Patterns of acceptance and non-acceptance within energy landscapes: A case study on wind energy expansion in Austria

Scherhaufer, Patrick; Höltinger, Stefan; Šalak, Boris; Schauppenlehner, Thomas; Schmidt, Johannes

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2017.05.057

Cited by 86 publications

(34 citation statements)

References 32 publications

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“…Wind power can contribute to the protection of global climate due to a reduction of carbon emissions of fossil fuels. Wind power development is controversially discussed in many countries and often leads to local conflicts between proponents and opponents of projects (e.g., Colvin, Bradd Witt, & Lacey, 2016;Scherhaufer, Höltinger, Salak, Schauppenlehner, & Schmidt, 2017;Warren, Lumsdon, O'Dowd, & Birnie, 2005). Important arguments against wind power are their visual impact on landscapes, bird and bat strikes on turbines and negative impacts on other wildlife, noise pollution, and few local economic benefits (Warren et al, 2005).…”

Section: Wind Power Conflictsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, most planned wind power projects face organized opposition and protests (Klick & Smith, 2010). Wind power conflicts are caused by a complex combination of various factors, including individual and collective preferences (Scherhaufer et al, 2017). The distribution of benefits and burdens of wind power projects impacts the perceptions of justice in wind power governance (Liljenfeldt & Pettersson, 2017).…”

Section: Wind Power Conflictsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Actor perceptions of polycentricity in wind power governance

2018

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Wind power development as an alternative to fossil fuels or nuclear energy is currently a challenge for many countries. Wind power development often leads to conflicts between different actors. This case study examines conflict about wind power projects in forested landscapes in Rhineland‐Palatinate, Germany, and Maine, USA. Specifically, actor perspectives on polycentric governance and its legitimacy to manage such complex conflicts were evaluated based on 40 qualitative, semistructured interviews with actors engaged in wind power decisions from various sectors. Polycentric governance has been advocated by many to alleviate conflicts and arrive at sustainable solutions in complex resource management settings. Polycentric governance systems of wind power issues were regarded positively and considered as having high legitimacy by interview participants. Even though individuals had varied perceptions, the combined perceptions of the two polycentric systems in Rhineland‐Palatinate and Maine and the factors that constitute legitimacy in wind power governance were similar in both cases.

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Section: Wind Power Conflictsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Wind Power Conflictsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Actor perceptions of polycentricity in wind power governance

2018

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“…Perceived benefits positively affect acceptance rates. On the other hand, concerns regarding environmental impacts are predictors for low acceptance; these include danger for birds and bats (Sonnberger and Ruddat 2017), negative effects on wildlife (Groth and Vogt 2014;Scherhaufer et al 2017) and negative effects of the construction on the local environment (land use, use of concrete and steel, road infrastructure and transmission lines). Based on their review of North American studies, Rand and Hoen (2017) assume that environmental concerns do matter, but perhaps less than other factors.…”

Section: Theoretical Background: Public Acceptance Of Wind Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Apart from direct negative effects on human ecology (Scherhaufer et al 2017) people might simply be annoyed by a wind farm that spoils the landscape character, causes visual intrusions (D'Souza and Yiridoe 2014), reduces the quality of the recreational area (Broekel and Alfken 2015;Frantál and Kunc 2011) and on top of that generates unpleasant noise. Rand and Hoen (2017) found in their review that sound and visual impacts strongly tie to annoyance and in further consequence opposition.…”

Section: Theoretical Background: Public Acceptance Of Wind Powermentioning

confidence: 99%

Not in my hiking trail? Acceptance of wind farms in the Austrian Alps

Brudermann

Zaman

Posch

2019

Clean Techn Environ Policy

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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. Graphic abstractElectronic supplementary material The online version of this article (https ://doi.org/10.

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“…Kitzinger (1994) notes that focus groups are a particularly useful method for prioritizing respondent's worldviews and language above those of the researcher. The benefits of utilizing this method is that it is a a cost-effective strategy for capturing multiple viewpoints and has been used in the study of wind energy projects to assess patterns of acceptance in energy landscapes (Scherhaufer, et al, 2017). Beyond the efficiency of reaching multiple stakeholders in a single data-collection session, however, focus groups have the added benefit of generating a different kind of data.…”

Section: Focus Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The social dynamics of turbine tourism and recreation: Introducing a mixed-method approach to the study of the first U.S. offshore wind farm

Smith

Smythe

Moore

et al. 2018

Energy Research & Social Science

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Understanding the complex dynamics that influence energy transitions requires mixed methods and collaborations among researchers, resource managers, and communities. This essay details how an interdisciplinary team of researchers used a mixed-method approach to study the social dimensions of tourism and recreation as they relate to the first offshore wind farm in the United States, the Block Island Wind Farm. Although impacts to tourism from wind energy systems are widely cited as a concern by communities and policymakers, little work has sought to define what constitutes tourism and recreation impacts or provided empirical evidence of impacts from operating projects. Researchers adopted an iterative approach to research that combined discrete studies using media content analysis, ethnographic participant observation, and stakeholder focus groups, to understand the social effects of the wind farm on the tourism and recreation experience and the quality of life in Block Island and coastal Rhode Island. We detail key insights from our experimentation with an iterative mixed-method approach at Block Island and offer lessons for future studies using collaborative approaches to understand both the tangible and the intangible social dynamics of energy system transitions.

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Patterns of acceptance and non-acceptance within energy landscapes: A case study on wind energy expansion in Austria

Cited by 86 publications

References 32 publications

Actor perceptions of polycentricity in wind power governance

Actor perceptions of polycentricity in wind power governance

Not in my hiking trail? Acceptance of wind farms in the Austrian Alps

The social dynamics of turbine tourism and recreation: Introducing a mixed-method approach to the study of the first U.S. offshore wind farm

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