characteristics and perceptual variables, i.e., age, environmental value orientation, salmon consumption patterns, perception of risks, and trust in government. Of minor importance were exposure and knowledge of salmon farming. The model indicates respondents who are older, have strong relational values with the ocean, high perception of risks and are distrustful of government are more likely to express negative attitudes towards aquaculture. This study emphasizes the need to recognize that opinion is nuanced, and deeply socially situated, based not only on individual trade-offs between economic benefits and environmental risks, but also on environmental values and relationships and trust regarding how aquaculture is managed. Further, this study highlights the importance of building public trust with decision-makers, along with continued mitigation of risks, in fostering more socially acceptable salmon aquaculture.
... It may prevent one from uncovering factors beyond NIMBY to explain the local opposition campaign (Wolsink 2000). Some researchers also argue that NIMBY is too simplistic and provides limited value in explaining the process that leads to negative behaviour (Rand and Hoen 2017;Sposato and Hampl, 2018). Overreliance on NIMBY to explain local opposition may mislead policymakers into assuming that local opposition is a norm and overlook determinants that shape public attitudes towards migrant labour settlements. ...
Migrant labour plays a crucial role in Iskandar Malaysia, a southern development corridor that emphasises sustainable development. Following the influx of migrant labourers to work in the region to support the city’s fast-paced development, residential areas have established many migrant labour settlements and have raised scepticism among the local communities. This has led to a debate among the authorities about whether to remove migrant labour settlements in residential areas. However, the determinants that shape local community perception to reject migrant settlement remained unclear. This study conducted a survey among residents in the Iskandar Development Region to understand the determinants that influence their acceptance towards migrant settlements and analysed the data using partial least square–structural equation model (PLS–SEM) analysis. The findings imply that to improve acceptance of migrant settlement among the city’s community, we should give priority to resolving the local community’s concerns, consisting of four main issues (in descending order): crime and safety, declines in property value, hygiene issues, and a poor physical appearance of the settlement. To this end, this paper provides policy recommendations for both the government and the community about coping with migrant settlements in a fast-paced developing city.
... Research on energy transition often focuses on the study of the impact of one renewable energy source (e.g., [27]), or on the relationship between two energy technologies and their support/opposition (e. g., [28]). Instead, the following research proposes a combined approach in which RETs, powerlines, and their ties are the major factors of the study, considering a systemic picture of the coexistence of the technologies. ...
Renewable energy development is a widely and intensively discussed topic, though it is still unclear which exactly variables may influence people's evaluation of the phenomenon. There is a need to study the general public's knowledge, emotions, and cognitions linked to energy technologies especially in the context of advanced inventions. Social media is a powerful communication tool which has a huge impact on studying public opinions. This study aims to describe linguistic connections through an analysis of 1500 Instagram posts, assuming and interpreting emotional and/or cognitive words. Using a socio-cognitive approach, this research explores the salient words under a set of pre-specified renewable energy technology (RET) hashtags. Building on the appraisal theories of emotions, this research investigates the coexistence of several energy technologies (solar, wind, biomass, and geothermal) and powerlines. The results showed the highest linguistic interconnection between solar and wind energy posts. Furthermore, powerlines were not linguistically connected to the RETs, as they are not included in the schema or not salient when people write posts about renewable energy. Solar, wind, and geothermal posts evoked more emotional and positive emotions than the other RETs and powerlines. Instead, biomass posts had a high frequency of cognitive processes and causal words. Powerline posts were linked to the words of risk, body, health, and biological process showing a great concern for health and perceived threat. These differences in the words used can be a guide to understanding peoples' reactions and communication for each of the energy sources. This study, taking both emotions and cognitions into account, explains different types of considerations towards energy projects.
... Research in the renewable energy area often focuses on the study of the impact of one renewable energy source (e.g., [33]), or on the relationship between two energy technologies and their support/opposition (e.g., [34]). The following research proposes a combined approach, in which place, RETs, powerlines, and their ties are the major factors of the study, with consideration to a systemic picture of the coexistence of the technologies. ...
The research on people–place relations makes an important contribution to the understanding of the public responses to renewable energy technologies (RETs). Social media not only provides easy access to the sentiments and attitudes of online users towards RETs, but social media content can also shape the discourse, both on- and offline, about RETs. Hence, social media content analysis provides valuable insights into the public responses to RETs. However, as of now, only a small number of studies have investigated people–place relations in the context of the energy transition via online content. To address this lack of knowledge, this study aims to increase the understanding of people–place relations by investigating the relationship between the place scales mentioined in Instagram posts (categorized from local to planet) and the sentiments that are expressed in said posts, depending on different energy infrastructures (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, powerlines, and renewable energy in general). Our analysis of 1500 Instagram posts shows that the place scales that are mentioned in the Instagram posts are related to some differences in the post emotionality, and that these effects differ across the different hashtags that are related to RETs. By using a sociocognitive approach, this study is the first to investigate Instagram posts in the context of the energy transition and people–place relationships.
... The research draws on a representative sample of the population of Austria. The results indicate that the renewable energy view is more closely correlated with approval in the group of participants concerning renewable energy development (Sposato and Hampl, 2018). Given these studies' results, our sixth hypothesis is given as: ...
Since employing environmentally friendly technologies (EFTs) is a complicated and difficult process that is affected by multiple factors, researchers are encouraged to explore those influence factors. This research aims to estimate the households' perception factors affecting the adoption intentions of EFTs. Based on a questionnaire survey from 782 Pakistani households, a structural equation modeling strategy yields empirical results. The main findings are: firstly, the drivers of adoption intention of EFTs include technological awareness, perceived environmental importance, perceived behavioral control, and perceived benefits. Secondly, significant barriers to the adoption intention of EFTs involve the perceived cost of EFTs and the perceived risk-averse behavior of households. Thirdly, among all factors, perceived environmental importance reveals the most substantial contribution, whereas perceived risk-averse behavior shows the least contribution to the adoption intention of EFTs. Finally, given these results, strengthening the financial benefits, controlling the roaring cost of EFTs, and the provision of rebates and subsidization are suggested to upscale the adoption intention of EFTs by the households.
... According to Skutato and Hampl [63], people who value the common good and equality show greater acceptance of the location of renewable energy plants in their vicinity. Similar results were obtained in this study. ...
The electricity sector in the 21st century should be associated with renewable energy sources (RES), which the majority of society currently equates with solar photovoltaics, wind power, and hydroelectricity, with this energy being used mainly in households. Households consume only 20% of energy, with the remainder used in various sectors of the national economy. In these sectors, the possibilities of using renewable energy sources should be sought. Many experts express the opinion that myths about renewable energy sources exist only “in our minds and opinions, that we formed years ago”, mainly under pressure from the decreasing number of supporters of conventional energy sources. Currently, we observe much greater possibilities of using renewable energy sources globally, and all forecasts suggest that—by 2050—the economy, transport, and industry may become almost emission-free and rely on RES. Of course, we cannot present renewable energy sources only in terms of superlatives, because they also involve many unknowns and myths which we will present in the article. Considering the complexity of factors influencing the involvement of young people in shaping the socio-economic reality, a group of people aged between 18 and 40 was selected for the study. The aim of this study was to identify the attitudes of young inhabitants of south-eastern Poland regarding the issues of climate change and renewable energy, and to identify the level of acceptance for changes in Poland’s energy mix. The conducted research shows that the studied group of people appreciated the importance of climate change and considered the anthropogenic impact on this phenomenon to be of key importance. The perception of renewable energy was positive, and respondents saw the solution to the problems of the energy deficit in increasing the use of renewable energy sources. Respondents also showed significant support for nuclear energy and expected government support programs for activities related to energy conservation. The survey shall be repeated on a random sample at the time when the energy price changes caused by the transformation of the energy mix occur—i.e., around 2025.
