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| 1 |
ID:
176715
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| Summary/Abstract |
In this paper I present findings and insights from an empirical study of two case study solar farm developments from rural areas of the South West, UK. Drawing on a Habermasian theoretical frame, I examine local resident narratives that emerged through the local public sphere and how these formed discursive meanings that provided shared background social norms for residents towards the solar farm developments. The paper begins by operationalising Habermas's theoretical ideas for empirical research and situating the research within existing literature. The theoretical and methodological sections are followed by the examination of three local narratives that emerged: idealised rural land use, farming and income generation, and money making and the pursuit of profit. Such narratives are considered in view of public opportunities for robust dialogue and debate to judge the normative democratic character of the solar farm developments. The paper concludes that the community development offered significantly more discursive space for debate than the commercial development and increased the developments' overall democratic legitimacy. It is maintained that such a Habermasian theoretical frame adapted for empirical analysis is valuable for normatively assessing democratic processes which are needed in view of conceptually weak accounts of ‘energy democracy’.
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| 2 |
ID:
180135
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| Summary/Abstract |
This paper examines the effect of wind turbines and solar farms on house prices. Using detailed data from the Netherlands between 1985 and 2019, the results show that tall wind turbines have considerably stronger effects on house prices, as compared to small turbines. For example, a tall turbine (>150m) decreases house prices within 2 km by , while a small turbine (<50m) has an effect of maximally and the effect dissipates after 1 km. Further results indicate that solar farms lead to a decrease in house prices within 1 km of about . By comparing the overall impact on house prices, we show that the external effects of solar farms per unit of energy output are comparable to those of wind turbines. Thus, building solar farms instead of wind turbines does not seem to be a way to avoid the external effects of renewable energy production.
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