Social aspects GROUP 3  Charlotte Huber  Nancy J. Guarderas H.  Robert Pajdak

 Social and economical benefits  Energy access and security  Impacts on human activities and well-being  Land and marine usage  Property value impacts  Cultural impacts  Electromagnetic inference (EMI)  Visual impacts  Health and safety ▪ Noise ▪ Shadow flicker / ice / broken blades  Minimizing social and environmental concerns

 The use of wind energy can provide social benefits to developing and developed countries  Iceland relies entirely on renewable energy sources for energy production, based entirely on hydro and geothermal power

 The main social advantage of using wind energy here is most likely the increased diversity of energy production and better energy security  Introducing a new energy option also supports smaller and more distributed energy sources for the country

 Energy use per capita is correlated to the development level of countries  For developing countries expanding access to energy is very important  In these areas, decentralized grids and small scale energy production installations, including windmills, are more competitive

 Access to energy is not a problem in Iceland  It can be expensive for remote farms to buy electricity and thus small windmills could be an interesting option for them

 Land and marine usage  Property value impacts  Cultural impacts  Electromagnetic inference (EMI)  Visual impacts  Health and safety  Minimizing social and environmental concerns

 Wind energy installations require open spaces and access to windmills that are usually installed on grazing lands, agricultural, and coastal areas  The development of wind energy installation has generated conflicts in some locations in the world

 Offshore wind farms can affect both fishing grounds and shipping routes  Can be avoided through a careful planning process  Finding space for wind farms either onshore and offshore that would affect human life probably will not be a problem in Iceland

 There is some concern that residential property values can be affected near wind power plants  Published research has not found strong evidence about it

 Historic, sacred and archaeological sites must be considered sensitive sites for wind power installations  Indirect effects, for instance the visual impact of wind turbines near areas of high cultural value, have to be considered too  Insensitivity to the cultural value of locations where wind farms are constructed can contribute to conflicts 

 Wind power plants can cause electromagnetic interference and affect signals, including television, radio, cellular phones and radar  Can be minimized by technical solutions and location planning

 Most discussed social impact, due to unnatural appearances in landscapes  Wind power plants have grown in size in recent years and also spread geographically, so impact is growing bigger

 To counteractions of visual pollution:  Turbines of similar size and shape  Light-coloured paints  Choosing a smaller number of larger turbines over a larger number of smaller ones  Burying connection cabling  Ensuring that blades rotate in the same direction

 NOISE  SHADOW FLICKER / ICE / BROKEN BLADES

Noise  Not enough scientific proof on noise induced health damage

Shadow flicker / ice / broken blades  Seasonal problem, regulations in case of critical light conditions and safety measures during winter

 Planning Phase is essential to success in public acceptance  Early involvement of local people -> transparency  Proper planning as precondition to minimize social and environmental impacts

Questions?