Acceptance Of Renewable Energy Research Articles

Community-developer collaboration and voluntary community benefits in Scotland: Are community benefits a gift or compensation?

Community benefits are a key strategy for promoting social acceptance of renewable energy and ensuring distributive fairness of the energy transition. However, they can sometimes damage rather than strengthen the relationship between communities and developers. This paper examines stakeholder submissions to The Scottish Government's Good Practice Principles on Community Benefits from Onshore Renewable Energy Developments (2019) consultation. Communities perceive community benefits as compensation and express concerns about their voluntary nature, while developers see them as benevolent gifts, worrying about their impact on project viability. As the guidelines are voluntary, community benefit arrangements rely on collaboration between developers and communities, but power imbalance and a lack of shared understanding can impede this collaboration. Inspired by governmentality literature, this study analyses stakeholder discourses to understand how issues are framed, solutions proposed, and rationalities guiding these discussions. Qualitative system dynamics modelling is used to provide a comprehensive view of challenges in the design of community benefit arrangements in Scotland, highlighting risks to the developer-community relationship and trust in the energy transition. The analysis suggests that making community benefit arrangements mandatory or rethinking them is essential to preserve this relationship and trust.

Influence of the DC frequency limit controller on the frequency characteristics of the multi-area asynchronous interconnected power grid with renewable energy integration

To systematically analyze the impact of the DC frequency limit controller (FLC) configuration scheme on the frequency characteristics of asynchronous interconnected power grids with renewable energy integration, a comprehensive frequency analysis model for three-area asynchronous interconnected power grids including the FLC is proposed. The model is based on the SFR model considering renewable energy integration and includes a simplified model of the DC FLC. A rigorous validation of the rationality and stability of the model is achieved through detailed mathematical calculations and pole-zero analysis. Taking the local power grids as an example, the established model is used to study the difference between single- and double-sided configuration of the DC FLC, the relationship between the increase in the renewable energy penetration rate and the frequency characteristics of each regional power grid, and the influence of DC FLC configuration on the maximum acceptance ratio of renewable energy. Through data comparison and theoretical analysis, the influence of FLC configuration on the frequency characteristics of each region of the asynchronous power grid under renewable energy integration is obtained. The results show that the configuration of a bilateral FLC on the DC line has more advantages in alleviating the complementary power disturbance at both ends and obvious limitations on the non-complementary power disturbance at both ends. Compared with the configuration of the bilateral FLC, the configuration of a unilateral FLC on the weak grid has a larger proportion of renewable energy acceptance. When the DC FLC power transmission capacity is sufficient, the weak grid and the adjacent two asynchronous grid DC tie lines are configured with a single-sided FLC, and the weak grid is theoretically connected to the renewable energy penetration rate of up to 100%.

How Do Instagram Messages Affect the Use of Renewable Energy? -- Applica-tion of an Extended Information Adoption Model

As social media can play an important role in creating awareness of the need to mitigate climate change and of the benefits of renewable energy (RE), we examined the influences of social media on attitudes to renewable energy, including intention to use it. This study is novel in two ways: it simultaneously considers message characteristics and message-receiver perceptions as factors influencing the acceptance of renewable energy; and it is also the first study to use an extended information adoption model to evaluate the impact of Instagram on information adoption and the intention to use renewable energy sources. Our questionnaire, based on the theory of information adoption, included items on attitude toward information and trust in Instagram, and was randomly distributed online among followers of renewable energy pages on Instagram. A total of 173 people completed the questionnaire. Structural equation modeling showed that quality of argument had a positive and direct effect on the perceived usefulness of information. Source credibility as a peripheral path also indirectly increased perceived usefulness by changing attitude toward information. Moreover, perceived usefulness had a direct impact on information adoption and increased information adoption through trust of the materials.

Can renewable energy work for rural societies? Exploring productive use, institutions, support systems, and trust for solar electricity in the Navajo Nation

Reliable electricity and water access remain major challenges in rural communities worldwide. Standalone renewable energy systems show promise in improving access, but successful long-term outcomes remain infrequent in practice. To achieve sustainable outcomes, planners and decision makers should place a greater emphasis on understanding community context to determine the technological and social appropriacy of renewable energy technology. This article investigates a case study of renewable energy systems in the Navajo Nation to develop an understanding of what technical and social considerations may be necessary. A qualitative exploratory data analysis approach is used to perform a comparative analysis of two programs that deployed solar home systems (SHS) and atmospheric water generation (AWG) systems to address electricity and water needs in the Nation, respectively. The findings reveal that renewable energy programs should critically evaluate four factors related to technological and procedural appropriacy. These four factors are (1) an understanding of the productive use of the technology in context, (2) the need to operate within extant institutional paradigms, (3) the capacity to develop and maintain a support network, and (4) the need for trust building. The findings indicate that productive use of renewable energy is determined by end-user application and its usefulness in the community’s rank order of priorities. It also demonstrates that social acceptance of renewable energy is affected by the willingness of programs to conform to existing institutional paradigms. This article refines and expands upon existing themes of social acceptance, making them more application oriented by focusing on the planning phase.

