IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/enepol/v124y2019icp346-354.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Ex ante assessment of social acceptance of small-scale agro-energy system: A case study in southern Italy

Author

Listed:
  • Prosperi, Maurizio
  • Lombardi, Mariarosaria
  • Spada, Alessia

Abstract

Social acceptance is a relevant determinant of the development of agro-energy systems because its absence can cause delays or even the abandonment of innovative projects. This paper aims at an ex ante assessment of the socio-political acceptance of small-scale agro-energy systems in rural areas located in southern Italy, according to the bioenergy village approach. Starting from a theoretical model, we investigated the key factors influencing the perception of the risks and benefits of the realization of a biomass combustion plant, by a statistical survey on a sample of 152 members of the local community living in eight municipalities located in a rural area. Through exploratory and confirmatory statistical analyses, we identified two key factors: (a) the economic, environmental, and social benefits for the community and (b) reassurance from the energy company management. This research shows that it is very important to consider these elements in order to facilitate dialogue and the debate within the local community. In this way, the involved actors will be enabled to express their expectations to decision makers and policymakers, thus contributing to the steering of the project. In other words, community involvement and the democracy of the energy policy processes are favoured.

Suggested Citation

  • Prosperi, Maurizio & Lombardi, Mariarosaria & Spada, Alessia, 2019. "Ex ante assessment of social acceptance of small-scale agro-energy system: A case study in southern Italy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(C), pages 346-354.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:124:y:2019:i:c:p:346-354
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2018.10.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421518306700
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.enpol.2018.10.015?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. Jobert, Arthur & Laborgne, Pia & Mimler, Solveig, 2007. "Local acceptance of wind energy: Factors of success identified in French and German case studies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2751-2760, May.
    2. Madlener, Reinhard & Bachhiesl, Mario, 2007. "Socio-economic drivers of large urban biomass cogeneration: Sustainable energy supply for Austria's capital Vienna," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 1075-1087, February.
    3. Giannoccaro, Giacomo & de Gennaro, Bernardo C. & De Meo, Emilio & Prosperi, Maurizio, 2017. "Assessing farmers' willingness to supply biomass as energy feedstock: Cereal straw in Apulia (Italy)," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 179-185.
    4. van der Horst, Dan, 2007. "NIMBY or not? Exploring the relevance of location and the politics of voiced opinions in renewable energy siting controversies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(5), pages 2705-2714, May.
    5. Ekins, Paul, 2004. "Step changes for decarbonising the energy system: research needs for renewables, energy efficiency and nuclear power," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 32(17), pages 1891-1904, November.
    6. Aitken, Mhairi, 2010. "Wind power and community benefits: Challenges and opportunities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(10), pages 6066-6075, October.
    7. Jia, Jun-Jun & Xu, Jin-Hua & Fan, Ying, 2018. "Public acceptance of household energy-saving measures in Beijing: Heterogeneous preferences and policy implications," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C), pages 487-499.
    8. 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.
    9. Kortsch, Timo & Hildebrand, Jan & Schweizer-Ries, Petra, 2015. "Acceptance of biomass plants – Results of a longitudinal study in the bioenergy-region Altmark," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 690-697.
    10. Lopolito, Antonio & Nardone, Gianluca & Prosperi, Maurizio & Sisto, Roberta & Stasi, Antonio, 2011. "Modeling the bio-refinery industry in rural areas: A participatory approach for policy options comparison," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C), pages 18-27.
    11. 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.
    12. Sovacool, Benjamin K. & Lakshmi Ratan, Pushkala, 2012. "Conceptualizing the acceptance of wind and solar electricity," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 16(7), pages 5268-5279.
    13. Van Dael, Miet & Lizin, Sebastien & Swinnen, Gilbert & Van Passel, Steven, 2017. "Young people’s acceptance of bioenergy and the influence of attitude strength on information provision," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 417-430.
    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. 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.
    16. Daniel Kahneman & Amos Tversky, 2013. "Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk," World Scientific Book Chapters, in: Leonard C MacLean & William T Ziemba (ed.), HANDBOOK OF THE FUNDAMENTALS OF FINANCIAL DECISION MAKING Part I, chapter 6, pages 99-127, World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd..
