Community tensions, participation, and local development: Factors affecting the spatial embeddedness of anaerobic digestion in Poland and the Czech Republic

Abstract

AD plants are an important part of energy transition towards low-carbon rural economies in Central European countries. However, their benefits in making rural spaces more energy sustainable and energy self-sufficient are frequently questioned. In our paper, we strive to deepen our understanding of the level of embeddedness of two modes of operation of AD plants (AD on-farm, AD off-farm) in cases of Poland and the Czech Republic. We evaluate the pros and cons of both modes and assess their importance for the local rural development and energy transition through the lens of their embeddedness in the life of rural communities.Through questionnaire surveys in two municipalities (Buczek in Poland, Stonava in the Czech Republic, n=232) and a set of expert interviews (19) with local and regional stakeholders, we have found that AD plants are specific rural enterprises as they usually rely on local biomass resources and are generally more grounded in the local economy and in local social structures than other enterprises. We also discovered that both types of AD plants investigated create significant (but varied) linkages with local stakeholders. The awareness of ADs among local population is high and significantly influenced by previous visits to the AD plant. By providing jobs and organizing local events for the local population operators of AD plants create space for their deeper acceptability and their embeddedness into the life of rural communities, however, site-specificity and local socio-cultural contexts must be also considered.

Local Communities’ Energy Literacy as a Way to Rural Resilience—An Insight from Inner Peripheries

“…We widely utilise empirical analyses to trace and capture the peculiarities of rural communities' emerging environmental consciousness under the shaky and uncertain conditions of socio-cultural and economic transformation. Based on previous research and experience of the authors [39,40], a set of questions for a PAPI-type of social survey (Paperand-Pen Personal Interview) [41] was developed and tested. A total of 300 questionnaires were obtained from the population of Zławieś Wielka (older than 18 years; please see the structure of our sample in Table 2).…”

“…Conscious, structured activities related to building rural resilience require a greater focus on the local context of residents' energy awareness, i.e., using their immediate environment, which has the greatest impact on shaping their energy attitudes and behaviour [39,40].…”

“…Conscious, structured activities related to building rural resilience require a greater focus on the local context of residents' energy awareness, i.e., using their immediate environment, which has the greatest impact on shaping their energy attitudes and behaviour [39,40]. Therefore, it would be advisable to use such channels for the dissemination of knowledge on how to use energy rationally, the impact of household energy decisions on climate change, as well as the basic knowledge to carry out the financial calculations underpinning the investment decisions for energy consumers; by virtue of 'proximity', these would be the most acceptable to local residents and could have the greatest impact on their future energy choices, leading the local community toward strengthening rural power-system resilience.…”

Renewables projects in peripheries: determinants, challenges and perspectives of biogas plants – insights from Central European countries

“…In order to shed more light on the varieties of determinants, challenges and perspectives of anaerobic digestion plants in selected countries of Central Europe (Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic) and inspired by previous studies (Martinát et al, 2013(Martinát et al, , 2016Chodkowska-Miszczuk et al, 2017, 2019a, 2019bFrantál et al, 2018) we decided to employ a combination of social sciences methods so that commonalities, differences and peculiarities of individual biogas sectors could be revealed and better understood. After a robust literature retrieval was conducted, it was decided to implement surveys and semi-structured interviews as research methods.…”

The fate of socialist agricultural premises: To agricultural ‘brownfields’ and back again?

“…Both indicators are closely linked to the effects of the subvention system connected to support of energy transition, i.e. the generation of renewable energies by agriculture (Chodkowska-Miszczuk et al, 2019;Martinát et al, 2016;Van der Horst et al, 2018). A major increase of acreage is linked to the installation of large-scale on-ground photovoltaic power plants (an increase of 5.114 areas, thus, for example, some 87% of new areas of agricultural premises in České Budějovice SD).…”