... As they underline, if a power company or a local government try to complete a solar power system there might be several issues related to trust towards the actor owning or controlling the infrastructure, but also trust issues might rise towards the procedures defined for positioning the solar modules. The lack of trust in the solar system provider is also acknowledged by Solangi et al. [55] and Sposato & Hampl [56] which stress more the aspects of trust towards key societal actors such as policymakers and community leaders. Risk perception and risk communication is the second factor of opposition evident in the map. ...
The sudden and exponential increase of projects for the production of energy from renewable sources has drastically increased in the last decade, by also triggering a widespread citizens’ disapproval towards such initiatives worldwide. Consequently, research on public acceptance of renewable energy initiatives has become an important and well-established topic in energy research, too. Social research mostly investigated the phenomenon via case-based approach. Our
research departs it and adopts a bibliometric perspective on existing contributions to draw general insights on public acceptance for diverse renewable energy technologies. Results show a significant difference in the motivations of public opposition towards the implementation and realisation of technological infrastructures and processes for the exploitation of different renewable energy.
... That there is a greater need to implement them is therefore accepted, and they appear to be more linked to a democratic and egalitarian organization of power [54]. People who are committed to the common good and who value equality show greater acceptance of solar and wind energy technologies in their neighborhood [55]. ...
Background:
This study tested a theoretical model including key psychosocial factors that could be involved in the acceptance of different energy sources (gas, wind, and solar); Methods: Participants were 550 adult residents of the Canary Islands. Variables assessed were information and utility (normative motives), perceived risk and perceived benefits (gain motives), and negative and positive emotions (hedonic motives), with acceptance of each of the three energy sources as outcome variables; Results: It was found that renewable energies (wind and solar) had a higher degree of acceptance than non-renewable energy (gas). The proposed model satisfactorily explained the social acceptance of the three energy sources, although the psychosocial factors involved differed by energy source. The gain motives, mainly perceived benefits, were associated to a greater extent with gas energy, whereas normative motives, such as utility, and hedonic motives, such as positive emotions, had greater weight for renewables. Gender differences in gas energy were found. Information about renewable energy increased positive emotions and acceptance, whereas information about fossil fuel-based energy generated more negative emotions and perceived risk, decreasing acceptance; Conclusions: Utility, perceived benefits and positive emotions were involved on the acceptance of both renewables and non-renewables. The theoretical model tested seems to be useful for understanding the psychosocial functioning of the acceptance of the various energy sources as an essential aspect for the transition of non-renewable to renewable energies.
... However, for more promising than the implementation of mentioned projects may be for certain groups of people. It is not possible to ignore that human beings inhabit the territories where natural resources are found and the link to these territories; there are countless social and cultural experiences, which give specific meanings to the existence and relationship of the human beings with the different elements of the nature, (Sposato & Hampl, 2018). This way being, the sense and practices that human beings realizes with the sun, wind, water, and soil, possess a set of meanings that depend on the forms of life, cosmovisions, territorial perceptions in the communities where the projects are launched. ...
Renewable energy projects are being developed and implemented in different geographical areas of several continents. In each of them, many communities develop their lives that have cultural, social and environmental potentials; as well as perceptions, beliefs and criteria for the acceptance of renewable energy projects in their territories. Through the methodology of mapping SCOPUS articles published worldwide, this work examines the perceptions, beliefs and criteria of community acceptability against renewable energy projects that are based on the use of natural resources such as sun, water, wind, earth, and biomass. These perceptions and beliefs can come from ancestral traditions that mark the relationship of communities with beings of nature and not with natural resources, which is the modern vision. Other perceptions, beliefs and criteria of acceptability in non-ancestral communities may be related to risk perception, low levels of trust and credibility between stakeholders, confusion regarding the operation of renewable energy systems, among others. Whatever their origin, the experience in implementing these projects has taught about the relevance of involving communities during the stages of their development, the need to know the different places from where their worlds are explained and thus improving the levels of relevance, acceptance, and sustainability of renewable energy systems.
... Recent research into decisions to accept, support, and reject novel energy technologies and systems has brought attention to the influence of academia, policy makers, local communities, labor unions, investors, firms in industry, consultants, renewable energy cooperatives, and so on (e.g. [12,[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]). Our specific contributions in this vein are twofold. ...
Social acceptance of innovative technologies is a key element of an effective transition towards more sustainable energy economies. However, innovative technologies like genetic modification also tend to spark controversy and backlash. So far, efforts to inform the public about any risks and benefits of novel technologies not only have struggled to foster acceptance but also neglect the interdependent foundations of consumer decision-making. Through a controlled experiment with German consumers (N = 322), we examine whether consumer support and rejection of genetic modification in bioenergy crops is influenced by the statements and actions of actors throughout the supply chain. In specific, we show that the decision of energy companies to sell and support GM bioenergy positively impacts consumer decisions to support. To ensure that decision outcomes were specifically impacted by the expressions of corporate actors, we controlled for the content and valence of information by random assignment to one of three treatments in which participants received positive, negative, or balanced (risks and benefits) information. We find that negative messaging diminished support and increased rejection relative to the other treatments. Lastly, the statements and actions of corporate actors also exerted an indirect influence on consumer decisions through their interactions with social trust and labels, e.g. greater support by farmers had a positive influence only for those who are more generally trustworthy. Given these results, we anticipate more attention to the importance of actors such as farmers and energy companies for the social acceptance of novel technologies in the energy sphere.
... Our research therefore lends support to other scholars who argue that NIMBYism is not a satisfactory theory for explaining public acceptance (e.g. Burningham, [77]), as well as research suggesting that worldviews and values may be the most important predictors of attitudes [67], something it was not possible for us to consider using the PAT dataset. Indeed, the relatively low variance explained by our regression models suggests that there are other important predictor variables which we did not include. ...
Public acceptance of energy technologies is an important area of energy and social science research. However, few studies utilise large datasets which include spatial and temporal dimensions, as well as the demographic and attitudinal characteristics of survey respondents. In this paper, we analyse twenty-five waves of the UK Government's Energy and Climate Change Public Attitudes Tracker: a large, nationally representative dataset spanning six years (2012 - 2018). This enables unique insights into trends in public acceptance across time, space and social groups, covering eight energy sources. We find differing profiles in terms of who supports which types of energy, with a key division between support for renewable technologies on the one hand, and nuclear and fracking on the other. We also identify a growing gap between public and policymakers’ attitudes to energy technologies which we argue must be bridged to ensure a smooth rapid transition that is acceptable to all.
... Regional differences were analysed by calculating ANOVA and conducting appropriate post-hoc tests. To explore reasons for resistance, we first conducted correlation analyses and then used multiple regression in order to detect the effect of planning quality on resistance issues while controlling for contextual characteristics (e.g., Sposato and Hampl, 2018). ...
The successful transition towards renewable energy (RE) technologies is closely intertwined with various societal aspects. Wind energy (WE) is one of the most controversial RE-types, possibly due to the multiplicity of related public concerns. Although some European country-comparisons exist, research concerning acceptance factors in different political and cultural planning contexts is scarce, especially in Eastern and Southern Europe. This paper explores the variation of (1) acceptance issues across Europe, and (2) patterns of strategic and local planning in affecting WE acceptance. We conducted an expert survey among the members of the COST Action ‘Renewable Energy and Landscape Quality’ and the association Wind Energy Europe. We found that acceptance issues – as perceived by the experts – across different regions in Europe share certain similarities, such as concerns about landscape impacts. The priority-levels of acceptance issues are specific to each region and link to the planning quality in that context. Planners’ and decision-makers’ increased awareness about the diversity of acceptance issues would allow them to design more appropriate strategic and local planning processes.
... Through a Simple Stochastic Model, Pedro G. Lind et al. [33] proposed a procedure to estimate the fatigue loads on wind turbines, based on a recent framework used for reconstructing data series of stochastic properties measured at wind turbines. Ana Russo et al. [34] presented a simple neural network and data pre-selection framework, discriminating the most essential input data for accurately forecasting the concentrations of PM10, based on observations for the years between 2002 and 2006 in the metropolitan region of Lisbon, Portugal. Robert Gennaro Sposatoa and Nina Hampla [35] presented worldviews as predictors of wind and solar energy support in Austria. ...
