3D augmented reality for improving social acceptance and public participation in wind farms planning

Abstract

Wind energy is one of the most important source of renewable energy characterized by a significant growth in the last decades and giving a more and more relevant contribution to the energy supply. One of the main disadvantages of a faster integration of wind energy into the energy mix is related to the visual impact of wind turbines on the landscape. In addition, the siting of new massive infrastructures has the potential to threaten a community's well-being if new projects are perceived being unfair. The public perception of the impact of wind turbines on the landscape is also crucial for their acceptance. The implementation of wind energy projects is hampered often because of a lack of planning or communication tools enabling a more transparent and efficient interaction between all stakeholders involved in the projects (i.e. developers, local communities and administrations, NGOs, etc.). Concerning the visual assessment of wind farms, a critical gap lies in effective visualization tools to improve the public perception of alternative wind turbines layouts. In this paper, we describe the advantages of a 3D dynamical and interactive visualization platform for an augmented reality to support wind energy planners in order to enhance the social acceptance of new wind energy projects.