It's an ill Wind : An Analysis of Justice Perceptions around Wind Power

Renewable energy lies in the center of the debate on climate change. In order to achieve the energy transition, to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to terminate our reliance on fossil fuels, wind energy is one of the world’s biggest bets. However, wind power plants are frequently contested at the local level, where they create discussions regarding fairness as benefits and burdens seem not always to be equally distributed. To better understand ‘energy justice’ in the era of renewable energy, our research qualitatively explores the perceptions of relevant involved stakeholders around wind energy projects in three locations in Germany and Sweden. Our findings add evidence and confirm many previous implications from the growing literature of public acceptance and energy justice. In addition, we highlight the importance of distributive, procedural and recognitional justice, as well as paradoxes arising from wind energy projects such as envy, the transformation of nature and the interpretation of citizens’ duties. The study furthermore sustains the faced complexities on the path towards an energy-just world