Beyond Nimbyism: Public engagement with renewable energy

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Beyond Nimbyism Public engagement with
renewable energy

• Dr. Patrick Devine-Wright
• Prof. Gordon Walker
• Dr. Julie Barnett
• NASEG, Welsh Assembly
• Cardiff
• May 5th 2009

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Summary

• The Beyond Nimbyism research project
• Key findings
• Cross-case study analysis
• Specific Welsh case study projects
• Gwynt y Mor offshore wind energy
• Port Talbot biomass energy
• Pembrokeshire marine energy (tidal and wave)

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Beyond Nimbyism project

• Six UK Universities (Lancaster, Loughborough,
  Manchester, Northumbria, Strathclyde and Surrey)
• Multidisciplinary team drawn from Psychology,
  Geography, Political Science, Sociology and
  Engineering
• Aim to deepen understanding of public responses
  to renewable energy technologies
• Focus upon public engagement, since many experts
  have claimed that more or better engagement is
  key to increasing public acceptance
• Beyond Nimbyism project title reflects the fact
  that many social scientists have been critical of
  the use of this term to describe or explain
  public opposition

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Our approach to researching public engagement

• The outcome of the interaction between two
  processes
• How industry and policy actors conceive and
  engage with diverse publics
• How local residents conceive and respond to a)
  specific projects and b) the engagement
  activities undertaken during those projects by
  developers and other organisations

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engagement strategies and approaches
engagement actions
media reports
leaflets
petitions
public actors in places
RE actors in networks
interactions
meetings
exhibitions
protests
letters
expectations of projects and process
expectations of the public
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Work streams

• Literature review
• In-depth interview study
• Development of conceptual framework
• 8 case studies of specific projects

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Our 8 case study locations
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In each case ..

• Standardised methodological approach
• In-depth interviews with key stakeholders
• Focus group discussions with local residents
• Questionnaire survey of local residents
• Bespoke tools designed by the project team
• This allows us to make comparisons across case
  studies and sectors

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Summary of participants

• 71 stakeholders were interviewed
• 249 residents took part in focus group
  discussions
• 2911 residents completed our questionnaire survey
• 3251 people participated in the project

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Taking a birds eye view of the questionnaire data

• Analysis across the case studies
• Putting the NIMBY concept to the test

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Who are the NIMBYs?

• Presumptions about the kinds of people who oppose
  renewable energy projects
• That those who oppose
• believe renewable energy is a good idea, just
  not in their back yard
• incomers to the area
• those living closest to the site
• older people

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Results

• Our analyses found no link between peoples
  attitude to the project and
• length of residence in the area
• perceived proximity of home to the project site
• age
• gender
• education level
• Only 2 (61 people out of 2674) strongly
  supported renewable energy generally but strongly
  opposed the project in the local area
• Lack of support for the NIMBY idea

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Some more supportive than others

• Those working full-time were more supportive of
  projects in comparison to retired people, but
  retired people were generally neutral, not
  opposed
• Social housing occupants were slightly more
  supportive of projects than owners or private
  tenants, who were more neutral, not opposed

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What were the key factors?
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• Specific case studies
• Gwynt y Mor offshore wind energy
• Port Talbot biomass energy
• Pembrokeshire marine energy

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Gwynt y Mor

• Offshore wind energy
• 750 MW 200 turbines, 13km distant from the
  shore
• npower Renewables

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Project trajectory
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Research methodology

• Mixed methods qualitative and quantitative
• Six in-depth interviews with stakeholder
  organisations
• Six focus group discussions with local residents,
  two each in the towns of Rhyl, Colwyn Bay and
  Llandudno (n 44)
• Questionnaire surveys distributed to local
  residents using a drop and collect method
• Llandudno (n 220)
• Colwyn Bay (n 237)

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What kind of place is Llandudno / Colwyn Bay?
dying, in decline, scummy, horrible, grim, sad,
unloved, depressing, dump, shabby, bypassed,
forgotten, tired, faded, dirty, untidy

• beautiful, beautiful view of the bay, beautiful
  scenery, pretty, heaven, elegant, picturesque,
  stunning location

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Impacts financial and symbolic

• 1. 49.5 of Llandudno respondents agreed with the
  statement The offer is a bribe to silence local
  opposition
• The rather late timing (2007) of its announcement
  in the planning process may have contributed to
  this view
• 2. The opposition group played upon a commonly
  held view that Llandudno is a distinctively
  beautiful, historic natural place - an escape
  from urban life
• They argued that the project would
  industrialise the area, fence in the bay and
  damage tourism
• Those residents who had a strong sense of
  attachment to Llandudno, felt negative emotions
  (threat), negative attitudes to the project and a
  willingness to take action to oppose the project

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Trust in developer
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Average levels of trust (on a scale of 1-5)
Statistical analyses showed that residents in
each of the two places were not statistically
significant, except for their trust in the
opposition group
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Unfair, secretive, distant?

• 1. In Llandudno, 31.6 of respondents strongly
  disagreed with the statement I think the
  planning process for Gwynt y Mor has been fair
• There were a large number of neutral responses,
  particularly in Colwyn Bay (52.5)
• 2. 48.6 of respondents either agreed or strongly
  agreed that the planning process was secretive,
  and these did not differ significantly across the
  two places
• 3. Only 6.9 agreed that the final decision on
  Gwynt y Mor should be made in London
• 74.8 disagreed or strongly disagreed