Social acceptance of offshore wind energy - The role of procedural justice and trust for social acceptance of offshore wind projects on the Northeastern coast in the US
(2024) In IIIEE Master Thesis IMEM01 20241The International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics
- Abstract
- Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, such as offshore wind, is crucial to mitigating climate change. The ambitious federal targets on offshore wind set by the United States’s (US) Biden Administration will, however, increasingly impact the 129 million citizens
living within local communities in coastal regions. Achieving social acceptance is therefore critical to reaching the US’s aspirations for offshore wind and replacing fossil-fuelled electricity production. Since time is of the essence, this thesis explores how wind developers perceive and work with social acceptance, involve local communities in their planning processes (procedural justice) and build trust. Through a qualitative multiple-case study involving 11... (More) - Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, such as offshore wind, is crucial to mitigating climate change. The ambitious federal targets on offshore wind set by the United States’s (US) Biden Administration will, however, increasingly impact the 129 million citizens
living within local communities in coastal regions. Achieving social acceptance is therefore critical to reaching the US’s aspirations for offshore wind and replacing fossil-fuelled electricity production. Since time is of the essence, this thesis explores how wind developers perceive and work with social acceptance, involve local communities in their planning processes (procedural justice) and build trust. Through a qualitative multiple-case study involving 11 interviews with liaisons from three developers with a presence on the Northeast coast of the US, this thesis provides nuanced and valuable insights into social acceptance of offshore wind.
The findings indicate that developers perceive social acceptance of offshore wind as a scale ranging from opposition to acceptance and support. The studied developers’ work with social acceptance entails educating the local community and ensuring factually-centred conversations on offshore wind. Early and often community involvement, two-way communication streams, informal interactions and collaboration among developers are important to achieve social acceptance. The developers acknowledge the importance of timely community involvement in
achieving social acceptance. However, involving the community in the planning process is a balancing act weighing commercial interests, timely development of the offshore wind project and ensuring that involvement is targeted at those it matters for. Local communities have access
to the developers’ planning processes, but not through procedurally just types of involvement. Building trust with the local community is deemed critical for social acceptance. It is primarily perceived as sequentially built, initiating with trust in the liaisons and ending with trust in the offshore wind project. Discussed from a theoretical perspective, however, the findings suggest that the sequence of trust-building may benefit from being further tested. In conclusion, this thesis contributes with theoretical contributions and practical implications of social acceptance, procedural justice, and trust in the context of offshore wind on the Northeast coast of the US. (Less) - Popular Abstract
- Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, such as offshore wind, is crucial to mitigating climate change. The ambitious federal targets on offshore wind set by the United States’s (US) Biden Administration will, however, increasingly impact the 129 million citizens
living within local communities in coastal regions. Achieving social acceptance is therefore critical to reaching the US’s aspirations for offshore wind and replacing fossil-fuelled electricity production. Since time is of the essence, this thesis explores how wind developers perceive and work with social acceptance, involve local communities in their planning processes (procedural justice) and build trust. Through a qualitative multiple-case study involving 11... (More) - Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, such as offshore wind, is crucial to mitigating climate change. The ambitious federal targets on offshore wind set by the United States’s (US) Biden Administration will, however, increasingly impact the 129 million citizens
living within local communities in coastal regions. Achieving social acceptance is therefore critical to reaching the US’s aspirations for offshore wind and replacing fossil-fuelled electricity production. Since time is of the essence, this thesis explores how wind developers perceive and work with social acceptance, involve local communities in their planning processes (procedural justice) and build trust. Through a qualitative multiple-case study involving 11 interviews with liaisons from three developers with a presence on the Northeast coast of the US, this thesis provides nuanced and valuable insights into social acceptance of offshore wind.
The findings indicate that developers perceive social acceptance of offshore wind as a scale ranging from opposition to acceptance and support. The studied developers’ work with social acceptance entails educating the local community and ensuring factually-centred conversations on offshore wind. Early and often community involvement, two-way communication streams, informal interactions and collaboration among developers are important to achieve social acceptance. The developers acknowledge the importance of timely community involvement in
achieving social acceptance. However, involving the community in the planning process is a balancing act weighing commercial interests, timely development of the offshore wind project and ensuring that involvement is targeted at those it matters for. Local communities have access
to the developers’ planning processes, but not through procedurally just types of involvement. Building trust with the local community is deemed critical for social acceptance. It is primarily perceived as sequentially built, initiating with trust in the liaisons and ending with trust in the offshore wind project. Discussed from a theoretical perspective, however, the findings suggest that the sequence of trust-building may benefit from being further tested. In conclusion, this thesis contributes with theoretical contributions and practical implications of social acceptance, procedural justice, and trust in the context of offshore wind on the Northeast coast of the US. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9170439
- author
- Bjørch-Haderup, Bjarke LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- IMEM01 20241
- year
- 2024
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Offshore wind energy, social acceptance, procedural justice, trust, US
- publication/series
- IIIEE Master Thesis
- report number
- 2024:04
- ISSN
- 1401-9191
- language
- English
- id
- 9170439
- date added to LUP
- 2024-07-16 08:59:47
- date last changed
- 2024-07-16 08:59:47
@misc{9170439,
abstract = {{Replacing fossil fuels with renewable energy sources, such as offshore wind, is crucial to mitigating climate change. The ambitious federal targets on offshore wind set by the United States’s (US) Biden Administration will, however, increasingly impact the 129 million citizens
living within local communities in coastal regions. Achieving social acceptance is therefore critical to reaching the US’s aspirations for offshore wind and replacing fossil-fuelled electricity production. Since time is of the essence, this thesis explores how wind developers perceive and work with social acceptance, involve local communities in their planning processes (procedural justice) and build trust. Through a qualitative multiple-case study involving 11 interviews with liaisons from three developers with a presence on the Northeast coast of the US, this thesis provides nuanced and valuable insights into social acceptance of offshore wind.
The findings indicate that developers perceive social acceptance of offshore wind as a scale ranging from opposition to acceptance and support. The studied developers’ work with social acceptance entails educating the local community and ensuring factually-centred conversations on offshore wind. Early and often community involvement, two-way communication streams, informal interactions and collaboration among developers are important to achieve social acceptance. The developers acknowledge the importance of timely community involvement in
achieving social acceptance. However, involving the community in the planning process is a balancing act weighing commercial interests, timely development of the offshore wind project and ensuring that involvement is targeted at those it matters for. Local communities have access
to the developers’ planning processes, but not through procedurally just types of involvement. Building trust with the local community is deemed critical for social acceptance. It is primarily perceived as sequentially built, initiating with trust in the liaisons and ending with trust in the offshore wind project. Discussed from a theoretical perspective, however, the findings suggest that the sequence of trust-building may benefit from being further tested. In conclusion, this thesis contributes with theoretical contributions and practical implications of social acceptance, procedural justice, and trust in the context of offshore wind on the Northeast coast of the US.}},
author = {{Bjørch-Haderup, Bjarke}},
issn = {{1401-9191}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
series = {{IIIEE Master Thesis}},
title = {{Social acceptance of offshore wind energy - The role of procedural justice and trust for social acceptance of offshore wind projects on the Northeastern coast in the US}},
year = {{2024}},
}