In the context of increasing energy demands in Vietnam, and as a result of the limited supply of domestic energy (oil/gas/coal reserves are exhausted), the potential for renewable energy sources in Vietnam is significant. Thus, building wind power plants in Vietnam is necessary. Access to this type of renewable energy not only contributes to society’s energy supply but also helps to save energy and reduce environmental pollution. Although some works have reviewed applications of the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model in wind power plant site selection, little research has focused on this problem in a fuzzy environment. This is the reason why a hybrid Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) and The Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) are developed for wind power plant site selection in Vietnam. In the first stages of this research, an FAHP model is proposed for determining the weight of each potential location for building a wind power plant, based on qualitative and quantitative factors. A TOPSIS is applied for ranking all potential alternatives in the final stage. The authors collected data from seven locations, which have good conditions for investment in a wind power plant. The results indicate that Binh Thuan (Binh Thuan Province is located on coast of South Central Vietnam) is the best place for building a wind power plant in Vietnam. The contributions of this work proposed an MCDM approach under fuzzy environments for wind power plant location selection in Vietnam. This paper also resides in the evolution of a new approach that is flexible and practical for a decision-maker. This work also provides a useful guideline for wind power plant location selection in others countries.
The large-scale deployment of low-carbon energy technologies is crucial for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and ideally limiting climate change. The success of this transition towards a carbon-neutral society depends on how these technologies are perceived by civil society and whether key societal stakeholders support or oppose their roll-out. Two major debates addressing this issue revolve around the concepts of acceptance and legitimacy. Acceptance literature examines the drivers and levels of support of novel technologies and socio-technical systems. Legitimacy literature captures how these technologies are aligned to their institutional environment. Thus far, there is little cross-fertilisation between the two debates. For this contribution, we conducted a systematic literature review of the two research streams to gain a better understanding of how the social dynamics of low-carbon energy technology deployment are conceptualised. Our review involved the analysis of 240 articles from SCOPUS that empirically studied the acceptance or legitimacy of low-carbon energy technologies. Our findings suggest that the two literature strands are indeed rather disconnected-few articles use both concepts conjointly. They further illustrate that both have distinct research foci and intellectual roots. Acceptance studies tend to focus on individual perspectives towards specific technologies and relate these to the individuals' backgrounds. In contrast, legitimacy studies tend to focus on the overall alignment of specific technologies or entire innovation systems with the institutional context. Based on our findings, we propose a framework, to allow for a better understanding of the dynamic interplay between macro-level legitimacy evaluations and micro-level acceptance evaluations.
Despite the importance of achieving a functioning and decarbonised European Energy Union (EnU) research addressing the public acceptance of cross-border energy interconnections at a European-wide level based upon public opinion polls is limited. To try to fill this gap in the literature, this article relies on a poll with 4000 respondents from the four big EU energy markets: France, Germany, Italy and Spain, including as a new explanatory variable their proximity to an electrical cross-border substation. Overall, 57,4% respondents have not heard about energy interconnections, and 69,2% have not ever heard about the internal energy market. Approaching public acceptance from a procedural justice framework, the article considers procedural justice as a pre-condition? For a fair policy-making process. By addressing the public acceptance of cross-border energy interconnections, the article aims to contribute to the existing literature on their linkages of said interconnections with the European energy policy-making process, deriving specific policy implications to foster cross-border interconnections and energy integration within the EnU.
The chapter examines socioeconomic factors influence the adoption of solar home systems (SHS) by off-grid rural households in Southeast Nigeria. While SHS may appear to be the most popular renewable energy technology in Nigeria, particularly in the urban areas, the drive to increase its adoption in rural communities must contend with beliefs and perceptions regarding its nature and efficiency. It is envisaged that the findings of the study would not only inform efforts towards renewable energy adoption in rural areas but equally provide more insights into factors affecting SHS adoption and how constraints can be addressed. Addressing these constraints would contribute towards the scale-up in the adoption of off-grid solar technologies such as SHS.
The adoption of solar photovoltaic (PV) systems is seen as an important part of the sustainable energy transition. In this regard, it is crucial to identify the determinants of solar (PV) systems’ adoption to facilitate this process. Therefore, this article aims to examine the determinants of SPVS adoption by contrasting the relationships in a cross-cultural environment. For the accomplishment of the purpose, this paper follows a quantitative method in which data is analysed by adopting the PLS-SEM approach using SmartPLS 3.3.9. After analysing the collected data of 464 consumers from Somalia and Pakistan, it is found that perceived usefulness, perceived ease-of-use, compatibility, observability, and perceived trust are significant predictors. However, no significant difference in influencing determinants has been observed between the two cultures using multi-group analysis. Further, perceived trust is not revealed as a significant determinant of behavioural intention in the Somalian context. The strongest relationship is found between attitude and behavioural intention in both cultures. In Somalia, the results reveal a variance of 49% in attitudes and 51% in intention to adopt SPVSs. In Pakistan, a variance of 60.1% in attitudes and 76.8% in intention to adopt SPVSs is found. Implications for both academics and managers to scale-up the adoption of SPVSs are made.
Resistance to planned wind projects is frequently associated with expressions of noise concern. Based on two complementary studies, we investigate the underlying drivers of noise concerns. Combining a large national stated preference survey (N = 1217) with an in-depth analysis of revealed preference data resulting from a public consultation process in Switzerland, we find no clear relationship between subjective noise concerns and prospective noise impacts based on residents’ proximity to a planned wind project. With the exception of a high-resolution analysis of residents in the immediate surroundings (<1 km) of a planned wind project, both studies seem to suggest that noise concerns travel much farther than what sound propagation models would predict. Rather than the law of physics, (lack of) familiarity with wind energy and issues related to procedural and distributional justice appear to provide a better explanation for the geographical spread of noise concerns. Given the critical importance of social acceptance in the planning phase of wind energy projects, our studies offer important insights for policymakers. Bridging the gap between expected and actual impacts, as well as addressing misconceptions about noise among residents with low familiarity, is key. Neighboring municipalities can play a crucial role and host jurisdictions should consider appropriate measures to manage perceived justice.
Investments in renewable energy have taken a center-stage discussion among policymakers and several incentives are now provided to landowners to encourage them to install photovoltaics on their land. However, such investments remain below their potential and thus insights into what affects potential investors’ decision are needed. This study focuses on landowners who are willing to install photovoltaics on their farmland and analyzes the effect of various factors on the amount of money they would pay in order to install photovoltaics on their land. According to our analysis, landowners’ personal view on the profitability of the investment, the degree to which they agree with the installation of solar parks in a location visible from their residence and the hectares of the dry and irrigated land they own, explain the amount of money the landowners would invest in photovoltaics. The findings of the present study may be particularly useful to policymakers and may help them prepare practical and attractive propositions for potential investors thereby improving the existing investment environment for photovoltaics on farmland.
The lower Tejo river basin is an important crop production area in Portugal. The mild climate, diverse water sources and availability along with flat and fertile land areas provide the condition to a highly productive region. Although the historically rainfed cultures installation since the eighteen century, irrigated cultures, such as rice, started to gradually occupy the region in the beginning of the twentieth century. Nowadays, rice cultivation prevails in the area, which requires reliable sources to fulfil water demand for this culture. Paddy-rice fields installation in Tejo tributaries alluvium, such as Sorraia and Almansor rivers, directly supply those parcels in the vicinity. Nevertheless, the largest production area is installed in Lezírias de Vila Franca de Xira, located in Tejo alluvium plains. Such area requires large amounts of water during crop season, from April to October, mainly withdrawn from Tejo river. The Tejo estuary proximity and its salinity influence along with demand peak during summer compromise water quality which, in a long term, can cause salinization and alkalinization of soils. Rice is a light salinity tolerant culture, which is adapted with the current water quality, but the region faces serious sustainability challenges if a shift for some other crop type occurs, as happened in the past. Multiple Correspondence Analysis was used as a statistical method to assess water quality in the region. Water management, driven with water quality allocation by crop and soils requirements can be an answer to minimize permanent soil damages achieving natural resources sustainability in the long term.
