Measuring Renewable Energy Externalities: Evidence from Subjective Well-Being Data

Charlotte von Moellendorff () and Heinz Welsch
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Charlotte von Moellendorff: University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics

No V-373-14, Working Papers from University of Oldenburg, Department of Economics

Abstract: Electricity from renewable sources avoids the disadvantages of conventional power generation (air pollution, greenhouse gases, nuclear risk) but often meets with local resistance due to visual, acoustic, and odor nuisance. We use representative panel data on the subjective well-being of 36,475 individuals in Germany, 1994 - 2012, for identifying and valuing the local externalities from wind, solar and biomass plants. While the well-being effects of windturbines refer mainly to initial installations and tend to dissipate over time, the effects of solar and biomass plants build up gradually as their number and capacity rises. In a spatial perspective, power generation from biomass creates negative spillovers to adjacent localities that are absent in the case of wind power.

Keywords: renewable energy, local externality; subjective well-being, life satisfaction, non-market valuation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D62 I31 Q42 Q51 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33 pages
Date: 2014-12, Revised 2014-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-eur, nep-hap and nep-reg
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Published in Oldenburg Working Papers V-373-14

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http://www.uni-oldenburg.de/fileadmin/user_upload/ ... e/vwl/V-373-14-1.pdf First version, 2014 (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Measuring Renewable Energy Externalities: Evidence from Subjective Well-being Data (2017)
Working Paper: Measuring Renewable Energy Externalities: Evidence from Subjective Well-Being Data (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:old:dpaper:373

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