In September 2010 the German government initiated a plan to shift from fossil fuels to renewable energies, with nuclear power as a bridging fuel. Following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, however, the government decided to immediately shut down almost half of Germany's reactors and phase out the...

Renewable energy is receiving increased attention as a viable alternative to non-renewable electrical generation, however, meeting global energy demands will require a more ambitious renewable energy program than is currently the case. There have been several reviews of potential technological,...

Several recent studies have proposed fast transitions to energy systems based on renewable energy technology. Many of them dismiss potential physical constraints and issues with natural resource supply, and do not consider the growth rates of the individual technologies needed or how the energy...

This article assesses the impact of wind energy policy choices on host community responses. Two key explanations (place-making and trust-building) for host community responses are identified from the substantial social science literature investigating local community reaction to wind farms. The...

Wind energy development has become a ‘hot topic’ across Michigan as this state seeks to achieve 10% of energy delivered to consumers from renewable sources (Huron County Planning Commission, 2005). The focus of this effort to generate renewable energy has centered around wind energy. Wind...

This paper critically screens 153 lifecycle studies covering a broad range of wind and solar photovoltaic (PV) electricity generation technologies to identify 41 of the most relevant, recent, rigorous, original, and complete assessments so that the dynamics of their greenhouse gas (GHG)...

Evidence suggests that state control of wind facility siting decisions fosters new project development more effectively than local control, yet the literature suggests that affected citizens tend to be more fairly represented in local siting processes. We argue that successful renewable energy...

Existing literature indicates that theoretically, the earth's wind energy supply potential significantly exceeds global energy demand. Yet, only 2–3% of global electricity demand is currently derived from wind power despite 27% annual growth in wind generating capacity over the last 17 years....

In this article we analyse how protests against wind farms reflect symbolic distances or alienations, typical to Flanders (Belgium), as consequences of wider societal trends. A thorough qualitative study of three wind farm projects in Flanders, including group discussions and interviews with...