The main purpose of this study is to evaluate the risks in solar energy investments. In this regard, a detailed literature analysis has been performed and 5 different risk factors are identified. After that, it is aimed to determine which risks play more significant role for solar energy companies. For this purpose, an evaluation is made by using fuzzy Entropy methodology. As a result, it is seen that economic risks have the highest importance for these investment projects. In addition to this condition, political risks are other important issues for these companies. It is also concluded that environment risks have the lowest weight. While considering these issues, it is understood that solar energy investors mainly focus on the volatility in the economy. Within this framework, currency exchange rate risks, inflation and economic growth should be taken into account by making investment decisions to solar energy projects. Moreover, political conditions in the country should also be considered by the investors in this process. Otherwise, it will be very difficult to have sustainable success in the solar energy investment projects.
Public attitudes are increasingly viewed as a hindrance to the implementation of renewable energy sources (RES). Despite the general support for renewables, public attitudes to specific projects can be negative and conflicts are often created between the public and project leaders. For this reason, there is abundant research work on public attitudes to renewable energy (RE), but understanding these attitudes is still challenging due to dissimilar research methodologies and different contexts. A review of research on public attitudes toward renewable energy in general and the different renewable types in the countries of the European Union (EU) was carried out for this chapter. It is concluded that the public in these countries is familiar with and has positive attitudes to renewable energy in general. However, there is a clear preference for solar energy and considerable skepticism to wind energy mainly due to its visual intrusion into the natural landscape. In addition, there is substantial evidence that the support for renewable energy is driven by environmental values and concerns, particularly about climate change. These findings are promising, but also suggest that further work is required to understand profoundly the dynamics of public attitudes.
The paper is focused on energy transition and stakeholders’ discourses about it in three Austrian Climate and Energy Model Regions (Baden, Ebreichsdorf, and Freistadt). The theoretical basis of the paper is in the theory of plural rationalities. The data were collected from in-depth qualitative interviews with different stakeholders’ groups in each region, identified through comprehensive stakeholders mapping. The data were analyzed with qualitative data analysis software NVivo to identify elements and narratives of various discourses. The key words and meanings were embedded in the coding of context for different discourses following the content analysis techniques. The results, based on word clouds, identified major elements of hierarchical, egalitarian, or individualistic discourses. Based on identified discourses, energy policy measure can be developed to turn awareness about energy transition into action and to develop compromise solutions, which address narratives of various discourses.
This research paper describes the effect of different financial participation models for wind energy projects on the social acceptance of a hypothetical project. Based on the configuration of three different financial participation models tested in a pre-study with several industry experts, we conducted an experimental survey with a representative sample of Swiss electricity customers (n=1202). Our results indicate that a local resource tax that benefits the entire community is favored over individual financial participation models (namely, the opportunity for local citizens to participate through shares or bonds). For key stakeholders such as community attached people or those with a politically centrist, progressive mindset, the local resource tax leads to a significant increase in acceptance. As findings about specific financial participation models for wind energy projects are rare, our research creates a foundation on which social acceptance of wind energy projects at the local community level can be fostered.
In order to decarbonize the energy sector, there is a widespread consensus that the role of end-users in the energy system should change from passive consumption to active prosumption and engagement. This is of particular importance as an increasing number of technologies and business models are focusing on the end-users. These developments provide new opportunities for further technical and social innovation to smarter, flexible and integrated systems such as community energy systems (CESs). Through system integration and community engagement CESs assist in transition to a low-carbon energy system. Despite the high importance, there is limited knowledge on willingness of local citizens to participate in the local energy systems such as CESs as well as associated factors determining such willingness. Through a survey among 599 citizens in the Netherlands, this research analyses the impact of demographic, socioeconomic , socio-institutional as well as environmental factors on willingness to participate in CESs. Factor and multi-variate regression analysis reveals that the environmental concern, renewables acceptance, energy independence, community trust, community resistance, education, energy related education and awareness about local energy initiatives are the most important factors in determining the citizens' willingness to participate in CESs. Citizens should be empowered to take active role in steering the local energy initiatives.
Thirty years of North American research on public acceptance of wind energy has produced important insights, yet knowledge gaps remain. This review synthesizes the literature, revealing the following lessons learned. (1) North American support for wind has been consistently high. (2) The NIMBY explanation for resistance to wind development is invalid. (3) Socioeconomic impacts of wind development are strongly tied to acceptance. (4) Sound and visual impacts of wind facilities are strongly tied to annoyance and opposition, and ignoring these concerns can exacerbate conflict. (5) Environmental concerns matter, though less than other factors, and these concerns can both help and hinder wind development. (6) Issues of fairness, participation, and trust during the development process influence acceptance. (7) Distance from turbines affects other explanatory variables, but alone its influence is unclear. (8) Viewing opposition as something to be overcome prevents meaningful understandings and implementation of best practices. (9) Implementation of research findings into practice has been limited. The paper also identifies areas for future research on wind acceptance. With continued research efforts and a commitment toward implementing research findings into developer and policymaker practice, conflict and perceived injustices around proposed and existing wind energy facilities might be significantly lessened.
With the increasing emergence of renewable energy sites in Switzerland, new impacts on the landscape can be
observed. Above the Alpine village of Bellwald, a pilot project testing avalanche barriers as a possible site for
photovoltaic installations was inaugurated in 2012. This study focused on social aspects of the project and asked questions about local residents’ and tourists’ perceptions of and attitudes toward the installations. Its findings reveal that thenew elements are not perceived as a drastic intrusion into the landscape, because the view was already affected by the avalanche barriers, which are accepted because of their vital protective function. No significant difference was found between residents’ and tourists’ evaluation of the new photovoltaic installations. However, different factors influenced the perceptions of these 2 groups. In both groups, conceptions related to place played an important role in the evaluation of possible photovoltaic sites.
Decision scientists have identified various plausible sources of ideological polarization over climate change, gun violence, national security, and like issues that turn on empirical evidence. This paper describes a study of three of them: the predominance of heuristic-driven information processing by members of the public; ideologically motivated reasoning; and the cognitive-style correlates of political conservativism. The study generated both observational and experimental data inconsistent with the hypothesis that political conservatism is distinctively associated with either un-reflective thinking or motivated reasoning. Conservatives did no better or worse than liberals on the Cognitive Reflection Test (Frederick, 2005), an objective measure of information-processing dispositions associated with cognitive biases. In addition, the study found that ideologically motivated reasoning is not a consequence of over-reliance on heuristic or intuitive forms of reasoning generally. On the contrary, subjects who scored highest in cognitive reflection were the most likely to display ideologically motivated cognition. These findings corroborated an alternative hypothesis, which identifies ideologically motivated cognition as a form of information processing that promotes individuals' interests in forming and maintaining beliefs that signify their loyalty to important affinity groups. The paper discusses the practical significance of these findings, including the need to develop science communication strategies that shield policy-relevant facts from the influences that turn them into divisive symbols of political identity.
There seems to be consensus that apart from individual behavioral change, system-wide transformations are required to address the challenges posed by climate change. Collective action is viewed as one core mechanism in social transformation but there is currently no systematic research on collective climate action. By reviewing theoretical perspectives and models explaining collective protest, we aim to provide a starting point for such a research program. Based on correlational data from a student sample (N = 652), a sample of participants of a local climate protection initiative (N = 71), and visitors of a climate protection event (N = 88), we tested constructs derived from these theoretical models. Social identity, perceived behavioral control, and participative efficacy beliefs consistently predicted substantial amounts of variance in participation intention. Implications for future research are discussed, such as recognizing the interplay between cost-benefit calculations and social identity, or temporal dynamics in collective action engagement.