Evaluation of Renewable Energy Hosting Capacity of Grid with Multi-Infeed HVDC

Considering the impact of large-scale renewable energy access to a multi-infeed HVDC receiving-end system on its voltage stability and multi-infeed short circuit ratio, a renewable energy acceptance evaluation method based on an improved holomorphic embedding method is proposed. Firstly, to construct a model containing only an AC system, the DC inverter is simplified into an AC source model; secondly, the sigma index is used to judge the static voltage stability of the system bus and determine the access location of renewable energy, and sensitivity index is used to determine the scheme of replacing conventional units with renewable energy; then, with the voltage crossing the set range as the constraint condition, the analytical expression of each bus voltage obtained by the holomorphic embedding method is used to solve the maximum renewable energy capacity of the system; finally, under the maximum hosting scenario of renewable energy, verify the multi-infeed short circuit ratio at each DC drop point. The effectiveness of the proposed method is verified on an improved IEEE39-bus system.

A Combing Data-Driven and Model-Driven Methods for Renewable Energy Acceptance Capacity Assessment in Distribution Networks

To accurately improve the balanced new energy distribution network capacity assessment, this paper proposes a combined data-driven and model-driven renewable energy capacity assessment method for distribution networks. Firstly, the distribution generations (DG) output data are pre-processed to construct a scenario training sample set and extract seven types of DG daily output characteristics indicators. Secondly, a scenario generation model based on a conditional generation adversarial network is proposed to realize the coupling of scenario reduction and scenario generation based on K-means++ through daily output characteristics indicators. Finally, the optimization model based on hybrid positive linear programming is proposed for distributed power supply acceptance capacity evaluation of the distribution network with the objective of maximum DG access capacity and full consideration of voltage deviation, branch current, tidal current return, and other operational constraints. It is validated by IEEE 33-bus simulation. The simulation analysis shows that the proposed method can effectively quantify the DG capacity uncertainty compared with the traditional method, and the proposed method has higher computational accuracy and efficiency than the traditional method.

Clean Hydrogen Portfolio Standard 기반 Virtual Clean Hydrogen Plant 플랫폼 설계 및 운영 전략

In Korea, there are separate areas for renewable energy concentration and power load concentration. As both renewable energy and power demand increase, transmission constraints lead to saturation of renewable energy. This phenomenon has adverse effects on the benefits of Independent Power Producers (IPPs) and renewable energy acceptance. Policymakers and individual power generation operators must solve this essential problem. This paper proposes a new energy operation system that converts surplus energy generated by transmission constraints into hydrogen and supplies it to load-intensive areas. This system utilizes PV complexes in renewable energy-intensive areas through the Virtual Clean Hydrogen Plant (VCHP) platform. South Korea plans to introduce the Clean Hydrogen Portfolio Standard (CHPS), which provides a fixed premium (FP) to power generators using clean hydrogen. This paper derives a marginal fixed premium that can be used as an indicator of securing the economy of the VCHP platform. The VCHP platform design and operation algorithm consists of two optimizations. The first optimization analyzes the behavior of Photovoltaic (PV) in renewable energy concentration areas, and the second optimization supplies power and heat to load concentration areas through optimal scheduling of Fuel Cell (FC).

Drawing transformation pathways for making use of joint effects of food and energy production with biodiversity agriphotovoltaics and electrified agricultural machinery

The achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals is being pursued worldwide. While energy production and consumption are to be oriented towards renewable energies, ecologically and socially sustainable agriculture is also a target for science and society. Due to the expansion of renewable energies, agricultural land in particular is the focus of various interest groups, from food production to energy production. In this interdisciplinary study, we show the opportunities and limits of joint synergies from the nexus of food production, energy production, energy consumption, biodiversity protection and social acceptance of renewable energies in a scenario. Biodiversity agriphotovoltaics, i.e. agriphotovoltaics in combination with biodiversity protection measures, such as flower strips, can make a valuable contribution to promoting biotope connectivity in addition to significant energy production. We show this in a GIS-based regional assessment for Lower Saxony in northern Germany. This rough spatial assessment is followed by a modelling of energy production and consumption during the cultivation of a characteristic agricultural field in the loess region of Lower Saxony. Our focus here is on the possibilities of using cable electricity or battery storage for carrying out the cultivation. In an accompanying survey of farmers regarding the use of agriphotovoltaics, we collected and evaluated their prior knowledge, experiences, and attitudes towards this technology. Finally, we show which advantages agriphotovoltaics and electrified agricultural machinery can also have for the sustainable transformation of agriculture and which challenges exist for a truly sustainable use of these technologies.

