How can private corporations and public authorities ensure the engagement of citizens and local communities before building large plants for green energy production? Researchers from the UCPH have set out to answer this question in a new project co-funded by Innovation Fund Denmark.
Denmark needs to invest heavily in the expansion of renewable energy systems and establishment of so-called Power-to-X plants converting renewable electricity into transportable, storable forms of energy such as hydrogen, ammonia and methanol.
However, establishing a carbon-neutral energy sector can lead to conflict and local resistance when large plants are built all over the country.
Citizens and local stakeholders can feel neglected, and rightly so, when public authorities and private corporations do not engage with them before building large plants for energy production.
A new research project based at the University of Copenhagen and co-funded by Innovation Fund Denmark will address this risk in close cooperation with partners at energy companies. The aim is to develop and test a model for how private corporations and public authorities can successfully engage citizens and local communities in the transition towards green energy.
Based on previous studies, the researchers estimate that local resistance currently puts a stop to 10-15 per cent of green energy projects. Therefore, the project seeks to prevent unnecessary conflict and delays.
"Citizens and local stakeholders can feel neglected, and rightly so, when public authorities and private corporations do not engage with them before building large plants for energy production. But citizens are not powerless; local groups can use social media and their network to fight a given project. Our aim is to identify the best way to facilitate positive dialogue between stakeholders," says Associate Professor and anthropologist Simon Westergaard Lex about the project for which he has received DKK 7.5 million in co-funding from Innovation Fund Denmark.
New tools for corporations and authorities
The project is based at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Copenhagen, but also involves researchers from the Department of Political Science and the Faculty of Law, while a number of private companies working on Power-to-X projects are partners in the project.
