Who Has Seen the Wind? Visualising Wind Farm Developments Using Digital Tools

Wind energy is an appropriate solution to reduce carbon emissions and climate change. The expansion of wind energy developments in Sweden in recent years has created substantial opposition which makes wind energy tougher to develop. The landscape and visual constraints associated with wind energy developments has become the critical reason for local opposition and protest. Planning information relating to the visual and landscape impacts of a proposed wind energy development are often brought forward through a landscape analysis. Digital tools are used in a landscape analysis to identify the proposed visual effects associated with a development. These tools provide visual aid of the proposed development through 2-dimentional and 3-dimentional images, identify constraint areas on a map as outlined in the respective development plans and identifies where visibility is likely to occur. This thesis uses a quantitative assessment by the example of a potential wind farm in Sundsvall Municipality in Sweden and theoretical research on landscape connotation. The motivation of this thesis is to outline the opportunities and limitations associated with the digital tools used to conduct a landscape analysis, promote a standardised approach to practice and implement suggestions to improve digital tools to allow for more public participation and to limit opposition towards wind farm developments. The results of this thesis suggest that the social issues and visual perceptions of turbines can be reduced through the inclusion of digital tools, but radical changes are needed within the planning process to recognise the benefits of digital tools and provide a standardised framework