Sector Coupling and Migration towards Carbon-Neutral Power Systems

There is increasing interest in migrating to a carbon-neutral power system that relies on renewable energy due to concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, energy shortages, and global warming. However, the increasing share of renewable energy has added volatility and uncertainty to power system operations. Introducing new devices and using flexible resources may help solve the problem, but expanding the domain of the problem can be another solution. Sector coupling, which integrates production, consumption, conversion, and storage by connecting various energy domains, could potentially meet the needs of each energy sector. It can also reduce the generation of surplus energy and unnecessary carbon emissions. As a result, sector coupling, an integrated energy system, increases the acceptance of renewable energy in the traditional power system and makes it carbon neutral. However, difficulties in large-scale integration, low conversion efficiency and economic feasibility remain obstacles. This perspective paper discusses the background, definition, and components of sector coupling, as well as its functions and examples in rendering power systems carbon-neutral. The current limitations and outlook of sector coupling are also examined.

Experimental investigation of the soiling effect on the PV systems performance and the cleaning intervals in Oman

The trend toward diminishing dependence on fossil fuels as an energy source has become a government obsession, resulting in the acceptance of renewable energy as an alternative green energy source. Photovoltaic energy is considered the most viable renewable energy source in the MENA region due to the high solar irradiation level and the number of clear sky days during the year. However, environmental factors such as dust limit the optimum utilization of the source. In this paper, the effect of the accumulated dust on the Photovoltaic module surface has been studied for six months in Oman's weather conditions to suggest an economical cleaning interval. The experiment was conducted on a 5.85 kW grid-tie ground mount system with two strings of 9 modules in series. Two manual cleaning intervals have been applied on each string to observe the effect of the dust on the PV system performance. The results show that the dust accumulation reduced the PV modules' current performance by up to 28 %, with the average current output of the uncleaned string measured at 4.1 A compared to 5.6 A from the cleaned string. Based on the study results, the recommended economic interval in Oman is 8–12 cycles annually, and it is expected to increase in the summer compared to the winter season. This work offers valuable insight to investors, consultants, PV plant O&M companies, PV engineers, and researchers offering prosecutable strategies for optimizing PV system efficiency in Oman.

Modeling public acceptance of renewable energy deployment: a pathway towards green revolution

Renewable energy adoption is a complicated process that is influenced by a multitude of different factors. Previous studies seldom examine the social acceptance of renewable energy from the Chinese perspective in Shandong province. To bridge this gap, comprehensive research is crucial to find the public attitude towards renewable energy. We extended the theory of planned behavior by incorporating three additional factors, i.e., risk perception, environmental concern, and belief about renewable energy costs. A questionnaire survey was conducted in the four major cities of Shandong province. The Logit model was used to determine possible factors affecting public acceptance. Research findings reveal that residents significantly support renewable energy regarding its positive environmental impact. Individuals’ education, personal income, awareness and belief of renewable energy consumption cost positively affect their intention to utilize renewable energy, as the willingness to pay increases with an increase in these factors while decreasing with individuals’ age. Young people with higher education and income are willing to pay extra for green energy. Research results emphasized the importance of enhancing public awareness and highlighting renewable energy benefits to win public acceptance of renewable energy deployment.

Social acceptance of renewable energy development in southern Spain: Exploring tendencies, locations, criteria and situations

Although, in general, there is a high level of public acceptance of renewable energies (RE) in Spain, at a local scale, protests and campaigns against RE projects are becoming increasingly frequent. In order to identify the factors that most influence the acceptance/rejection of renewable electricity generation technologies (photovoltaic, wind and biomass) at a local level, in this study we conducted a structured survey of the population of the province of Jaén in southern Spain. The analysis of the results of the questionnaire reveals that the social acceptance of RE plants is influenced by their location and size, and identifies the main criteria and situations that people take into consideration when deciding whether to support or reject RE projects. Although the results suggest that all RE technologies are widely accepted, they also highlight a preference for photovoltaic energy and for medium-sized plants in sites with low natural value. This article provides information and recommendations to facilitate the drafting of policies, plans and future studies that will enable social barriers to the implementation of RE technologies to be reduced, so helping accelerate the energy transition that is required in order for agreed climate targets to be met.

