Tag Archive for: Renewable Energy

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Sustainable energy transformations in an age of populism, post-truth politics, and local resistance

The contributions of this special issue address at least one political phenomenon in the context of sustainable energy transformation: populism, post-truth politics, and local resistance.

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Renewables, Land Use, and Local Opposition in the United States

Wind and solar generation require at least 10 times as much land per unit of power produced than coal- or natural gas-fired power plants, including land disturbed to produce and transport the fossil fuels. Additionally, wind and solar generation are located where the resource availability is best instead of where is most convenient for people and infrastructure, since their “fuel” can’t be transported like fossil fuels.

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Is the just transition socially accepted? Energy history, place, and support for coal and solar in Illinois, Texas, and Vermont

To analyze public perception of coal and solar energy and support for public policy that assists in a just energy transition, we conducted a mail survey in the summer of 2018 among a random sample of residents in three regions of the United States: Houston, TX, a large city with close ties to the oil industry, Burlington, VT, a medium-sized city that is solely powered by renewable energy sources, and Saline County, IL, a rural area with a long history of coal mining.

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Drivers and barriers to public acceptance of future energy sources and grid expansion in the United States

With the coming of the 21st century in the U.S., reliance on fossil fuels, in particular coal, decreased while renewable energy sources increased their contribution to the U.S. energy portfolio. The factors behind this emerging trend toward a decreased reliance on coal are many, including economic as well as policy goals. Nationally, support is strong for the general transition to renewable energy, but this support can decline at the local level particularly if renewable energy is perceived as have negative local economic impact, impeding implementation. However, some look at this as part of a transition to a new economic power structure. Due to a lack of research on identifying public preferences for energy production in the United States, the authors conducted a national survey to identify drivers and barriers of acceptance of different types of electrical energy production.

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LISTEN: NCAT’s AgriSolar Clearinghouse Aims to Make Solar More Accessible to Land Managers 

The National Center for Appropriate Technology has launched America’s first AgriSolar Clearinghouse to connect farmers, ranchers, land managers, solar developers, and researchers with trusted, practical information to increase the co-location of solar and agriculture.   

In less than a decade, solar installations are expected to cover more than 3 million acres of the United States, creating a big opportunity to pair solar with agricultural land to produce food, conserve ecosystems, create renewable energy, increase pollinator habitat, and maximize farm revenue.   

 In this episode of the ATTRA podcast series, Voices from the Field, NCAT Communications Director Emilie Ritter Saunders speaks with Energy Programs Director Stacie Peterson, Phd., about how the AgriSolar Clearinghouse aims to make solar more accessible to land managers looking to make the most out of their land, diversify their revenue, and produce renewable energy.   

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This podcast is produced by the National Center for Appropriate Technology through the ATTRA Sustainable Agriculture program, under a cooperative agreement with USDA Rural Development. ATTRA.NCAT.ORG.