IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v128y2019icp954-966.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Onshore wind and the likelihood of planning acceptance: Learning from a Great Britain context

Author

Listed:
  • Harper, Michael
  • Anderson, Ben
  • James, Patrick A.B.
  • Bahaj, AbuBakr S.

Abstract

Geospatial modelling is extensively used to identify suitable sites for the installation of onshore wind turbines, with the starting point being the estimate of exploitable resource. However, there are concerns that such approaches do not accurately consider the social issues surrounding such projects, resulting in large numbers of projects subsequently being rejected at the planning permission stage. Using the location of 1721 historic wind turbine planning applications in Great Britain, this paper explores whether the planning success of proposed wind turbine projects can be better predicted using a range of geospatial, social and political parameters. The results indicate that the size of the project, local demographics and the proximity to existing wind turbines are key influences affecting planning approval. The paper demonstrates that quantitatively linking local social and political data enhances the prediction of the planning outcome of wind turbine proposals, and highlights that geospatial parameters are necessary but in isolation, not sufficient for assessing the suitability of potential sites. These results also suggest that national policy is restricting the development of onshore wind energy in regions which appear generally supportive of wind energy.

Suggested Citation

  • Harper, Michael & Anderson, Ben & James, Patrick A.B. & Bahaj, AbuBakr S., 2019. "Onshore wind and the likelihood of planning acceptance: Learning from a Great Britain context," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 954-966.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:128:y:2019:i:c:p:954-966
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2019.01.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421519300023
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.01.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Janke, Jason R., 2010. "Multicriteria GIS modeling of wind and solar farms in Colorado," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 2228-2234.
    2. Peter Strachan & David Lal, 2004. "Wind Energy Policy, Planning and Management Practice in the UK: Hot Air or a Gathering Storm?," Regional Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(5), pages 549-569.
    3. Engeland, Kolbjørn & Borga, Marco & Creutin, Jean-Dominique & François, Baptiste & Ramos, Maria-Helena & Vidal, Jean-Philippe, 2017. "Space-time variability of climate variables and intermittent renewable electricity production – A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 600-617.
    4. Eltham, Douglas C. & Harrison, Gareth P. & Allen, Simon J., 2008. "Change in public attitudes towards a Cornish wind farm: Implications for planning," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(1), pages 23-33, January.
    5. Wustenhagen, Rolf & Wolsink, Maarten & Burer, Mary Jean, 2007. "Social acceptance of renewable energy innovation: An introduction to the concept," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2683-2691, May.
    6. Charles Warren & Carolyn Lumsden & Simone O'Dowd & Richard Birnie, 2005. "'Green On Green': Public perceptions of wind power in Scotland and Ireland," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(6), pages 853-875.
    7. van Haaren, Rob & Fthenakis, Vasilis, 2011. "GIS-based wind farm site selection using spatial multi-criteria analysis (SMCA): Evaluating the case for New York State," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(7), pages 3332-3340, September.
    8. Sonnberger, Marco & Ruddat, Michael, 2017. "Local and socio-political acceptance of wind farms in Germany," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 56-65.
    9. Atici, Kazim Baris & Simsek, Ahmet Bahadir & Ulucan, Aydin & Tosun, Mustafa Umur, 2015. "A GIS-based Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis approach for wind power plant site selection," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 86-96.
    10. Gass, Viktoria & Schmidt, Johannes & Strauss, Franziska & Schmid, Erwin, 2013. "Assessing the economic wind power potential in Austria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 323-330.
    11. Jones, Christopher R. & Orr, Barry J. & Eiser, J. Richard, 2011. "When is enough, enough? Identifying predictors of capacity estimates for onshore wind-power development in a region of the UK," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(8), pages 4563-4577, August.
    12. Gigović, Ljubomir & Pamučar, Dragan & Božanić, Darko & Ljubojević, Srđan, 2017. "Application of the GIS-DANP-MABAC multi-criteria model for selecting the location of wind farms: A case study of Vojvodina, Serbia," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 501-521.
    13. Kazak, Jan & van Hoof, Joost & Szewranski, Szymon, 2017. "Challenges in the wind turbines location process in Central Europe – The use of spatial decision support systems," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 425-433.
    14. Wolsink, Maarten, 2000. "Wind power and the NIMBY-myth: institutional capacity and the limited significance of public support," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 49-64.
    15. Lee, Amy H.I. & Chen, Hsing Hung & Kang, He-Yau, 2009. "Multi-criteria decision making on strategic selection of wind farms," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 120-126.
    16. Toke, David & Breukers, Sylvia & Wolsink, Maarten, 2008. "Wind power deployment outcomes: How can we account for the differences?," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 12(4), pages 1129-1147, May.
