Public Understanding and Attitude towards Renewable Energy - Literature review Example

The negative effect of climate change is the reason for the increasing pressure on governments to adopt carbon free energy sources. Governments have been putting into place legislations to help in the shift towards clean and safer energy. These energy sources are expected to fill the gap of increasing demand for energy. New technologies and renewable energy sources are not only subjected to a question of cost effectiveness and reliability but also the question of public awareness and attitude remain as a puzzle. The subject of public understanding and attitude towards new technologies and renewable energy is widely established and this has been attributed to the disagreement between the attitude and acceptability. A number of studies which have been conducted in the recent past have given mixed sets of findings. Despite the fact that most of these findings have shown that new technologies and renewable energy are supported by the local communities, they face opposition when it comes to implementation (Loring, 2007; Stephenson, et al., 2009). Conflicts do normally arise during the implementation stage of these projects. The reasons given for these oppositions encompasses a range of both personal and social factors (West et al., 2010). As highlighted by Wolsink (2007), these projects face four types of oppositions during implementation. The four types of oppositions are; opposition due to self-interest, opposition due to general rejection of new technologies, opposition due to a negative attitude emanating from previous projects and opposition due to inferred weakness of the project (Wolsink, 2007). Eliminating these perceptions leading to opposition is the only way of ensuring that renewable energy sources are adopted. Furthermore, the success of a renewable energy project will depend on its acceptability at the local level (Akinwale et al., 2014). The question of awareness originate from the understanding of term ‘renewable energy’. Studies which have been conducted in the recent past have shown that renewable energy is normally associated to some specific energy sources by the public (Devine-Wright, 2007). People interviewed in most of these studies associate renewable energy to wind, hydro and solar technologies with over 70% of them being aware that they are renewable energy sources (Devine-Wright, 2007). Contrary to this, other renewable energy sources such as biomass were less recognized as renewable energy technologies (Devine-Wright, 2007). A survey done by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds in 2001 revealed that 55% of those individuals who participated in the survey had come across the term ‘renewable energy’ and many people referred to specific sources of renewable energy rather than using the term directly (Demski, 2011). In addition to this, when the respondents were asked to give one example of renewable energy, a bigger percentage mentioned wind and solar energy (Demski, 2011). It is quite clear that many people either do not understand what renewable energy is or if they understand, then they have a rough idea of what it is. Solar and wind technologies are well known to the public as renewable energy sources while little is known about biomass and other sources. As earlier mentioned, the subject of public understanding and attitude towards renewable energy technologies is well established in research. Numerous surveys have been conducted to ascertain how the public understand and view these new technologies of renewable energy. Except for a few, most of these studies have used quantitative research methodology both at the national and local levels (Devine-Wright, 2007). For those research studies which have focused on public awareness, the findings have been similar (Demski, 2011). The awareness levels of specific technologies such as solar, wind and hydro is high. For instance, the DECC (2009a) survey findings indicated that 90% of the respondents were aware of solar as a renewable energy source and this was closely followed by hydro and wind having awareness levels of 82% and 81% respectively. About 50% of the individuals who participated in the research were aware of waves and tidal energy, and geothermal energy (DECC, 2009a). Devine-Wright (2007) however refutes this claim and argues that it is wrong to assume that people are aware of the types of energy sources which can either be renewable or non-renewable. In his previous study of 2003, findings indicated some respondents believed that even the natural gas was indeed a renewable energy source (Devine-Wright, 2007). Similar to what the research by DECC (2009a) had depicted, biomass had the lowest awareness levels (Devine-Wright, 2007). Despite the underdevelopment of research on the potential reasons for the negative reaction and strong opposition by the local residents to renewable energy projects, Devine-Wright (2007) categorizes these reasons into three broad groups namely; personal, social-psychological and contextual reasons. His explanations were built on what McGowan & Sauter (2005) had earlier highlighted which only included personal and contextual reasons. Personal factors comprises of the age, social class and gender. Studies have given contradicting findings on the relationship between age and perceptions of renewable energy. For instance a study by Tranter (2011) indicated that younger Australians were less likely to oppose renewable energy projects. However, a study in the national level in the UK indicated that middle aged residents strongly opposed the establishment of these projects while the younger and older groups exhibited lesser opposition (Karlstrøm & Ryghaug, 2014). With regards to gender, studies have shown that women value the environment are less likely to oppose renewable energy projects (Karlstrøm & Ryghaug, 2014). In spite of the presence of a widely contested debate on whether these socio-demographic factors have an effect on the attitude of people towards the establishment of renewable energy projects, past studies have shown to some extent that they indeed contribute in determining the attitude of the locals towards renewable energy projects. Local residents also oppose the establishment of renewable energy projects because of psychological factors. Psychological factors causing negative reactions to renewable energy technologies by the residents include; degree of awareness, political beliefs, place attachment, perceived fairness and environmental concerns. Most of the projects have failed to initiate due to these factors. A good example of a project which has failed to initiate because of psychological factors is the Lund biogas project in southern Sweden. The project was opposed by the residents of the site in Lund because of environmental concerns such as negative effects on the landscape, effect of water and air pollution (Khan, 2006). In a similar way, the Soda mountain solar project has received sharp criticisms from the locals who argue that the project would prevent migration of birds (Environmental Leader, 2014). On their research on opposition by the public to the establishment of a biomass plant in the UK, Upham and Shackley (2006) revealed that the local residents mistrusted the developer of the project and local authorities and this in turn had an effect on the responses. In addition to this, most wind projects have been opposed by the residents because of perceived effect when they are installed. A widely discussed contextual factor is the ‘Not In My Backyard’ (NIMBY) thesis. It argues that while the public may positively support a project, they tend to oppose when it the project comes to reality nearer to their homes (Karlstrøm & Ryghaug, 2014). Even if the residents have a positive attitude towards a project, the positive attitudes tend to decline when specific projects are discussed directly and especially if it has a direct effect on their lives. This postulation has been criticised by some section of scholars for failing to put into consideration the fact that public attitudes are dynamic in nature (Bridle et al., 2013). The success of any project depends on its social acceptability at the local level. Projects which have been successful in the past are socially engrafted, benefit the local people, do not have an effect on the social, physical and cognitive structures and ensures their continuity and uses good communication and community involvement procedures (Heiskanen et al., 2007). As highlighted by Bridle et al., (2013), the opposition could be a rational reaction to individual circumstances or may emerge from misconception or lack of information. Communication is therefore a crucial factor that will ensure the people get the right information of the project. Communication helps in overcoming factors such as the NIMBY phenomenon. Residents tend to accept the establishment of a project if it directly benefits them and they are involved in that development process. Studies have concluded that ownership is a crucial aspect and therefore, to enhance public acceptance, the residents should benefit from the project and be directly involved in the planning process (Jobert, Pia, & Solveig, 2007; Lund, 2010). The Danish government initiative to enact a policy that will ensure 100% power generation from renewables is a sample case which has succeeded because of public involvement (Lund, 2010). Communication also helps in the elimination of misconceptions held by some of the residents. Misconceptions may originate from the media. Findings from a study by Webster (2012) indicated that over 51% of publications portrayed renewable energy projects negatively while only 21% portrayed these projects positively. Communication is the best tool for demystifying these myths. This can be done through media campaigns. 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