Increasing Acceptability of Renewable Energy Projects: Fostering Perceived Procedural Fairness through Inclusivity

Smith, Timothy (2022) Increasing Acceptability of Renewable Energy Projects: Fostering Perceived Procedural Fairness through Inclusivity. Master thesis, Psychology.

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Abstract

To combat climate change, renewable energy projects must be developed on a large scale, but for these projects to be implemented successfully they must be acceptable to the public. As it is common for renewable energy projects to face public resistance, research suggests that involving citizens in the decision-making process (public participation) and making them perceive this process as fair can increase public acceptability of renewable energy projects. This study investigates whether including people of different values and different demographics in public participation has the potential to increase public acceptability of a renewable energy project. It is theorized that the inclusion of people of different values and different demographics leads to different perspectives being considered in the process which in turn makes people perceive the process as fairer and therefore increasing public acceptability. An experiment was conducted with participants (N = 91) being randomly assigned to one of four conditions. They were asked to imagine a scenario where their local government is a planning public participation procedure for a renewable energy project. In the three experimental conditions participants were informed that the government is seeking to include people of different values and/or demographics. Results revealed no significant differences between project acceptability and perceived procedural fairness between the experimental and control condition(s). Thus, it is concluded that including people of different values and/or demographics appears to not provide a groundbreaking pathway in increasing public acceptance of renewable energy projects. Alternative explanations, limitations and practical implications are discussed.

Item Type:	Thesis (Master)
Supervisor name:	Blerck, T. van
Degree programme:	Psychology
Differentiation route:	Environmental Psychology (EP) [Master Psychology]
Date Deposited:	27 Jul 2022 09:20
Last Modified:	27 Jul 2022 09:20
URI:	http://gmwpublic.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/1156

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