A Study on Reaction of Residents to Wind Turbines to Promote Local Economy

Renewable energy is strongly focused on in Japan after the accident at nuclear plant. Especially, Northeast area of Japan has high potential of wind energy. It is expected that the related industries, such as manufacturing of equipment, maintenance, investment on wind farms, and retailing of electricity can boost local economy. However, the area has not many big industries which will be the potential users of such wind energy. Thus, a promising strategy is to use wind energy in local communities. Our previous study suggested wind turbines have not big avoidance, when the local community is having benefits from wind energy. By comparing the opinions of residents obtained through a questionnaire and those of workers in a facility using the wind energy, the paper discusses the key issues in installing so-called “civil wind turbines” to local communities. It concluded that the obtained knowledge can be helpful in promoting on-site generation and on-site consumption of wind energy