    17. Scherhaufer, Patrick & Höltinger, Stefan & Salak, Boris & Schauppenlehner, Thomas & Schmidt, Johannes, 2017. "Patterns of acceptance and non-acceptance within energy landscapes: A case study on wind energy expansion in Austria," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 863-870.
    18. Toke, Dave, 2005. "Explaining wind power planning outcomes:: some findings from a study in England and Wales," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 33(12), pages 1527-1539, August.
    19. Qianna Wang & Martin Mwirigi M'Ikiugu & Isami Kinoshita, 2014. "A GIS-Based Approach in Support of Spatial Planning for Renewable Energy: A Case Study of Fukushima, Japan," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-31, April.
    20. Krohn, Søren & Damborg, Steffen, 1999. "On public attitudes towards wind power," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 954-960.
    21. Baban, Serwan M.J & Parry, Tim, 2001. "Developing and applying a GIS-assisted approach to locating wind farms in the UK," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 59-71.
    22. Aydin, Nazli Yonca & Kentel, Elcin & Duzgun, Sebnem, 2010. "GIS-based environmental assessment of wind energy systems for spatial planning: A case study from Western Turkey," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 364-373, January.
    23. Jones, Christopher R. & Richard Eiser, J., 2010. "Understanding 'local' opposition to wind development in the UK: How big is a backyard?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 3106-3117, June.
    24. Langer, Katharina & Decker, Thomas & Roosen, Jutta & Menrad, Klaus, 2016. "A qualitative analysis to understand the acceptance of wind energy in Bavaria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 248-259.
    25. Voivontas, D. & Assimacopoulos, D. & Mourelatos, A. & Corominas, J., 1998. "Evaluation of Renewable Energy potential using a GIS decision support system," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 333-344.
    26. Baseer, M.A. & Rehman, S. & Meyer, J.P. & Alam, Md. Mahbub, 2017. "GIS-based site suitability analysis for wind farm development in Saudi Arabia," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 1166-1176.
    27. Meyerhoff, Jürgen & Ohl, Cornelia & Hartje, Volkmar, 2010. "Landscape externalities from onshore wind power," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 82-92, January.
    28. Ladenburg, Jacob, 2008. "Attitudes towards on-land and offshore wind power development in Denmark; choice of development strategy," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 111-118.
    29. Roddis, Philippa & Carver, Stephen & Dallimer, Martin & Norman, Paul & Ziv, Guy, 2018. "The role of community acceptance in planning outcomes for onshore wind and solar farms: An energy justice analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 226(C), pages 353-364.
    30. Ikuho Yamada & Peter Rogerson & Gyoungju Lee, 2009. "GeoSurveillance: a GIS-based system for the detection and monitoring of spatial clusters," Journal of Geographical Systems, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 155-173, June.
    31. van Rensburg, Thomas M. & Kelley, Hugh & Jeserich, Nadine, 2015. "What influences the probability of wind farm planning approval: Evidence from Ireland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 12-22.
    32. Yue, Cheng-Dar & Wang, Shi-Sian, 2006. "GIS-based evaluation of multifarious local renewable energy sources: a case study of the Chigu area of southwestern Taiwan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 730-742, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pohl, Johannes & Rudolph, David & Lyhne, Ivar & Clausen, Niels-Erik & Aaen, Sara Bjørn & Hübner, Gundula & Kørnøv, Lone & Kirkegaard, Julia K., 2021. "Annoyance of residents induced by wind turbine obstruction lights: A cross-country comparison of impact factors," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    2. José Eduardo Tafula & Constantino Dário Justo & Pedro Moura & Jérôme Mendes & Ana Soares, 2023. "Multicriteria Decision-Making Approach for Optimum Site Selection for Off-Grid Solar Photovoltaic Microgrids in Mozambique," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-41, March.
    3. Chalaye, Pierrick & Sturmberg, Bjorn & Ransan-Cooper, Hedda & Lucas-Healey, Kathryn & Russell, A. Wendy & Hendriks, Johannes & Hansen, Paula & O'Neill, Matthew & Crowfoot, Warwick & Shorten, Phil, 2023. "Does site selection need to be democratized? A case study of grid-tied microgrids in Australia," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    4. Gordon, Joel A. & Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye & Nabavi, Seyed Ali, 2022. "Beyond the triangle of renewable energy acceptance: The five dimensions of domestic hydrogen acceptance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    5. Jan K. Kazak & Joanna A. Kamińska & Rafał Madej & Marta Bochenkiewicz, 2020. "Where Renewable Energy Sources Funds are Invested? Spatial Analysis of Energy Production Potential and Public Support," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-26, October.
    6. Stephens, Siân & Robinson, Bryan Michael Kenneth, 2021. "The social license to operate in the onshore wind energy industry: A comparative case study of Scotland and South Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 148(PB).
    7. Windemer, Rebecca, 2023. "Acceptance should not be assumed. How the dynamics of social acceptance changes over time, impacting onshore wind repowering," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    8. Wątróbski, Jarosław & Bączkiewicz, Aleksandra & Sałabun, Wojciech, 2022. "New multi-criteria method for evaluation of sustainable RES management," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 324(C).
    9. Gordon, Joel A. & Balta-Ozkan, Nazmiye & Nabavi, Seyed Ali, 2023. "Socio-technical barriers to domestic hydrogen futures: Repurposing pipelines, policies, and public perceptions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 336(C).