Consumer Acceptance of Renewable Energy in Peninsular Malaysia

Renewable energy (RE) is a type of advanced technology that changes natural energy into a form that can be used as an alternative to traditional energy solutions to help reduce problems caused by global warming. Nevertheless, consumers still have limited knowledge of renewable energy, which leads to an unwillingness to pay more. Renewable energy marketing as a sustainable willingness to pay more for renewable energy billpayers in Peninsular Malaysia. This research applied the theory of reasoned action as the theoretical underpinning theory. A questionnaire survey was distributed to taxpayers, and 3209 usable responses out of 5000 persons were obtained. This paper suggested that consumers’ concerns and knowledge of renewable energy were positively related to paying a premium for renewable energy. This research showed that the energy consumption patterns influenced consumers’ willingness to pay more for renewable energy. This will benefit policymakers, in line with the Twelfth Malaysian Plan, in pursuing green technology growth and recommending the policy measure to achieve the country’s 31% and 40% renewable energy targets in 2025 and 2035, respectively.

Predicting acceptance and adoption of renewable energy community solutions: the prosumer psychology.

Background: This paper, in the frame of social acceptance of renewable energies and innovative community-based production and consumption models, aims at supporting a data-driven approach able to deal with climate change and identify and quantify the psycho-sociological dimensions and factors that could support the transition from a technology-driven approach to a consumer-driven approach throughout the emerging " prosumer business models". In addition to the already existing Social Acceptance dimensions, this paper tries to identify a purely individual psychological fourth dimension to understand the processes and factors that underlie individual acceptance and adoption of new renewable energy business models, with the realization of a Prosumer Acceptance Index. Methods: Questionnaire data collection has been performed throughout an online survey platform, combining standardized and ad-hoc questions adapted for the research purposes, based on the developed theoretical model. To identify the main factors (individual/social) influencing the relation with renewable energy technology adoption, a Factorial Analysis has been conducted to identify the latent variables that are related to each other. Linear regression has been conducted to identify and quantify the factors that could better predict behavioural intention to become a prosumer. Results: Five latent psychological factors were revealed: concern about environmental issues, interest in energy sharing, concern on climate change, social influence and impact on bill cost. Three variables were found to significantly measure and predict the scores of the "Acceptance in becoming a prosumer" ad hoc scale: attitude, economic incentive and age. Conclusions: This research can facilitate policymakers and stakeholders to better understand which relevant psycho-sociological factors are intervening in the renewable energy technology acceptance processes and what and how specifically target when proposing change towards sustainable energy production and consumption.

Beyond the triangle of renewable energy acceptance: The five dimensions of domestic hydrogen acceptance

The ‘deep’ decarbonization of the residential sector is a priority for meeting national climate change targets, especially in countries such as the UK where natural gas has been the dominant fuel source for over half a century. Hydrogen blending and repurposing the national grid to supply low-carbon hydrogen gas may offer respective short- and long-term solutions to achieving emissions reduction across parts of the housing sector. Despite this imperative, the social acceptance of domestic hydrogen energy technologies remains underexplored by sustainability scholars, with limited insights regarding consumer perceptions and expectations of the transition. A knowledge deficit of this magnitude is likely to hinder effective policymaking and may result in sub-optimal rollout strategies that derail the trajectory of the net zero agenda. Addressing this knowledge gap, this study develops a conceptual framework for examining the consumer-facing side of the hydrogen transition. The paper affirms that the spatiotemporal patterns of renewable energy adoption are shaped by a range of interacting scales, dimensions, and factors. The UK’s emerging hydrogen landscape and its actor-network is characterized as a heterogenous system, composed of dynamic relationships and interdependencies. Future studies should engage with domestic hydrogen acceptance as a co-evolving, multi-scalar phenomenon rooted in the interplay of five distinct dimensions: attitudinal, sociopolitical, community, market, and behavioral acceptance. If arrived to, behavioral acceptance helps realize the domestication of hydrogen heating and cooking, established on grounds on cognitive, sociopolitical, and sociocultural legitimacy. The research community should internalize the complexity and richness of consumer attitudes and responses, through a more critical and reflexive approach to the study of social acceptance.

