Energy Democracy and Participation in Energy Transitions

Fraune, Cornelia

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-43250-8_45

Cited by 1 publication

(3 citation statements)

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“…They feared high costs, negative impacts on health (subsonic noise, shadows, red light), impacts on nature and species protection To increase local economic benefit, the municipality decided to operate the wind turbines itself. 6 With a minimum share of 5,000 euros, citizens of Berg and neighboring communities were able to invest directly in the wind park. Local investors were preferred in the allocation of shares [34,40,49,50].…”

Section: Distributive Justice: Cost/benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, there were also concerns about adverse effects on health from shadows, subsonic noise, 5 Several interviewees stated that the mayor of Berger personally faced the critical questions of the neighboring community comprehensively [interviews #5 of 23.02.21, #13 of 27.04.21]. 6 The municipality founded the company "Bürgerwind Berg GmbH". [59,63,64].…”

Section: City Of Brake Lower Saxonymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, while this varies among German states, municipalities generally have little discretion over siting decisions governing wind turbines. In addition to the limited scope of decision making at the municipal level, further challenges include conflicting goals between climate and environmental protection, biodiversity and land use, as well as distribution of social costs and benefits [6][7][8]. The classification and evaluation of these conflicts is often based on different personal normative beliefs and values with regard to the energy transition.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Trade-offs in German wind energy expansion: building bridges between different interests, values and priorities

2022

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Background: To achieve climate targets, a transition to low-carbon energy production is necessary. However, conflicts between different interests, values and priorities, particularly at the community level, can constrain this transition. This paper aims to analyze lines of conflict and opportunities to build bridges between conflicting interests in the expansion of wind energy in Germany at the local level, to achieve successful implementation of wind energy projects.Results: Our analysis of four cases of local-level wind energy projects in Germany shows that limited local options for action reinforce the need for local actors to maximize the benefits of energy transition projects. In addition to the conflict over scarce space, the lines of conflict at the local level run primarily along the dimensions of costs and benefits, winners and losers. Real or perceived procedural and distributive injustices had the potential to fuel resistance to wind energy projects in the analyzed cases. However, wind energy projects were successfully implemented despite the presence of local opposition. Conclusions:The results show that, by integrating procedural and distributive justice into the project planning and implementation and offering tailored solutions, community support for expansion of renewable energy projects can be enhanced. The paper advances the concept of societal ownership ("gesellschaftliche Trägerschaft"), which suggests the willingness of members of a community to tolerate decisions even when some conflicts related to the decision remain unresolved. Societal ownership is presented as an alternative to the concept of simple acceptance; it implies a more positive, more supportive community attitude, where members aim to address conflict as a normal aspect of decision making. Rather than sweeping alternative opinions aside, the community addresses alternative viewpoints, seeking to achieve greater procedural and distributive justice. In this way, a sense of societal ownership of a project can develop, enhancing its likelihood of success.

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Section: Distributive Justice: Cost/benefitsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: City Of Brake Lower Saxonymentioning

confidence: 99%