Renewable Energy, Authenticity, and Tourism: Social Acceptance of Photovoltaic Installations in a Swiss Alpine Region

Abstract

Open access article: please credit the authors and the full source.With the increasing emergence of renewable energy sites in Switzerland, new impacts on the landscape can be observed. Above the Alpine village of Bellwald, a pilot project testing avalanche barriers as a possible site for photovoltaic installations was inaugurated in 2012. This study focused on social aspects of the project and asked questions about local residents' and tourists' perceptions of and attitudes toward the installations. Its findings reveal that the new elements are not perceived as a drastic intrusion into the landscape, because the view was already affected by the avalanche barriers, which are accepted because of their vital protective function. No significant difference was found between residents' and tourists' evaluation of the new photovoltaic installations. However, different factors influenced the perceptions of these 2 groups. In both groups, conceptions related to place played an important role in the evaluation of possible photovoltaic sites.

Drivers and risks for renewable energy developments in mountain regions: a case of a pilot photovoltaic project in the Swiss Alps

“…Consensus statements also indicate that a lack of perceived environmental impact was a driver of support of the project proposal. This result matches previous studies that indicated that environmental impacts are not a barrier for the development of PV in mountain regions [63]. Overall, the drivers highlight the importance of understanding the project's regional context to plan a successful implementation.…”

“…However, development of projects in remote regions incur higher costs due to the more extreme conditions and higher exposure to natural hazards. To circumvent this, PV projects on avalanche protections are considered in Switzerland, as these can take advantage of existing infrastructure [63]. One such proposal emerged in St. Antönien, a village of 370 inhabitants in canton Graubünden in the east of Switzerland.…”

Co-production in distributed generation: renewable energy and creating space for fitting infrastructure within landscapes

“…This emerging microgrid-based on collective ownership, multifunctional use of space, and integration in the built environment-reduces landscape impact and enhances community acceptance. similarly, Figure 4(B) shows the integration of solar panels in avalanche barriers around slopes for winter sports (Michel, Buchecker, & Backhaus, 2015). The infrastructure fits well with the landscape, which has already been adapted for tourism.…”

The Implications of Urbanization for Inhabitants’ Relationship to Their Residential Environment

“…People's relationship to places have been conceptualised with different constructs, such as sense of place [31,32], place identity [33,34] or place attachment [14,24]. To measure associations between people-place relationships and other societal phenomena such as risk perception [35], attitudes towards renewable energy projects [26,36] or sustainable behaviour [14,37], established scales of place attachment are most commonly used. Like other people-place relationship concepts, a common understanding or definition of place attachment is missing [21].…”