Social acceptance of renewable energy technologies in tourism regions

As part of broader European efforts to expand the share of renewable energy technologies (RETs), the Austrian government targets to cover 100% of the electricity use from renewable energies by 2030. This dictates substantial increases in production capacities, which in turn means that the issue of social acceptance (SA), especially when necessarily moving into sensitive landscapes, will be crucial. The lecture described the online survey that was conducted in geographical proximity of three touristic regions. The questionnaire comprised 1) scales to measure constructs such as knowledge about RETs, place attachment, values etc., 2) a landscape assessment exercise relying on montages, and 3) a conjoint experiment. The presented results show that respondents rate the acceptance for both RETs lower in tourism regions than in their municipality. PV is more accepted than wind power and measures of place attachment and perceived impacts showing the most robust relationship with SA. Conjoint analysis further indicates that the operator, the wind/photovoltaics ratio and distance are most important. The final discussion reiterated the most important results and linked them to relevant literature in the study field. Finally, informative implications for any institution that aims to promote an expansion of RETs (e.g., operators, NGOs, local and federal administration, ministries) with attention to the specific exigencies and constraints in valued and sensitive landscapes were given.