Back     Latest news from Green Building Press    Subscribe to our newsletter

Renewable Energy? "Not in My Back Yard!"

Posted: 31/10/2005

University energy experts are showcasing a three year study to investigate "NIMBY" attitudes towards renewable energy at the UK's first ever energy research summit tomorrow. The research will look at factors influencing the "Not In My Back Yard" response to renewable energy technologies such as onshore and offshore wind turbines, biomass power plant, large-scale solar panels and prototype ocean technologies.

The Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), as part of the Research Council's energy programme, has awarded £500k to support the research project. Entitled "Beyond "NIMBYism": a multidisciplinary investigation of public engagement with renewable energy technologies", will be undertaken at De Montfort University's Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development(IESD), as part of a team including researchers at Lancaster, Loughborough, Northumbria and Surrey Universities.

Eight investigators from different disciplines will work on increasing
understanding of local resistance and consent to individual schemes, the ways in which public engagement is structured and practised in the UK, and how it shapes public perceptions.

The Government's Energy White Paper (2003) contained ambitious goals for decarbonising the UK economy, including increasing development of renewable energy technologies to provide 10% of UK electricity supply by 2010, and 20% by 2020 to facilitate a step change in carbon emissions reduction by 2050.

Principal Investigator for the research, Dr Patrick Devine-Wright, an environmental psychologist of De Montfort University's IESD, said: "To have any chance of meeting these targets, we need to better understand the reasons why renewable energy projects in the UK frequently lead to local controversy and antagonism between members of the public and other stakeholders including developers, local authorities and regional bodies.

"It's crucial that the UK develops a sophisticated understanding of public responses to renewable energy technologies. Currently, the most popular way of thinking is the "NIMBY" concept, and we want to investigate what impact it has had upon pathways of development of different renewable energy technologies. The significance of issues of public acceptability, including public perception and engagement, are increasingly recognised by policy makers, the research community and other stakeholders as a vital part of technology development.

"But whilst recent planning guidance recommends consultation with members of the public in the early phases of development, developers are unsure how to proceed, as it is often suspected that informing people earlier just gives them more time to resist unwanted development. Through systematic, multi-disciplinary research and case studies of public engagement in renewable energy projects, this research will enable us to better understand the determinants of public perceptions, manage uncertainty in renewables development, and help contribute to government targets for increasing the amount of electricity generated by renewable energy resources."

The project aims to produce novel insights into how public engagement in renewable energy development is currently practised in the UK, as well as a framework to guide future public engagement practice which will be disseminated to a range of stakeholders including industry, policy makers, advocacy groups and the public through a project website and publications.

Green Building Press  
 

Back     Latest news from Green Building Press    Subscribe to our newsletter

1028