Abstract
Renewable energy systems (RES) can impact landscape aesthetics and influence the public's perception of the landscape and their acceptance of large infrastructure projects. Perceptual processes have consequences for both physiological and behavioral reactions to visual landscape changes and have not been systematically assessed in the context of RES. In this paper, we measured participants' physiological (electrodermal activity) and behavioral (i.e., landscape preferences) responses to landscapes with different amounts of RES. The visual stimuli were composed of either a low or high amount of wind turbines and photovoltaic systems in seven different landscape types. Participants were asked to choose their preferred landscape image from pairs of sequentially presented images while we recorded their electrodermal activity. The results revealed that participants were significantly more physiologically aroused while viewing landscapes with high RES compared to landscapes with low RES. We also found that the participants significantly preferred landscapes with low RES to landscapes with high RES and that this effect was larger for some landscapes than others. The results also revealed significant differences in preferences among landscape types. Specifically, participants tended to prefer the more natural landscapes to the more urban landscapes. A systematic analysis of the visual features of these stimuli revealed a positive correlation between physiological arousal and the visual impact of photovoltaic systems. Overall, we conclude that both physiology and behavior can be relevant for studies of landscape perception and that these insights may inform planners and policy makers in the implementation of landscape changes related to RES.
Highlights
The Fukushima reactor accident (2011) highlighted the risks of nu clear power and prompted various countries to phase out nuclear energy production [1,2,3]
The comparisons between the one-fixed-factor models and the null model revealed significant effects for LANDSCAPE (X 2(6) = 23.525, p < .001) and SCENARIO (X 2(1) = 6.181, p = .013) on participants’ preferences. These effects suggest that partici pants preferred low renewable energy systems (RES) and that this effect varied across landscapes
While Sanchez-Pantoja and colleagues [30] demonstrated a dif ference in self-reported arousal between photovoltaic systems that are either completely integrated into the building envelope or mounted using metallic supports on the roof of the building, we found a difference between different amounts of photovoltaic systems on physiological arousal
Summary
The Fukushima reactor accident (2011) highlighted the risks of nu clear power and prompted various countries to phase out nuclear energy production [1,2,3]. Since RES are distributed in space, their visual impact ([7] i.e., artificial form, color and textures) on landscapes can lead to conflicts with local citizens and other stakeholders [8,9]. In the future, such infrastructure is expected to fundamentally reshape the visual appearance of landscapes and, as a consequence, may affect people’s perception of these landscapes [10,11,12,13]. In order to develop a strategy for promoting infrastructure developments, researchers should systemati cally assess the manner in which visual changes caused by the addition of RES in various landscapes affect behavior and physiology
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