The main focus of the paper is the investigation of the social potential of local renewable energy utilization in a rural peripheral region in Hungary. Public acceptance of biomass-based renewable energy sources can be crucial for rural communities in realization of their sustainable development strategy. The research area was Koppany Valley Natur Park 2000, a microregion of 10 settlements located in the South Transdanubian region. This microregion is characterized by poor and depressive socioeconomic and demographical conditions, despite its significant natural resources. The microregion’s complex development strategy includes the utilization of local resources of renewable energy. Local population survey (n = 310) was conducted (in May 2018) on local biomass potential, knowledge, and attitudes of the local stakeholders in the microregion. Multinomial logistic regression model estimates the acceptance of population, explanatory variables are categorical demographical (personal) factors and specific factors (based on answers of respondents). Trust in local authorities, knowledge on biomass in general and on specific technologies, as well as the education level of rural inhabitants are significant factors in supporting biomass plant establishment. Further, the group and characteristics of acceptance groups that the local development strategy may consider were defined.
Within Hungary, the Koppányvölgye rural area was chosen due to its unique natural circumstances with its broad green nature, concerning the inhabitants’ habit for the usage and knowledge of renewable energy for residential heating. Through quota-based sampling method we collected the demographic, social and economic variables to examine their level of influence on wood for residential heating usage. We received the Likert scale values through the questionnaire, which had to be recoded for the binomial logistic regression model that we chose to use because of the indicator variable’s trait, and in aim to examine the explanatory variables’ significance. As a result, for the wood indicator variable, the age of the respondent turned out to be a significant variable, the higher age compared to lower age is a chance decreasing category for wood usage, employed compared to unemployed increased the likelihood, thereby rejected the energy ladder phenomenon, as well as more people in one household increased the chance for wood usage. The higher education, environmental awareness and insulation level of a house turned out to be non-significant for wood usage. Therefore, we strengthened those statements from the earlier studies, that in this rural region, the change of the residential heating technology is more likely to be supply driven than demand driven.
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