    17. Eswarlal, Vimal Kumar & Vasudevan, Geoffrey & Dey, Prasanta Kumar & Vasudevan, Padma, 2014. "Role of community acceptance in sustainable bioenergy projects in India," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 333-343.
    18. 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.
    19. Yazdanpanah, Masoud & Komendantova, Nadejda & Ardestani, Roshanak Shafiei, 2015. "Governance of energy transition in Iran: Investigating public acceptance and willingness to use renewable energy sources through socio-psychological model," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 565-573.
    20. Stigka, Eleni K. & Paravantis, John A. & Mihalakakou, Giouli K., 2014. "Social acceptance of renewable energy sources: A review of contingent valuation applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 100-106.
    21. Yann Fournis & Marie-José Fortin, 2017. "From social ‘acceptance’ to social ‘acceptability’ of wind energy projects: towards a territorial perspective," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 60(1), pages 1-21, January.
    22. Zoellner, Jan & Schweizer-Ries, Petra & Wemheuer, Christin, 2008. "Public acceptance of renewable energies: Results from case studies in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(11), pages 4136-4141, November.
    23. 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.
    24. Assefa, G. & Frostell, B., 2007. "Social sustainability and social acceptance in technology assessment: A case study of energy technologies," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 63-78.
    25. Kaldellis, J.K. & Kapsali, M. & Kaldelli, El. & Katsanou, Ev., 2013. "Comparing recent views of public attitude on wind energy, photovoltaic and small hydro applications," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 197-208.
    26. Motosu, Memi & Maruyama, Yasushi, 2016. "Local acceptance by people with unvoiced opinions living close to a wind farm: A case study from Japan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 362-370.
    27. Maarten Wolsink, 1994. "Entanglement of Interests and Motives: Assumptions behind the NIMBY-theory on Facility Siting," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 31(6), pages 851-866, June.
    28. Caporale, Diana & De Lucia, Caterina, 2015. "Social acceptance of on-shore wind energy in Apulia Region (Southern Italy)," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 1378-1390.
    29. Emilio De Meo & Antonio Lopolito & Maurizio Prosperi & Giacomo Giannoccaro & Rosa Anna Ciccone, 2014. "How to promote community social acceptance of solid biomass in Europe? Identifying firms' best practices," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 34(4), pages 2080-2092.
    30. Grundmann, Philipp & Ehlers, Melf-Hinrich, 2016. "Determinants of courses of action in bioenergy villages responding to changes in renewable heat utilization policy," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 183-192.
    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. Cristina Moliner & Elisabetta Arato & Filippo Marchelli, 2021. "Current Status of Energy Production from Solid Biomass in Southern Italy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-21, April.
    2. Xiaoheng Zhang & Ping Qing & Xiaohua Yu, 2019. "Short supply chain participation and market performance for vegetable farmers in China," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 63(2), pages 282-306, April.
    3. Ahmed Abouaiana & Alessandra Battisti, 2022. "Multifunction Land Use to Promote Energy Communities in Mediterranean Region: Cases of Egypt and Italy," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-24, April.
    4. Ibolya Török & Enikő Mátyus & Tihamér-Tibor Sebestyén & Carmen Păunescu & Kinga Xénia Havadi-Nagy, 2024. "Exploring Acceptance of Agro-Biomass as Innovative Solution for Heating in Rural Areas in Romania," Resources, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-16, October.
    5. Fabio G. Santeramo & Monica Delsignore & Enrica Imbert & Mariarosaria Lombardi, 2023. "The Future of the EU Bioenergy Sector: Economic, Environmental, Social, and Legislative Challenges," International Review of Environmental and Resource Economics, now publishers, vol. 17(1), pages 1-1–52, April.
    6. Rodríguez-Segura, Francisco Javier & Osorio-Aravena, Juan Carlos & Frolova, Marina & Terrados-Cepeda, Julio & Muñoz-Cerón, Emilio, 2023. "Social acceptance of renewable energy development in southern Spain: Exploring tendencies, locations, criteria and situations," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    7. Amel Attour & Marco Baudino & Jackie Krafft & Nathalie Lazaric, 2020. "Determinants of smart energy tracking application use at the city level: Evidence from France," Post-Print hal-02942483, HAL.
    8. Xia, Zilong & Li, Yingjie & Guo, Shanchuan & Chen, Ruishan & Zhang, Wei & Zhang, Peng & Du, Peijun, 2023. "Mapping global water-surface photovoltaics with satellite images," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    9. Attour, Amel & Baudino, Marco & Krafft, Jackie & Lazaric, Nathalie, 2020. "Determinants of energy tracking application use at the city level: Evidence from France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    10. Marco Segreto & Lucas Principe & Alexandra Desormeaux & Marco Torre & Laura Tomassetti & Patrizio Tratzi & Valerio Paolini & Francesco Petracchini, 2020. "Trends in Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy Across Europe—A Literature Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(24), pages 1-19, December.

