The Social Acceptance of Airborne Wind Energy: A Literature Review

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Abstract

Airborne wind energy (AWE) systems use tethered flying devices to harvest higher-altitude winds to produce electricity. For the success of the technology, it is crucial to understand how people perceive and respond to it. If concerns about the technology are not taken seriously, it could delay or prevent implementation, resulting in increased costs for project developers and a lower contribution to renewable energy targets. This literature review assessed the current state of knowledge on the social acceptance of AWE. A systematic literature search led to the identification of 40 relevant publications that were reviewed. The literature expected that the safety, visibility, acoustic emissions, ecological impacts, and the siting of AWE systems impact to which extent the technology will be accepted. The reviewed literature viewed the social acceptance of AWE optimistically but lacked scientific evidence to back up its claims. It seemed to overlook the fact that the impact of AWE’s characteristics (e.g., visibility) on people’s responses will also depend on a range of situational and psychological factors (e.g., the planning process, the community’s trust in project developers). Therefore, empirical social science research is needed to increase the field’s understanding of the acceptance of AWE and thereby facilitate development and deployment.
Original languageEnglish
Article number1384
Number of pages26
JournalEnergies
Volume15
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

Keywords

  • airborne wind energy
  • opposition
  • perception
  • acceptability
  • acceptance
  • renewable energy

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  • NEON: New Energy Outlook for the Netherlands

    Alkemade, F., Bauer, P., Qin, Z., Chandra Mouli, G. R., Yadav, S., Schmehl, R., Hoekstra, A., Chandra Mouli, G. R., Creatore, A., Renes, R. J., Steinbuch, M., Lurkin, V., Rasouli, S., Bonnema, M., van de Coevering, P., Wijnands, K., Roes, M., van Gool, P., Diercks, G., Bekkers, R., Lavrijssen, S., Hofman , T., Loorbach, D., van Lelyveld , M., Sanaz Kaschny, L., Loomans, N., Silvas, E., Van Woensel, T., Salazar, M., Labee , P., Buchel , S., Beemer , E., Pereira Marca , Y., Joshi, R., Rosero Abad , R. A., Clemente , M., Borsboom , O., Choi , Y., Kiemen , M., Schmidt, H. S., Eijkelhof, D., Maharjan , P., van Druten, E., El Feiaz , A., Paparella , F., Yadav, S., Siadati , S., Khaleghparast , S., Tamis , M., Shekhar , S., Hanselaar , C., Damianakis, N., Aria , D., Reyes Dreke , V., Gong , S., Pouresmaeil , K., Mukherjee , K., de Vries, G., Stolle, K. & Leferink, T.

    1/11/2031/10/24

    Project: Research

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