After many years of slow progress, we find that worldwide environmental, political, and economic pressures are providing greater purchase for the accelerated development of renewable energy. Although many people would consider this quickening pace good news, the transition from conventional resources has encountered public resistance. In this article I ex-amine the nature of challenges to the development of geothermal, wind, and solar energy projects in three places: the United States, Scotland, and Mexico. The common thread in the public reservations about renewable energy is landscape change and the consequent disruption such change produces to established ways of life for those who are nearby. It also suggests the impor-tance of rebalancing the emphasis of renewable energy programs away from the traditional technical focus that dominates development planning. The more suitable and expedient ap-proach would be to consider the challenges of development as predominantly social matters with technical components, rather than the other way around. To accept this view is to unlock the door to a renewable energy future. Keywords: landscape, renewable energy, society. We are addicted to electricity. To most of us it is indispensable; it powers almost
In July 2012, the Australian government instituted the Clean Energy Legislative Package. This policy, commonly known as the carbon policy or carbon tax, holds industries responsible for emissions they release through a carbon price. Because this will have an indirect effect on consumer costs, the policy also includes a compensation package for households indirectly impacted. This study, building upon past work in distributive justice, examines the determinants of the policy’s acceptance and support. We proposed perceived fairness and effectiveness of the policy, and endorsement of free-market ideology, would directly predict policy acceptance. We tested this through an on-line survey of Australian citizens and found that policy acceptance was predicted by perceived fairness and effectiveness. More Australians found the policy acceptable (43 %) than unacceptable (36 %), and many found it neither acceptable nor unacceptable (21 %). In contrast, when asked about support, more Australians tended not to support the policy (53 %) than support it (47 %). Support was predicted by main effects for perceived fairness, effectiveness, free-market ideology, and the interaction between free-market ideology and effectiveness. We conclude by considering some of the implications of our results for the implementation of policies addressing climate change mitigation and adaptation, for theories of social justice and attitudinal ambivalence, and for the continuing integration of research between economics and psychology. Furthermore, we argue for the distinction between policy support and acceptance and discourage the interchangeable use of these terms.
It has been argued that public doubts about climate change have been exacerbated by cold weather events seen as a form of disconfirming evidence for anticipated 'warming'. Although a link between perceptions of climate and weather is well-established, such assump-tions have not been empirically tested. Here we show, using nationally representative data, that directly following a period of severe cold weather in the UK, three times as many people saw these events as pointing towards the reality of climate change, than as disconfirming it. This we argue was a consequence of these cold winters being incorporated into a conceptualisation of extreme or 'unnatural' weather resulting from climate change. We also show that the way in which people interpret cold weather is associated with levels of pre-existing scepticism about climate change, which is in turn related to more general worldviews. Drawing attention to 'extreme' weather as a consequence of climate change can be a useful communication device, however this is problematic in the case of seasonal cold.
The holding of doubts about climate change is often referred to as ‘scepticism’. However, there has been a lack of clarity in previous work as to what exactly this scepticism comprises. We integrate data obtained from discussion groups and a nationally representative survey, to interrogate and refine the concept of climate change scepticism with respect to the views of members of the public. We argue that two main types should be distinguished: epistemic scepticism, relating to doubts about the status of climate change as a scientific and physical phenomenon; and response scepticism, relating to doubts about the efficacy of action taken to address climate change. Whilst each type is independently associated by people themselves with climate change scepticism, we find that the latter is more strongly associated with a lack of concern about climate change. As such, additional effort should be directed towards addressing and engaging with people's doubts concerning attempts to address climate change.
The deficit-model of science communication assumes increased communication about science issues will move public opinion toward the scientific consensus. However, in the case of climate change, public polarization about the issue has increased in recent years, not diminished. In this study, we draw from theories of motivated reasoning, social identity, and persuasion to examine how science-based messages may increase public polarization on controversial science issues such as climate change. Exposing 240 adults to simulated news stories about possible climate change health impacts on different groups, we found the influence of identification with potential victims was contingent on participants’ political partisanship. This partisanship increased the degree of political polarization on support for climate mitigation policies and resulted in a boomerang effect among Republican participants. Implications for understanding the role of motivated reasoning within the context of science communication are discussed.
‘Scepticism’ in public attitudes towards climate change is seen as a significant barrier to public engagement. In an experimental study, we measured participants’ scepticism about climate change before and after reading two newspaper editorials that made opposing claims about the reality and seriousness of climate change (designed to generate uncertainty). A well-established social psychological finding is that people with opposing attitudes often assimilate evidence in a way that is biased towards their existing attitudinal position, which may lead to attitude polarisation. We found that people who were less sceptical about climate change evaluated the convincingness and reliability of the editorials in a markedly different way to people who were more sceptical about climate change, demonstrating biased assimilation of the information. In both groups, attitudes towards climate change became significantly more sceptical after reading the editorials, but we observed no evidence of attitude polarisation—that is, the attitudes of these two groups did not diverge. The results are the first application of the well-established assimilation and polarisation paradigm to attitudes about climate change, with important implications for anticipating how uncertainty—in the form of conflicting information—may impact on public engagement with climate change.
This study presents insights into the determinants of consumers' willingness to adopt renewable energies in the residential sector. The empirical analysis is based on the estimation of binary probit regression models. Empirical results suggest that middle-aged and highly educated people are probably more willing to adopt renewable energy sources in their home. In general, income positively affects consumers' acceptance of renewable energy projects in the residential sector. However, the results suggest that marital status and gender are not statistically significant factors in the willingness to adopt renewable energies. A tax deduction is estimated to be the most effective financial policy measure to promote consumers' acceptance of renewable energies in the residential sector, more so than an energy subsidy. Our analysis is focused on intention because we expect that those people willing to adopt renewable energy sources in their residence are a potentially relevant market segment for the application of renewable energies.
Public scepticism surrounding climate change is an obstacle for implementing climate change mitigation measures in many countries. However, very little is known about: (1) the nature and sources of climate change scepticism; and (2) its influence on preferences for climate change mitigation policies. In this paper, we investigate these two issues using evidence and analysis from an Australian public survey and choice experiment. The study has three key findings. First, the intensity of scepticism varies depending on its type; we observed little scepticism over the cause, trend and impact of climate change and widespread scepticism over the effectiveness of mitigation measures and global co-operation. Second, cause and mitigation scepticism play significant roles in determining public support for climate change abatement. Respondents who believed in human-induced climate change were significantly more supportive of mitigation. Likewise, respondents who believed that mitigation would be successful in slowing down climate change were significantly more likely to be supportive. Third, the general public tend to give the benefit of the doubt to supporting mitigation. Those who expressed higher uncertainty about climate outcomes were more supportive of mitigation than others with similar expectations but lower uncertainty.
This paper was published in 1987 as one of the very first on the social dimensions (acceptance, use, possible investment etc.) of renewables energy. It is based on data collected in the 'Camperduin' project, in which two wind turbines gnerated power for the (direct) electricity supply of a small districts of dwellings.
Thisnpaper Is particulalry focused on 'demand response', an important element in the emergence of intelligent grids in which variable demand and variable supply by renewable sources must come together with the help intelligent infrastructure and intelligent 'smart users'. In this case the demand response in houselholds to wind generated electricity is studied, with important lessons for the future options for demand response.
1.Demand response towards tariff-switches serving energy companies' needs is hardly a primisng option; (though most demand response studies still focus upon DSM, demand-side management, which is problematic);
2. Demand response towards renewables within one's own community has better perspectives, but still peaple will not signifacantly change their life-stye to respond to variable supply;
3. Hence, the behavioural option of demand response reamins interesting, but should be embedded in a framework in which households are serving their own supply system, and with the help of devices. Such devices were hardly available in 1986 so the demand response was only limited to real behavioural change. The change was significant, but small (about 2% enhancement of the direct delivery factor).
Harnessed for centuries to pump water or mill grain, wind power now has tremendous potential as a clean alternative to fossil fuels, a means to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions but also to keep our daily lives running along. The trick is to find the right places to build the big, wind-catching turbines while continuing to garner public support.