To support or oppose renewable energy projects? A systematic literature review on the factors influencing landscape design and social acceptance

The local implementation of renewable energy projects often faces opposition. The landscape transformation that comes with the transition to renewables is one of the key counter-arguments of local stakeholders. In this article, we examine the relation between research on ‘designing landscape transformations’ and ‘acceptance of renewable energy projects’; whether and how these bodies of knowledge may complement each other. The systematic literature review revealed that acceptance studies and landscape design studies describe 25 similar factors that influence acceptance. The majority of these factors are somewhat general in nature, such as economic benefits, visual impact, and aesthetics. Additionally, we found 45 unique factors in acceptance studies and sixteen unique factors in landscape design studies. Furthermore, we found differences in distribution of factors when categorizing and comparing them by means of two conceptual frameworks. Moreover, the emphasis in peer-reviewed literature differs significantly from laypersons, which is challenging the current research agenda on landscape transformation and acceptance of renewable energy. The findings and the knowledge lacunas provide clear avenues for a shared research agenda. Future research needs to examine the influence of involving landscape designers on the acceptance of renewable energy projects and the effects of more inclusive design processes on factors such as trust.

Renewable Energy Acceptance by Households: Evidence from Lithuania

Although renewable energy adoption in the residential sector has increased significantly in the EU due to the governmental policies, aiming to reduce the barriers of renewable energy penetration, the full potential of renewable energy deployment in households is still not realized due to the behavioral and other barriers. One of the most important factors in the adoption of renewable energy technologies in households is the decision-making to implement renewables; therefore, the behavioral economics insights should be taken into account during the analysis of renewable energy acceptance by households. The paper provides a systematic literature review on renewable energy use in households by analyzing policies and measures, which could increase the use of renewable energy in households by overcoming the major barriers. The dynamics of renewable energy consumption in EU households was performed by applying Eurostat data, and the empirical case study was conducted in Lithuania to understand the main reasons of renewable energy acceptance by the household. Even though the use of renewable energy sources has increased significantly in the EU member states during the recent years, the study has found the following most common barriers that the traditional policies are unable to overcome: (1) high upfront cost and long pay-back period, (2) a lack of information and knowledge, (3) low priority of environmental concern, (4) resistance to change; human habits. The case study shows that the majority of Lithuanian households would like to use renewable energy technologies in their homes, but they encounter financial difficulties and lack of infrastructure. The policy recommendations were developed based on the results of the conducted study.

Winds of change: examining attitude shifts regarding an offshore wind project

ABSTRACT Understanding how local attitudes toward commercial-scale renewable energy change over time should provide insight into how to engage communities and influence public acceptance during the energy transition. To augment the scarcity of longitudinal research on social acceptance of renewable energy, we use a mixed methods approach to explore how opinions regarding the Block Island Offshore Wind Project changed over time. We analyze two-year panel data from a survey of Block Island and coastal RI residents with a regression model and interviews to observe how opinions were influenced by attitude strength attributes, esthetics, general attitude towards wind power, process fairness, and demographics. Using the multi-layered results, we produce recommendations for stakeholders to better foster community relations from planning to operation. Abbreviations: Block Island Offshore Wind Project (BIOWP): Block Island; (BI): Rhode Island; (RI): Relative risk ratio; (RRR): Power purchase agreement (PPA)

Willingness to Pay for Renewable Energy

Increasing renewable energy footprints now features prominently in the clean energy transition plan for many countries. Consumer’s Willingness To Pay (WTP) for renewable energy is an important variable in this plan. A concept-centric review of 70 research articles conducted in this study reveals that first and most commonly, consumer’s willingness to pay for renewable energy indicates the social acceptance of renewable energy, quantifying the extent of public financial support for meeting nationally set renewable energy targets. Second, it reflects the preferred attributes of renewable electricity supply in deregulated retail electricity markets. And third, it mirrors the non use values of renewable energy sources. A concept augmented matrix presented in the paper helps understand the most popular valuation techniques used to quantify WTP estimates in included studies. This paper concludes by presenting policy enablers to accelerate renewable energy transition in developing economies - where the transition is still in nascent stages.

Research on capacity optimization and real-time control of island microgrid considering time-shifting load

The utilization efficiency of renewable energy can be improved by the effective control of time-shifting load. In this paper, the characteristics of the time-varying energy source and load model including wind, diesel storage, and seawater desalination are studied. The optimal operation strategy of the island microgrid is established. The objective of this optimization model is to minimize the annual investment cost of joint functions. On this basis, to further improve the renewable energy consumption rate of the system, the real-time control optimization strategy under the operation of the island microgrid is studied. The calculations show that the real-time power prediction through wavelet packet neural network and the optimal allocation strategy of island microgrid capacity based on time-shifting load can improve the acceptance of renewable energy. In the long run, it can solve the problem of lack of fresh water on the island and help to improve the economy.