Overcoming Barriers to the Community Acceptance of Wind Energy: Lessons Learnt from a Comparative Analysis of Best Practice Cases across Europe

Maleki-Dizaji, Pouyan; Bufalo, Nicoletta del; Nucci, Maria Rosaria Di; Krug, Michael

doi:10.3390/su12093562

Cited by 29 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 11 publications

(15 reference statements)

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“…Municipalities should be strengthened in using this instrument. They should have access to respective advisory services [116,120] which could be linked to existing offers, developed by organizations with a high level of expertise, such as the German Competence Center for Nature Conservation and Energy or the Specialist Agency for Onshore Wind Energy.…”

Section: Decision Makingmentioning

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: Decision Makingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Maleki-Dizaji et al [120] have shown that financial participation that contributes to the creation of regional or local added value is one of the most common success factors for community acceptance. This finding is directly in line with our results.…”

Section: Increased Local Added Valuementioning

confidence: 99%

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

2022

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“…The larger size of the new projects, their physical impacts on the environment and biodiversity, their proximity to residential areas, and the lack of consultation and involvement of the local communities have contributed to eroding the support for, and acceptance of, renewable energies in Germany (Leiren et al 2020). This has generated a lack of trust, becoming a barrier to the success of new projects (Maleki-Dizaji et al 2020). Recently, Germany has again modified its Renewable Energy Act (EEG), aiming to improve the level of acceptance of renewable energy projects by citizens.…”

Section: The Pioneers: Denmark and Germanymentioning

confidence: 99%

Community Renewable Energy Projects: The Future of the Sustainable Energy Transition?

Fernández

2021

The International Spectator

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The Energy Union and the European Green Deal advocate the participation of citizens and communities in the energy transition, which encourages a bottom-up approach in the implementation of sustainable energy initiatives. Both are in tune with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals, which attempt to involve all members of society in the sustainability path. The reality in EU member states, however, is that community energy still lacks the necessary regulatory framework to compete with large utility companies. This may indicate that the governance framework is lagging behind, still not ready to include communities (collective citizens) as full participants in the energy transition. KEYWORDS citizens' ownership; community renewable energy; co-operatives; energy citizenship; sustainable energy transitionThe European Green Deal (EGD) claims to be "for the E[uropean] U[nion] and its citizens", as well as a "transition" that should be "just and inclusive" (EC 2019a, 2). This wording is important, as it is trying to address, in a post-Brexit and Eurosceptic context, the issues related to the democratic deficit, legitimacy and citizenship in the EU, which the Treaty of Lisbon attempted to correct in 2007, but still have been widely highlighted in the literature for many years (for example Katz 2001).An important element of the sustainable transition is that of energy systems. In the EU, environmental protection, sustainability or climate change are approached in a more integrative manner, since they are generally accepted as issues that need to be globally addressed, and enjoy wide (and increasing) public support (EC 2019b). These topics have been on the political agenda of the EU for decades: environmental policies have been in place since the 1960s, with diverse attempts to integrate said policies with energy-related ones (see, for example, Dupont and Primova 2011). Energy policy, however, has traditionally been a very complex area for the EU (Herranz-Surrallés et al. 2020; IEA 2020). Numerous regulatory changes have failed to achieve enough market integration and liberalisation to bring down the cost of energy for consumers.The purpose of this article is to address the question: What are the drivers and barriers for the implementation and success of community renewable energy projects in the EU? It aims to inform the debate about the role of these actors in a sustainable energy transition as part of an overall sustainable transition in Europe.

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“…] this democratization of energy will alleviate energy poverty and protect vulnerable citizens" (European Commission, 2019, p. 12). Much of previous research on social and economic benefits of community energy projects has focused on their impact on renewables growth (Caramizaru and Uihlein, 2020;Verde and Rossetto, 2021), public acceptance (Fast, 2013;De Luca et al, 2020;Maleki-Dizaji et al, 2020) or regional economic development (Callaghan and Williams, 2014;Kunze and Becker, 2014;Gancheva et al, 2018). To date, there is little empirical research on the potential of renewable electricity-producing community energy projects to protect and benefit vulnerable consumers and alleviate energy poverty, particularly in the German energy policy context.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

To what extent can community energy mitigate energy poverty in Germany?

Bode

2022

Front. Sustain. Cities

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The reduction of energy poverty and the expansion of citizen-led community energy projects are two important issues for a just energy transition in the European Union. While some socio-economic aspects of community energy are well researched, there is a dearth of literature on its potential to include vulnerable households and eventually reduce the risk of energy poverty. Through the lens of energy vulnerability thinking, this paper examines current and future drivers of energy poverty in Germany, as well as factors that may limit or facilitate the inclusion of vulnerable consumers in community energy. It draws on previous studies and on 12 semi-structured interviews conducted in the Summer of 2021 with experts in the fields of energy poverty or community energy. Using a three-tenet conceptualization of energy justice, the article argues that community energy projects can mitigate energy poverty in Germany by providing affordable renewable electricity to vulnerable and energy-poor consumers, as well as by establishing fair procedures that consider various vulnerability contexts. Yet, deep-rooted distributional injustices in housing and social transfer schemes that drive energy poverty are likely to remain. In order to advance energy justice, community energy projects hinge on a collaborative multi-level and multi-actor environment.

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Overcoming Barriers to the Community Acceptance of Wind Energy: Lessons Learnt from a Comparative Analysis of Best Practice Cases across Europe

Cited by 29 publications

References 11 publications

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

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

Community Renewable Energy Projects: The Future of the Sustainable Energy Transition?

To what extent can community energy mitigate energy poverty in Germany?

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