In Dutch policy documents resistance to planned trajectories and sites for facilities is accounted for in terms of the NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) attitudes held by local residents. Therefore, as a desperate effort to crush the opposition against some major projects, new physical planning legislation is proposed. A new instrument is introduced for the central authorities which drastically limits the influence of the local authorities and the public on the siting process. Since the basic idea behind it is the 'theory' of people defending their own backyard without recognising the needs of society as a whole, it is called the NIMBY instrument. If certain conditions concerning the nature of attitudes held by local residents are fulfilled, siting decisions can be theoretically described and classified as social dilemmas. Six implicit assumptions which can be distinguished in the backyard theory are examined, leading to the conclusion that the theory does not hold for most people. Interests of local residents are entangled with their behavioural motives. The new Dutch NIMBY policy will change priorities and power structures in the process of facility siting. Probably the new policy will prove to be counterproductive. The public are offended when they are treated as selfish and irrational and opposition will probably be stimulated by the use of the NIMBY instrument.
Risks tend to be judged lower by men than by women and by white people than by people of colour. Prior research by Flynn, Slovic and Mertz [Risk Analysis, 14, pp. 1101-1108] found that these race and gender differences in risk perception in the United States were primarily due to 30% of the white male population who judge risks to be extremely low. The specificity of this finding suggests an explanation in terms of sociopolitical factors rather than biological factors. The study reported here presents new data from a recent national survey conducted in the United States. Although white males again stood apart with respect to their judgements of risk and their attitudes concerning worldviews, trust, and risk-related stigma, the results showed that the distinction between white males and others is more complex than originally thought. Further investigation of sociopolitical factors in risk judgements is recommended to clarify gender and racial differences.
The key thesis in Hubbard's paper ‘Accommodating Otherness: anti-asylum centre protest and the maintenance of white privilege’ is that racial dimensions of opposition to asylum seekers centres are part of cultural NIMBYism. This connection of complex issues with an invalid concept obscures our understanding of the role of ‘otherness’ in facility siting discussions. The deconstruction of the contested NIMBY concept is illustrated by a brief review of wind power, which was mentioned as a field in which ‘otherness’ had not been incorporated.
Public acceptance is recognised as an important issue shaping the widespread implementation of renewable energy technologies and the achievement of energy policy targets. Furthermore, it is commonly assumed that 'public attitudes' need to change to make more radical scenarios about the implementation of renewable energy technologies feasible. This chapter critically summarises existing social research on the acceptance of renewable energy technologies, and provides a novel classification of personal, psychological and contextual factors that combine to shape public acceptance. It concludes by arguing the need for more systematic research on public acceptance driven by coherent theoretical frameworks drawn from psychology and other social science disciplines, explicit definitions of concepts, the use of innovative methodological tools and a greater emphasis upon symbolic and affective aspects.
This paper conducts content and bibliometric analysis of 857 articles representing the knowledge domain for the social acceptance of energy technology and fuels. The objective is to identify basic trends and characteristics in the literature, identify current research fronts and pivotal papers therein, and map these fronts to their respective intellectual bases. We accomplish this by analyzing metadata, keyword use and citation networks within our dataset. We conclude with an evaluation of influence, structure, and collaboration and interdisciplinary dialogue in the field.
The primary social challenge of offshore wind power development may be local community members’ struggle to come to terms with the transformation of the ocean. In this study of local residents’ perceptions of the first wind power project off the North American coast, we consider whether factors such as aesthetics and place attachment, dependency and identity might serve as barriers or gateways toward an offshore wind power future. Respondents are 420 coastal Rhode Island and Block Island residents who were randomly sampled by mail or internet prior to turbine installation and after project commissioning. Data were analysed using weighted descriptive statistics and multiple imputed regression analysis. 87% of respondents who live in census tracts bordering the coast support or lean toward supporting the project despite paying significantly above-market prices for the electricity generated. Regression models show that support for the project is influenced, at least in part, by general disposition toward wind power and whether a respondent likes the turbines’ appearance, with place-related measures having less influence. Descriptions of the wind turbines that resonated with supporters and opponents include respectively, “Symbolic of progress towards clean energy” and “Cause the loss of something intangible, where all you see is the ocean”.
Among renewable energy technologies, wind energy accounts for the highest share in gross electricity consumption in Germany. To keep this renewable share up, wind energy project have to combine technological aspects with environmental and societally aspects. The successful planning and implementation of a wind farm crucially depends on acceptance of citizens living in the vicinity of the site. Factors influencing acceptance of wind energy can be categorised into processrelated variables, personal characteristics, perceived side effects and technical and geographical issues. However, research is still missing on how and to what extend the identified factors have an influence on the acceptance and non-acceptance. This article identifies the relevant factors within each of these four categories by investigating which of these factors have an impact upon acceptance or non-acceptance of a project. This identification enables policy makers and operators to implement wind energy projects with a certain acceptance level by the society. The study is based on a German wide online-survey with about 1,400 participants. Using a multinomial logistic regression analysis, the results show that factors in all categories are relevant in driving citizens’ active acceptance, ambivalence or active non-acceptance of wind energy. The paper reveals that in particular the factors fear of infrasound and the opportunity for participation plays an essential role in the categories perceived side effects and process-related variables. The fear of infrasound has the most significant negative influence on the acceptance. Also the participation level, alibi participation, displays significant negative effects on the acceptance. Furthermore, the results suggest that some of the most recent changes in the legal framework regulating new wind energy projects in Germany counteract acceptance according the findings of this study. In particular, results show that the distance between the place of residence and wind turbines has no significant influence on the acceptance.
Though there is a growing literature on the value of participatory siting processes for increasing local acceptance of wind energy development, there has been much less unpacking of how residents view the siting process itself. We explore differences in the ways governments and developers enact planning and how this impacts both acceptance/support and procedural justice outcomes. This mixed methods study employed in-depth interviews (n = 54) and surveys (n = 252) with multiple stakeholder groups to understand perceptions of procedural justice across two Canadian provinces. We compared Ontario – which has built a strong base of wind energy capacity using technocratic siting procedures with Nova Scotia – which has anchored its development strategy more explicitly with a community-based program. We find stronger levels of perceived procedural justice in Nova Scotia across the majority of principles tested. In Ontario, opposition to local developments was highly conflated with a lack of procedural justice including few opportunities to take part in siting. Across both provinces however, specific aspects of planning processes – mostly related to 'the ability to affect the outcome' – were strong predictors of local approval of wind. This paper closes with a discussion of how future policy programs can more effectively engage with principles of procedural justice.
Tidal energy is a renewable energy source that could be used to help mitigate climate change. Tidal energy technology is in the early stages of development and views towards this technology and energy source are not well understood. Through a representative mail survey of Washington State residents, we assessed attitudes and behaviors related to tidal energy, perceived benefits and risks, and climate change beliefs. Higher levels of perceived benefits and climate change beliefs were associated with increased acceptability of and support for tidal energy whereas greater perceived risks were associated with decreased acceptability and support (acceptability being an attitudinal construct, support a behavioral construct). Coastal residents reported higher levels of acceptability and support than non-coastal residents. Pulling from innovation theory, we show that levels of support depended upon the development lifecycle stage of the technology. Support declined once the project moved into the water from the lab, however, grid-connected pilot projects were more likely to be supported than those without grid-connection. Policies developed to encourage the development of tidal energy may be more accepted and supported if they include incentives for pilot phases with grid-connection.
Although social acceptance research has blossomed over the last decade, interdisciplinary studies combining market, socio-political and community aspects are scarce. We propose a novel integration of social science theory in which the belief systems or social representations held by key actors play a crucial role in fostering acceptance of novel technologies, and where a polycentric perspective places particular emphasis on ways that middle actors mediate processes of change between scales. We advance a methodological approach that combines qualitative and quantitative research methods and exemplify the framework by focusing on acceptance of renewable energy storage solutions to accommodate high levels of renewable energy deployment. A research agenda for the social acceptance of energy storage is proposed that sets out key research questions relating international, national and local levels. The outcome of such studies would not only lead to enhanced understanding of processes of social acceptance, but deliver important insights for policy and practice.
