Year: 2024
Type: article
Abstract: The offshore wind industry is rapidly expanding across the globe as countries aim to meet ambitious renewable energy targets and provide renewable energy to coastal population hubs. Offshore wind represents not only a transformation of energy markets but also ocean spaces with which individuals and communities have economic, personal, and cultural ties. Social science research can help understand the complexity of this human-technology interaction by exploring individuals’ perceptions of offshore wind projects and their effect on sociocultural systems. In this article, we review two theories that examine the social dimensions of offshore wind: social acceptance and energy justice. We then conduct a literature review of offshore wind research using these social acceptance and energy justice frameworks, with a focus on three groups of affected communities (coastal residents, tourists and recreationists, and commercial and recreational fishers) and compensation measures. We finish with a discussion of what the current literature reveals about the complex and diverse responses people have to offshore wind development in their community and the implications for future research.
Source: MAINSHEET
DOI: 10.61355/001c.132434
Authors: Shannon Howley, Emma Korein
Institutions: University of Rhode Island, University of Delaware
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W4408737148