ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the main variables that appear to have a role in the social acceptability of wind farms are considered with reference to studies conducted in the last 20 years in the area of the social acceptance of wind energy. Many factors are considered and grouped as attitudinal variables, personal resources and contextual variables. The first category is comprised of perceived local costs and benefits, along with non-local costs and benefits and perceived local environmental impacts. The second, personal resources, concerns knowledge about wind energy, social class, education and proximity to a wind farm site. Finally, contextual factors refer to issues of procedural justice, trust, community benefits and local ownership schemes. The interplay of these variables is considered through the proposition of a theoretical framework combining rational choice and attitudinal theories that is centred on Diekmann and Preisendörfer’s low-cost hypothesis of environmental behaviour.
