Dansk tekst
Denmark has the stated aim of becoming non-reliant on fossil fuels by 2050. To achieve this goal, the country will need to make huge investments in renewable energy. And while everyone is delighted with the potential environmental benefits, some citizens are less than thrilled at the thought of having to live close to the facilities that will be generating this renewable energy. What is more, people who live close to the power plants have sometimes found it hard to get their message across when voicing criticism or proposals.
The group behind the Wind2050 project is now out to change all that, and because wind power has a key role to play in Denmark’s 2050 strategy, the group will initially be focusing on wind turbine projects.
To start with, the researchers will be collecting criticism of existing wind turbine projects in all parts of Europe, before attempting to identify universal patterns and regional differences. Once this work has been completed, they will use the huge data volumes to prepare recommendations for the energy policy of the future.
“We will start by mapping criticism, and ultimately—we hope—be making a considerable contribution to Denmark’s efforts to become non-reliant on fossil fuels with the least possible uncertainty en route and the greatest possible satisfaction as regards both the overall Danish energy solution in 2050 and the separate projects,” says Kristian Borch, Project Manager and Senior Researcher at DTU Management Engineering.
All about balance
Whatever you do, big projects will always attract some criticism—this is true of all renewable energy solutions including, of course, wind turbine installations. As such, it is unrealistic to hope to please everyone at the same time. According to Kristian Borch, it is a question of finding the right balance:
“Fundamentally, this project has to do with identifying energy solutions that leave as many people as possible as satisfied as possible. There are no solutions that will please everyone completely at either national or local level. However, we owe it to the environment and to each other to come up with the best compromises in the way we prioritize, position and communicate different energy projects—particularly in relation to the huge wind turbines, which often polarize opinion,” explains Kristian Borch.
For the environment and for each other
Wind 2050 aims to analyse both the processes behind and the results from previous wind turbine projects so as to make it possible to recommend models for citizen involvement, and to provide answers to specific questions regarding the physical frameworks of the projects such as how big turbines can actually be, and where they can be located.
“For example, we want to look into the issue of where it is best to position wind turbines, how to run the dialogue between citizens and developers, and how—by listening to the people who live in the immediate area—you can identify a solution that accommodates both national objectives and local wishes,” relates Kristian Borch.
It is precisely the dialogue with people living in the area that Wind2050 aims to improve appreciably. This is because public consultation processes, information material and votes have proved time and again to be insufficient to allow everyone to make their opinions heard, and for everyone affected by the process to feel that their input has been incorporated during the planning phase. However, the people behind Wind2050 are convinced that if you link engineering disciplines with the social sciences, it is possible to show much more consideration for citizens’ scepticism concerning wind turbines in their immediate vicinity, without this affecting the ambitious goals for a fossil fuel independent energy system by 2050.
Engineering democracy?
Because the group unites legal, sociological, financial and technical skills from DTU and universities throughout Europe, Project Manager Kristian Borch is sure that new opportunities will arise to understand and improve the democratic processes linked to the construction of large facilities for generating renewable energy. And even if new IT tools cannot replace traditional dialogue, they can help to clarify public concerns and contribute to qualifying the dialogue and ensuring that more perspectives come to the fore:
“For example, we are linking innovative IT tools with sociological understanding and legal skills in the development of a web crawler that is expected to be ready by the end of the year. The web crawler searches the internet for websites that have to do with wind turbines—debate fora, feature articles, etc.—and charts the points of view expressed. All the way down to regional level, this can help paint a picture of the considerations that need to be shown in the planning and project management of wind turbine facilities and the organization of public consultation meetings,” says Kristian Borch.
Kristian Borch
+45 51 53 74 82
kristianb@plan.aau.dk