    10. Konstantin Osintsev & Seregei Aliukov & Alexander Shishkov, 2021. "Improvement Dependability of Offshore Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbines by Applying New Mathematical Methods for Calculation the Excess Speed in Case of Wind Gusts," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-22, May.
    11. Cathal W. O’Donnell & Mahdi Ebrahimi Salari & Daniel J. Toal, 2021. "A Study on Directly Interconnected Offshore Wind Systems during Wind Gust Conditions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-16, December.
    12. Jonathan Doh & Pawan Budhwar & Geoffrey Wood, 2021. "Long-term energy transitions and international business: Concepts, theory, methods, and a research agenda," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 52(5), pages 951-970, July.
    13. Wimhurst, Joshua J. & Greene, J. Scott & Koch, Jennifer, 2023. "Predicting commercial wind farm site suitability in the conterminous United States using a logistic regression model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 352(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zerrahn, Alexander, 2017. "Wind Power and Externalities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 245-260.
    2. Langer, Katharina & Decker, Thomas & Roosen, Jutta & Menrad, Klaus, 2016. "A qualitative analysis to understand the acceptance of wind energy in Bavaria," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 248-259.
    3. van Rensburg, Thomas M. & Kelley, Hugh & Jeserich, Nadine, 2015. "What influences the probability of wind farm planning approval: Evidence from Ireland," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 12-22.
    4. Simón, Xavier & Copena, Damián & Montero, María, 2019. "Strong wind development with no community participation. The case of Galicia (1995–2009)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 133(C).
    5. Ladenburg, Jacob & Termansen, Mette & Hasler, Berit, 2013. "Assessing acceptability of two onshore wind power development schemes: A test of viewshed effects and the cumulative effects of wind turbines," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 45-54.
    6. Slattery, Michael C. & Johnson, Becky L. & Swofford, Jeffrey A. & Pasqualetti, Martin J., 2012. "The predominance of economic development in the support for large-scale wind farms in the U.S. Great Plains," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(6), pages 3690-3701.
    7. Asadi, Meysam & Pourhossein, Kazem, 2021. "Wind farm site selection considering turbulence intensity," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    8. Peri, Erez & Tal, Alon, 2020. "A sustainable way forward for wind power: Assessing turbines’ environmental impacts using a holistic GIS analysis," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    9. Rahim Moltames & Mohammad Sajad Naghavi & Mahyar Silakhori & Younes Noorollahi & Hossein Yousefi & Mostafa Hajiaghaei-Keshteli & Behzad Azizimehr, 2022. "Multi-Criteria Decision Methods for Selecting a Wind Farm Site Using a Geographic Information System (GIS)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(22), pages 1-19, November.
    10. Langer, Katharina & Decker, Thomas & Menrad, Klaus, 2017. "Public participation in wind energy projects located in Germany: Which form of participation is the key to acceptance?," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 63-73.
    11. Yasir Ahmed Solangi & Qingmei Tan & Muhammad Waris Ali Khan & Nayyar Hussain Mirjat & Ifzal Ahmed, 2018. "The Selection of Wind Power Project Location in the Southeastern Corridor of Pakistan: A Factor Analysis, AHP, and Fuzzy-TOPSIS Application," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(8), pages 1-26, July.
    12. Zerrahn, Alexander & Krekel, Christian, 2015. "Sowing the Wind and Reaping the Whirlwind? The Effect of Wind Turbines on Residential Well-Being," VfS Annual Conference 2015 (Muenster): Economic Development - Theory and Policy 112956, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    13. Kontogianni, A. & Tourkolias, Ch. & Skourtos, M. & Damigos, D., 2014. "Planning globally, protesting locally: Patterns in community perceptions towards the installation of wind farms," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 170-177.
    14. Sofia Spyridonidou & Dimitra G. Vagiona, 2020. "Systematic Review of Site-Selection Processes in Onshore and Offshore Wind Energy Research," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-26, November.
    15. Jones, Christopher R. & Richard Eiser, J., 2010. "Understanding 'local' opposition to wind development in the UK: How big is a backyard?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 3106-3117, June.
    16. Carlisle, Juliet E. & Kane, Stephanie L. & Solan, David & Bowman, Madelaine & Joe, Jeffrey C., 2015. "Public attitudes regarding large-scale solar energy development in the U.S," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 835-847.
    17. Pilar Díaz-Cuevas, 2018. "GIS-Based Methodology for Evaluating the Wind-Energy Potential of Territories: A Case Study from Andalusia (Spain)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(10), pages 1-16, October.
    18. Strazzera, Elisabetta & Mura, Marina & Contu, Davide, 2012. "Combining choice experiments with psychometric scales to assess the social acceptability of wind energy projects: A latent class approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 334-347.
    19. Windemer, Rebecca, 2023. "Acceptance should not be assumed. How the dynamics of social acceptance changes over time, impacting onshore wind repowering," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    20. Swofford, Jeffrey & Slattery, Michael, 2010. "Public attitudes of wind energy in Texas: Local communities in close proximity to wind farms and their effect on decision-making," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(5), pages 2508-2519, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:128:y:2019:i:c:p:954-966. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/enpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.