Qualitative and quantitative research was conducted during 1988 to determine perceptions and attitudes regarding wind energy development as held by: government and regulatory officials involved with windfarm development in the three major wind resource regions in California; environmentalists and community activists in these regions; and members of the wind industry. Results indicate that realization of large windfarm projects is being affected by local opposition which exists partly because of: lack of knowledge about the technical maturity and economics of today's windpower; opposed interests between the developers and the locality; and development-created problems such as 'Visual Intrusion'. Public acceptability, essential for industry success, may be hindered because wind energy benefits to a locality are not perceived to equal the risks incurred by that particular region. Therefore, the industry needs to continue improving its performance as well as its communications with all affected parties.
Determining socially acceptable and economically viable locations for utility-scale solar projects is a costly process that depends on many technical, economic, environmental and social factors. This paper presents a GIS-based multi-criteria solar project siting study conducted in the southwestern United States with a unique social preference component. Proximity raster layers were derived from features including roads, power lines, and rivers then overlain with 10 � 10 m raster terrain datasets including slope and potential irradiance to produce a high resolution map showing solar energy potential from “poor” to “excellent” for high potential counties across the southwestern United States. Similar maps were produced by adding social acceptance data collected from a series of surveys showing the potential public resistance to development that can be expected in areas of high solar energy suitability. Applying social preferences to the model significantly reduced the amount of suitable area in each of the selected study areas. The methods demonstrated are expected to help reduce time, money, and resources currently allocated toward finding and assessing areas of high solar power suitability.
Large-scale deployment of low-carbon energy technologies is crucial to mitigating climate change, and public support is an important barrier to policies and projects that facilitate deployment. This paper provides insights to the origins of public opposition that can impede the adoption of low-carbon technologies by investigating how perceptions are shaped by local economic interests and individual cultural worldviews. The research considers both carbon capture and storage and wind energy technologies because they differ in maturity, economic impact and resource base. Further, for each technology, the research examines support for two types of policies: deployment in local community and public funding for research and development. Results indicate the influence of economic interests and cultural worldviews is policy specific. Individual cultural worldviews do not affect support for the deployment of technology, but they do significantly influence a person׳s support for publicly funded research and development. Conversely, local economic interests have a significant role in determining support for deployment, while they do not affect support for research and development.
Wind power, as a renewable energy source, plays an important role for achieving goal of the transition to post–fossil carbon societies. Despite significant environmental benefits associated with wind power, its social acceptance should not be overlooked. A case study approach was used for the research to investigate social acceptance of wind power in Shandong Province, China. A questionnaire survey was distributed to local residents, which was supplemented with a critical review of current policies. The results revealed that there are consistent concerns on environmental quality issues from local residents regardless of their age or educational level; they were generally supportive of developing wind power resources. However, their level of support dropped significantly for actions to be taken such as installing small-scale wind turbines in their own backyards or in accepting higher electricity prices. Similarly, local residents were generally aware of benefits and drawbacks of wind power. The data also revealed that local residents may accept renewable energy due to their concerns about environmental issues. The level of social acceptance by local residents for wind power was contingent upon their age, income, educational level, and location of residency. These findings provide useful inputs to both the industry and government in terms of improving social acceptance of wind power in future developments.
UK and Scottish planning policies include commitments to reflect the views of the public. However, this case study of one planning application for a wind farm in rural Scotland highlights the limited role played by lay knowledge within planning processes. The planning application process had two separate stages which structured the roles of lay and expert knowledge differently. Local objectors were able to influence the early planning application stage. However, this resulted in an appeals process (public inquiry) which was beyond the influence of lay people, and within which lay knowledge played only a marginal role. The early planning application stage enabled a wider range of knowledges to be relevant, perhaps even allowing lay knowledge to sideline expert knowledge. Within the inquiry such roles were reversed. Witnesses who could not back up their evidence with 'reliable' data or scientific reasoning were discredited as illegitimate and as having little to contribute to the inquiry process. Thus the inquiry constructed boundaries between expert and lay knowledge, in ways which diminished the role that lay knowledge might play. Whilst the construction of expert knowledge at the public inquiry played a central role in marginalising lay knowledge, it was central to all sides of the argument; the role of expert knowledge was reinforced by both the opposition group and the developers. Therefore, it is not only policy-makers and planning officials, but also lay people who act as though expert and lay knowledge can be clearly distinguished from one another.
Drawing from research interviews and the academic literature, this article conceptualizes the conditions that promote investor confidence and the social acceptance of wind and solar sources of electricity. It explores the factors influencing the acceptance of commercial wind turbines in Denmark and India and residential solar panels in Germany and the United States. The article begins by justifying its selection of case studies and explaining the methodology behind its research interviews and field visits. It then summarizes some of the key findings in recent surveys of public attitudes and market acceptance concerning renewable energy, with a focus on why some investors and communities reject wind and solar systems whereas others rapidly approve and adopt them. The article proposes that acceptance has multiple dimensions – socio-political, community, and market – that must be met holistically in order for investors and users to embrace renewable energy. The article argues that acceptance hinges upon the prevalence of nine factors; the lack of such factors creates environments where they are rejected. The theory is tested against four case studies that explore the forces driving renewable energy in Denmark, Germany, India, and the United States.
The promotion of low carbon energy and associated infrastructures for tackling climate change is a central task for governments worldwide. However, public and, mainly, local, opposition to those infrastructures may slow down or even halt that process. Thus, in the last few years a body of research has developed specifically to understand the social acceptance of technologies such as wind turbines or bioenergy plants. We argue that the use of ‘acceptance’ in this literature should be further discussed. We contend that using the word ‘acceptance’ may present some constraints for the theoretical advancement of this area of research and to the implications that may be taken from it to the wider society. This is further highlighted through the presentation of findings from surveys conducted with nationally representative samples from the UK and Norway which examined their acceptance of and support for new high voltage power lines. We conclude by suggesting that the literature on public responses towards low carbon energy and associated infrastructures should be more critical in the conceptualisation of its research agenda, become empirically more consistent and transparent, and examine other types of relations between people and energy infrastructures besides acceptance or opposition.
A dominant resistance factor against wind power projects seems to be their visual impact on the landscape. In addition stress effects from aircraft obstruction markings are an emerging topic related to acceptance. As the height of wind turbines increases, so does the number of mandatory obstruction markings. Recently, obstruction markings have caused a growing number of complaints from residents. Whether obstruction markings indeed cause stress or even substantial annoyance remains an open question. To analyse the stress impact of obstruction markings, we used environmental and stress psychology methodologies. Residents (N=420) with direct sight of turbines at 13 wind farms participated in a questionnaire survey. Evidence of substantial annoyance caused by obstruction markings was not found. However, residents exposed to xenon lights reported more intense and multifaceted stress responses than exposed to LED or colour markings on blades. Moreover, xenon lights negatively affected the general acceptance of wind energy. Additionally, synchronised navigation lights were found to be less annoying than non-synchronised lights under certain weather conditions. Markings with light intensity adjustment proved to be advantageous. To reduce stress and increase social acceptance of wind power, xenon lights should be abandoned, navigation lights synchronised, and light intensity adjustment applied.
Seeming public apathy over climate change is often attributed to a deficit in comprehension. The public knows too little science, it is claimed, to understand the evidence or avoid being misled. Widespread limits on technical reasoning aggravate the problem by forcing citizens to use unreliable cognitive heuristics to assess risk. An empirical study found no support for this position. Members of the public with the highest degrees of science literacy and technical reasoning capacity were not the most concerned about climate change. Rather, they were the ones among whom cultural polarization was greatest. This result suggests that public divisions over climate change stem not from the public’s incomprehension of science but from a distinctive conflict of interest: between the personal interest individuals have in forming beliefs in line with those held by others with whom they share close ties and the collective one they all share in making use of the best available science to promote common welfare.
