Renewable Energy Perception by Rural Residents of a Peripheral EU Region

Ozgur Kaya (), Wojciech J. Florkowski, Anna Us and Anna M. Klepacka
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Wojciech J. Florkowski: Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA 30223-1797, USA
Anna Us: Department of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Pope John Paul II State School of Higher Education, ul. Sidorska 95/97, 21-500 Biala Podlaska, Poland
Anna M. Klepacka: Faculty of Production Engineering, Warsaw University of Life Sciences-SGGW, ul. Nowoursynowska 164, 02-787 Warsaw, Poland

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 7, 1-16

Abstract: Renewable energy (RE) sources are often locally available and have the potential to lessen the rural dependence on the national power grid, reducing disruptions in power supplies and the heavy dependence on coal combustion. Poland faces an EU mandate of a 15% share of renewables in energy generation by 2020. However, the installations intended to supply several types of RE encountered local opposition, forcing a cancellation of the planned investments and stressing a need for understanding rural residents’ attitudes towards RE in general. Using survey data, this paper examines the perception of RE importance among rural residents in eastern Poland. The specified empirical relationship includes the sociodemographic and economic characteristics of residents. Perceptions of the links between health and specific sources of environmental pollution and actions demonstrating energy-saving behavior serve as explanatory variables. The performance of the estimated logit equation was rigorously tested. The probability of attaching importance to RE by rural residents increases most if a respondent displayed an energy-saving behavior, has certain demographic characteristics, and links health to environmental pollution caused by coal combustion. The graphic depiction of the effects of selected variables succinctly communicates possible future programs aimed at strengthening the rural population support of RE.

Keywords: renewable energy; rural area; survey; logit; probability change; probability change prediction (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)

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