Turbines in my backyard: social environmental implications of wind farms in South America

RAFAELLA LENOIR IMPROTA; ENRIC POL

Conferencia; 22 International Association of People Environment Studies (IAPS) Conference; 2012

Introduction Overall research problem: The implementation of wind farms is constantly growing mainly because of the situation of climate change and its role as a substitute to fossil fuel. In Latin America the wind farms are a novelty, and as they are being developed populations start coexisting with their construction. Specific research question: How do wind farms interfere with the everyday life of the people living near to them and which is the interrelation between these people and these kinds of projects. Theoretical background: In general, the wind farms have a positive social evaluation. Thus, in the places where wind farms are sitting, usually there is no easy acceptation (Devine-Wright, 2010; Wolsink, 2011). Controversy and oppositions happens because economic implications or interference in symbolic, identity or emotional aspects between population and area that the wind farm was being (Devine-Wright, 2005, Pol, et al., 2011, Schweizer-Ries, 2008). The fact that exist conflicts or other problems of acceptation, sing the importance that psychosocial aspects considerations involved on implementation that renewable energy projects, many times forgotten for environmental management. Almost all of wind farms acceptation literature is from developed countries. The only one study about this theme in South America that we are knowledge (Improta & Pinheiro, 2011) shows that even there are not any benefit for the habitants and any relation between them and wind farm, the project have a positive evaluation and there are not found sign opposition of this wind farm. Method Context: The main objective is to map different South American realities in regard to the acceptance of wind farms in three countries: Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay; in three different phases: planning, construction and operation. Participants: populations that live near the wind farms or in the area where the wind farms will be developed. Instruments: The research is based on the Social Impact Detection/Barcelona (DIS/BCN) tool and in the concepts of place identity, social representations and lifestyles. Individual semi-structured interviews are made which are then taped and transcribed. Procedure: The inhabitants are individually interviewed. When necessary, to get closer to the reality of each population, the choice of the participants is done according to the composition of the existing social groups. In the first phase, the area near the Cerro Chato Wind Farm (CCWF) is being studied. It is located in the south of Brazil and it is under the construction process. The 26 inhabitants interviewed were divided into four groups: 1. farmers that will have aerogenerators in their properties, 2. farmers that will not have wind turbines, 3. farms that did not want to have aerogenerators in their property, and 4. farmers employees who live in the properties interviewed. Subsequently, new interviews will be made to the same people when the wind farm is operating. On the following months, the second phase of the field will be carried out with a population living near an operating wind farm in Argentina. In the third phase, a population located next to an unimplemented project in Uruguay will be studied. Data analysis strategies: discourse analysis. Results. At the moment the interviews of the population living near the CCWF are being transcribed. Accordingly, there are no conclusive results yet. On the symposium we will display the available data of this phase.Discussion. Up to now there are no conclusive results for discussion based on the data that has been transcribed.