Preferences and knowledge of farmers and internet-orientated population about renewable energy sources in Kosovo

Abstract

AbstractOur results introduce the preferences and attitudes of farmers and the internet-orientated population regarding renewable energy sources (RES) in Kosovo. The research included 243 internet-orientated participants and 30 farmers. The data was gathered through questionnaires (in both groups) and deep interviews (just in farmers). The results showed that the awareness of RES was high for especially solar, wind and hydro energy, the relationship among them was very strong. It was justified that firewood was typically used by respondents with low income, but not considered as renewable energy source, similarly to Hungary and the USA. A special feature of Kosovo is that electricity has very high importance for the man in the street, even for heating. Better education, higher income and environmental-consciousness definitely support better knowledge of RES, similarly to international tendencies. Males and employed participants had more knowledge about RES than females, or unemployed ones. Moreover, the results showed that the participants prefer environment rather than convenience, which is also typical of less wealthy countries. Our results might be useful as a typical less developed country case study for international comparison and helps to eliminate the unknown willingness in RES for the development of future agricultural strategies in Kosovo.