This study presents a detailed investigation of public scepticism about climate change in Britain using the trend, attribution, and impact scepticism framework of Rahmstorf (2004). The study found that climate scepticism is currently not widespread in Britain. Although uncertainty and scepticism about the potential impacts of climate change were fairly common, both trend and attribution scepticism were far less prevalent. It further showed that the different types of scepticism are strongly interrelated. Although this may suggest that the general public does not clearly distinguish between the different aspects of the climate debate, there is a clear gradation in prevalence along the Rahmstorf typology. Climate scepticism appeared particularly common among older individuals from lower socio-economic backgrounds who are politically conservative and hold traditional values; while it is less common among younger individuals from higher socio-economic backgrounds who hold self-transcendence and environmental values. The finding that climate scepticism is rooted in people's core values and worldviews may imply a coherent and encompassing sceptical outlook on climate change. However, attitudinal certainty appeared mainly concentrated in non-sceptical groups, suggesting that climate sceptical views are not held very firmly. Implications of the findings for climate change communication and engagement are discussed.
With a heightened focus on the concept of sustainability in the past few decades, government, business and individuals have become increasingly aware of the need to reduce our environmental footprint. Consequently there has been much research on consumer environmental behaviour, and the beliefs, norms and attitudes that influence this behaviour. In this article we develop a conceptual framework of consumer environmental behaviour and its antecedents, and test hypotheses within the framework by means of a survey of green consumers. The results show that general environmental beliefs do influence norms on environmental actions and prices, but only norms on price are correlated with environmental attitudes; both intrinsic and extrinsic environmental drivers together with social norms and community influence are associated with environmental attitudes, but cost barriers may have a negative influence. It was also found that there was a strong association between environmental attitudes and energy saving behaviours but the latter was not in any way influenced by government policies or subsidies.
Efforts by many governments to mitigate climate change by increasing deployment of renewable energy technologies have raised the importance of issues of public acceptance. The ‘NIMBY’ (Not In My Backyard) concept, although popular, has been critiqued as an appropriate and valid way to explain local opposition. This study applies an alternative approach, empirically investigating the role of place attachment and place-related symbolic meanings in explaining public responses to a tidal energy converter in Northern Ireland, said to be the first grid-connected device of its kind in the world. 271 residents in two nearby villages completed questionnaire surveys, three months post-installation, following up preliminary qualitative research using focus groups. Although results indicated predominantly positive and supportive responses to the project, manifest by emotional responses and levels of acceptance, significant differences between residents in each village were also observed. Contrasting patterns of association between place attachment and emotional responses suggest that the project enhanced rather than disrupted place attachments only in one of the two villages. In regression analyses, place attachment emerged as a significant, positive predictor of project acceptance in both places, affirming its value in explaining public response. Place-related symbolic meanings also emerged as significant, with contrasting sets of meanings proving significant in each context. Implications of the findings for research on place attachment and responses to land-use changes, as well as for developers seeking to engage with residents affected by energy projects are discussed.
If approximately 80% of the public in the UK support wind energy, why is only a quarter of contracted wind power capacity actually commissioned? One common answer is that this is an example of the ‘not in my backyard’ (Nimby) syndrome: yes, wind power is a good idea as long as it is not in my backyard. However, the Nimby claim that there is an attitude–behaviour gap has been rightly criticised. This article distinguishes between two kinds of gap that might be confused, namely the ‘social gap’ – between the high public support for wind energy expressed in opinion surveys and the low success rate achieved in planning applications for wind power developments – and the ‘individual gap’, which exists when an individual person has a positive attitude to wind power in general but actively opposes a particular wind power development. Three different explanations of the social gap are distinguished, only one of which depends upon the individual gap. In the second section of the article the relevance of our three explanations for policy is considered. It is argued that the different explanations suggest different policy responses and that the success of efforts to increase wind energy capacity may depend on developing a better understanding of the relative significance of the three explanations.
Wind power has been identified as the most cost-efficient form of alternative energy. Americans regularly read news stories about wind power and see newspaper advertisements urging the public to support wind power. Yet because large-scale wind power is relatively new, we do not know how much Americans understand about it or what they think about it.U.S. public opinion about wind power has been studied, but only superficially. The survey questions used to gauge public opinion about wind power are broad, and often combine wind power with solar power. Moreover, few surveys ask more than one or two questions about wind power.We analyze the results of a U.S. national internet survey, conducted in 2008, that was designed to study public opinion about wind power. We present evidence that the public's understanding of wind power is relatively poor. We show what positive and negative characteristics of wind power the public regards as important. We develop a model to explain public support for expanding wind power, and we discuss the implications for the future of the wind power industry.
China has set ambitious goals to increase the use of renewable energy. Developing renewables in rural areas is also one of the most important energy strategies. This paper examines rural social acceptance of renewable energy deployment taking Shandong as a case study via a field questionnaire survey. Theory of planned behavior is adopted to establish an analytical framework, and a logit model is used to examine possible determinants of local social acceptance. The results show that rural residents are generally supportive renewable energy development given its positive impacts on environment. A stated willingness to pay more for renewable electricity is taken as a variable representing an individual’s behavioral intention. The probability of occurrence of positive intention is found to increase with household income, individual knowledge level and belief about costs of renewable energy use but decrease with individual age. Residents with higher level of income are more likely to be willing to pay more for green electricity, so are the younger people. Enhancive knowledge and understanding about renewable energy (for instance, the cost) would be conducive to win public acceptance of renewable energy deployment.
A number of countries offer domestic consumers the option of buying their electricity supply through a ‘green tariff', whereby the supplier typically guarantees that all or part of the supply has been generated using renewable energy sources. Various studies have sought to identify variables describing and/or predicting why domestic consumers choose to purchase a green tariff. This study builds on previous work by reviewing the UK market in particular. Using data from the Understanding Society Survey (USS), a number of variables were tested for their predictive power. This included variables identified as statistically significant within other studies, and variables that - to the authors' knowledge - have not been tested through other work. Results find that individuals in the highest income quartile, those with higher qualifications, those supporting the Green political party, those exhibiting strong environmental behaviour and those householdsnot in receipt of winter fuel payments were all more likely to have purchased green tariffs. Significant to a lesser degree were strong environmental attitudes and those households with some form of renewable energy technology
During the 1990s the social scientific literature on local opposition to proposed developments has moved from a focus on individual motives to a concern with the social causes and significance of such protest. However, the language of NIMBYism is still widely used by researchers. Drawing on data from a case study of local responses to a proposed new road the central role that the language of NIMBY plays within siting disputes is illustrated, and it is concluded that academics interested in understanding the dynamics and process of local development disputes might usefully study participants' use of NIMBY, but should distance themselves from the activity of attributing NIMBYism to certain parties. In addition those concerned with managing, mediating or resolving local disputes should also steer clear of the language of NIMBY and engage with the diversity and complexity of local concerns and interests.
Green electricity tariffs are one means by which green consumers can contribute to a more sustainable future. This paper profiles potential adopters of green electricity tariffs. Potential adoption is measured in terms of respondents' willingness to pay a premium for green energy in a national survey of the UK population. Hypotheses based principally on the cognitive–behavioural literature on green consumerism and green energy markets are developed. These are tested using a broad range of variables, which are grouped into three categories (demographic, attitudinal and behavioural). Consistent with past research, the empirical analyses find that attitudinal variables best characterize potential adopters. Further, potential adopters are found to have higher income, be better informed with respect to energy matters, show concern for the environment and believe that individual actions can make a difference to environmental decay. The implications of these findings for marketing and environmental policy are explored. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.
Public opinion polls show that the American public strongly supports the development of wind power as an alternative to fossil fuels. Yet when specific wind farm proposals are made, they often meet local opposition, which is usually described as Nimby ("not-in-my-backyard") opposition. We examine public toward wind power in depth using an internet survey. Instead of only asking about support for wind power, we investigate how people respond to advantages and disadvantages of wind power. Our data show that questions asked in national surveys about proposals such as wind farms exaggerate the support for wind farms because the answers are typically superficial, top-of-the-head responses. When people think about the advantages and disadvantages of wind farms, as they would if a wind farm were proposed for their community, their support diminishes. Therefore, to explain NIMBY effects, researchers must look at both local and national opinion.