    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. Busse, Maria & Siebert, Rosemarie, 2018. "Acceptance studies in the field of land use—A critical and systematic review to advance the conceptualization of acceptance and acceptability," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 76(C), pages 235-245.
    2. Landeta-Manzano, Beñat & Arana-Landín, Germán & Calvo, Pilar M. & Heras-Saizarbitoria, Iñaki, 2018. "Wind energy and local communities: A manufacturer’s efforts to gain acceptance," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 314-324.
    3. Schumacher, K. & Krones, F. & McKenna, R. & Schultmann, F., 2019. "Public acceptance of renewable energies and energy autonomy: A comparative study in the French, German and Swiss Upper Rhine region," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(C), pages 315-332.
    4. 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.
    5. Zerrahn, Alexander, 2017. "Wind Power and Externalities," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 245-260.
    6. Scheer, Dirk & Konrad, Wilfried & Wassermann, Sandra, 2017. "The good, the bad, and the ambivalent: A qualitative study of public perceptions towards energy technologies and portfolios in Germany," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 89-100.
    7. Vuichard, Pascal & Stauch, Alexander & Wüstenhagen, Rolf, 2021. "Keep it local and low-key: Social acceptance of alpine solar power projects," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    8. 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.
    9. Grashof, Katherina, 2019. "Are auctions likely to deter community wind projects? And would this be problematic?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 125(C), pages 20-32.
    10. 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).
    11. 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).
    12. Hugo Lucas & Ruth Carbajo & Tomoo Machiba & Evgeny Zhukov & Luisa F. Cabeza, 2021. "Improving Public Attitude towards Renewable Energy," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-16, July.
    13. Elena De Luca & Cecilia Nardi & Laura Gaetana Giuffrida & Michael Krug & Maria Rosaria Di Nucci, 2020. "Explaining Factors Leading to Community Acceptance of Wind Energy. Results of an Expert Assessment," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-23, April.
    14. Sharpton, Tara & Lawrence, Thomas & Hall, Margeret, 2020. "Drivers and barriers to public acceptance of future energy sources and grid expansion in the United States," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    15. Simona Bigerna & Paolo Polinori, 2015. "Assessing the Determinants of Renewable Electricity Acceptance Integrating Meta-Analysis Regression and a Local Comprehensive Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(9), pages 1-24, August.
    16. Ioannidis, Romanos & Koutsoyiannis, Demetris, 2020. "A review of land use, visibility and public perception of renewable energy in the context of landscape impact," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 276(C).
    17. Attour, Amel & Baudino, Marco & Krafft, Jackie & Lazaric, Nathalie, 2020. "Determinants of energy tracking application use at the city level: Evidence from France," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 147(C).
    18. Dessi, F. & Ariccio, S. & Albers, T. & Alves, S. & Ludovico, N. & Bonaiuto, M., 2022. "Sustainable technology acceptability: Mapping technological, contextual, and social-psychological determinants of EU stakeholders’ biofuel acceptance," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 158(C).
    19. Lisiak-Zielińska, Marta & Jałoszyńska, Sylwia & Borowiak, Klaudia & Budka, Anna & Dach, Jacek, 2023. "Perception of biogas plants: A public awareness and preference - A case study for the agricultural landscape," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    20. Martin, Nigel & Rice, John, 2015. "Improving Australia's renewable energy project policy and planning: A multiple stakeholder analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 128-141.

    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:124:y:2019:i:c:p:346-354. 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.