„Reports about Practical Projects“ are written by doctoral students who have designed and carried out a practical project in cooperation with a non-university organisation. The BGHS has been supporting these projects with scholarships since 2020. In the first part of the series, Yannick Schöpper reports on his study on onshore wind energy.

Acceptance in the area, protest in the local?
Study on onshore wind energy by Yannick Schöpper

Yannick Schöpper's project, which was realised within the framework of a BGHS practical scholarship, deals with a currently controversial topic: the local acceptance of onshore wind turbines. No debate on renewable energies seems to be able to do without the keyword of acceptance at the moment. This is also reflected in various regulatory adjustments by federal and state legislators, which have been explicitly linked to the intention to increase the local acceptance level of onshore wind energy. In this respect, the "Citizen and Community Participation Act" of the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, which was passed in 2016, attracted much attention. This law obliges project developers to financially participate in the operation of wind turbines by the municipalities and local citizens - a real novelty at that time. How is the reception of the state law today, after four years? This and other questions were explored by Yannick in the context of the practical scholarship.

The project was carried out in cooperation with the Agentur für Erneuerbare Energien e.V. (AEE). The AEE is working to convince people of the need for energy system transformation, to promote a sustainable energy supply and to provide information on the status quo of renewable energies in Germany. The organisation is financed by annual contributions from various associations and companies in the renewable energy sector as well as project-related funding. It also offers various services in the field of event management, press and public relations and graphic design. AEE does not pursue a political agenda; it operates on a non-partisan and intergenerational basis.

The complete study is available here: (Link).

Further Information about the project "Non-academic-careers" is available on the BGHS website: (Link).