Bonnie Ram

The Public Acceptance of New Energy Technologies

In the wake of ominous results about the impending path of climate change, and with gasoline prices hovering around four dollars per gallon, the 2012 presidential and congressional campaigns are full of claims and counterclaims about the transformation of the U.S. energy system. Although much discussion has centered on the need for new energy technologies, this debate as yet has been narrow and limited. Meaningful deployment of any technology will raise questions of public acceptance. Little is known about how diverse publics in the United States will respond to the advent of new energy sources, whether they involve a “second renaissance” for nuclear power, a dash to embrace hydraulic fracking for oil and natural gas, or emerging prospects for renewable energies like wind and solar power. Yet public acceptance will determine the outlook. Adding further complication is the growing debate about traditional energy sources and the extent to which a fossil fuel – based energy system should continue to be central to the American economy. This essay explores the issues involved in public acceptance of stability and change in the U.S. energy system. We conclude with several recommendations for gaining a greater understanding of the public acceptance quandary.

Assessing Integrated Risks of Offshore Wind Projects: Moving towards Gigawatt-Scale Deployments

This article looks at the potential risks and uncertainties associated with siting, constructing, and operating offshore wind facilities within a gigawatt-scale deployment strategy in North America. The U.S. electricity generation system, about 70 % fossil fuels and 20 % nuclear, is undergoing a sea change (EIA 2010). Two difficulties stand out in siting any utility-scale power plant and its delivery infrastructure anywhere; the potential catastrophic risks associated with oil and gas drilling and nuclear technologies, and the need to quickly expand low carbon, cost-effective energy supplies to meet expected demand under climate change scenarios in the next decade. Offshore wind has the potential to play a pivotal role in the low carbon energy supplies needed on the east coast and Great Lakes of the U.S. (DOE 2008, Musial and Ram 2010). The Department of Energy (DOE) estimated that the U.S. electricity sector could avoid 825 million tons of CO2 by integrating 20% wind energy (including 54 GW of offshore wind) into the U.S. electricity system by 2030 (DOE 2008a). The benefits of wind energy in mitigating climate change and other energy issues need to be considered together with the negative impacts in estimating and comparing risks involved in different energy sources (NRC 2009a). The European Community has shown the pathway with gigawatt-scale deployments operating, under construction, and planned in the Baltic, North and Irish Seas (Global Offshore Wind Farms Database 2011). This article argues that a new paradigm with a more systematic approach, beyond the engineering, policy, and financial market barriers, is essential to better inform gigawatt-scale wind decision makers and stakeholders. The diverse community of players and decision makers in the offshore wind industry requires a robust, integrated knowledge base. The knowledge base can help avoid surprises that impede and delay siting projects while laying the base for effective and fair approaches for communities along our coasts and Lakes. A new paradigm is proposed, an integrated risk analysis, as an effective approach to complex siting and community engagement issues.

Wind Energy Facility Siting: Learning from Experience and Guides for Moving Forward

Renewable energy technologies, like wind turbines, solar arrays, and biomass (and biogas) plants, and carbon reduction technologies, such as carbon storage and sequestration (CSS), will be a critical part of future energy supplies as the United States and other countries seek ways to reduce carbon emissions. Renewable energy technologies can be perceived as hazardous and undesirable, much to the surprise of some. Siting failures can be high and unexpected. Broad, general support for renewable energy can give way to more polarization about specific proposals. While a growing literature exists about the formation of public support and opposition to wind and other renewable energy technologies, lessons relevant to the wind industry can be found from past experiences relating to hazardous technologies, including chemical processing plants, nuclear waste facilities, nuclear power plants, incinerators, and hazardous and municipal landfills, and locally unwanted land uses, such as airports, transmission lines, schools, and housing developments. There has been little direct application of this broad source of knowledge to wind or other renewable energy siting literature. We review this literature to identify factors that contribute to public support and opposition. Substantial increases in the contribution of wind energy to the US energy mix will require leadership at both the federal and state levels. We end by proposing several strategies for improving future wind energy siting efforts.