Wind Power And Public Engagement

Cover
Half Title
Series Page
Title Page
Copyright Page
Table of Contents
List of figures
List of tables
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1: Citizens and renewable energy: determinants of civic engagement
Community social acceptability of wind energy
Policy research context: energy policy in the United Kingdom
Renewable energy and the future electricity system
Citizenship policy
Citizenship
Citizenship, the environment and energy
Citizenship and pro-environmental behaviours
Theoretical approaches to civic engagement
Rational choice models
General incentives rational action model
Participation chain model
A rational choice model for environmental collective activism
Justice-based models
Socio-psychological models
Final remarks about the theories of civic engagement considered
Citizen participation in the context of sustainable energy developments
Environmentally responsible behaviour and its determinants
Final remarks about the literature on environmentally responsible behaviour
References
Chapter 2: Wind energy acceptability—what, how and when: all the variables at stake
Opposition to wind energy
Perceived local impacts
Attitudinal factors
Perceived local costs and benefits
Place attachment
Environmental attitudes
Perceived non-local costs and benefits
Environmental factors of local relevance
Personal resources
Knowledge about wind energy
Affluence/deprivation
Education
Proximity of residence and time of survey
Contextual factors
Procedural justice
Trust towards the proponents
Types of community benefits
Community benefits and social acceptability of renewable energy
The co-operative model of local ownership
Non-co-operative local ownership investment schemes
The case for co-operatives, producers of green electricity
A proposed framework of participation in green electricity co-operatives
References
Chapter 3: Testing the theory: methods and data collection
Research questions
Research design
First study
Second study
Notes
References
Chapter 4: The first community-owned co-operative in the UK: lessons from Westmill Wind Farm
Citizenship, environmental citizenship, responsibilities and rights
Citizenship
Citizenship at different geographical levels and conflict
Local citizenship, place attachment and place identity
The co-operative model
Community owned or potentially divisive?
Compensation
Are wind farms a "high-cost situation"?
Costs and benefits in the Westmill case
Noise pollution, a health cost?
Distress originated by the wind farm's visual impact—a possible health cost?
Economic cost: the possible devaluation of property
Economic benefits: the revenue available to co-operative members and free services for the local community
Socio-economic status
Pro-environmental attitudes and values: avoiding cognitive dissonance
Networks in competition: using communication to magnify costs or benefits
NIMBYism, an outdated concept to define opposition
Conclusions from the qualitative study
Notes
References
Chapter 5: A survey of four Scottish proposed wind farms
Personal resources and demographic variables
Response rate per site
Education
Income
Knowledge about wind energy
Community scheme awareness
Awareness and opinion about the locally proposed wind farm
Opinion about the locally proposed wind farm
Attitudinal factors
Environmental citizenship
Pro-environmental attitudes vs pro-economy attitudes
Place attachment
Perceived local costs and benefits
Health impact
Climate change impact
Visual impact
Impact on the local economy
Impact on property prices
Impact on local tourism
Noise impact
Cost of electricity
Dependency on foreign fuels
Contextual factors
Trust and procedural fairness
Information
The co-operative model
Bivariate correlations
Statistical tests used to assess correlations
Personal resources and demographic variables
Attitudinal factors
The "benefitscostsvalue" scale
Environmental citizenship
Pro-environmental attitudes vs pro-economy attitudes
Place attachment
Contextual factors
Summary table of correlations
Multivariate analysis
Factors influencing acceptability of wind farms
Factors influencing opinions about the co-operative model
Factors influencing the decision to invest in a co-operative wind farm
Final remarks
Notes
References
Chapter 6: A theory of social acceptability of wind farms: finding a place for the co-operative model
Can an integrated rational choice and attitudes framework explain acceptability of wind farms?
The low-cost hypothesis
Perceived costs and benefits
Attitudinal variables
Contextual factors
The co-operative model
Personal resources
Final remarks
Policy considerations
References
Conclusions
References
Appendix A: the postal survey questionnaire
Appendix B: the qualitative study interview guide
Interview guide
Warm-up question
I – Responsibility, citizenship, participation
II – Community involvement, social–enterprises/co–operatives and wind farms
III – Wind farm opposition and community owned co–operative schemes
Untitled
Index