Social Acceptance of Geothermal Energy in Southern Italy

Abstract

Italy was the first country to exploit geothermal energy in 1904. Even though over the last two decades there has been an increasing interest in the use of geothermal technologies, there appears to be little knowledge or understanding of the potentials of this energy source and its implications for the general society. Renewable energies exploitation is in general well supported by the public; however, studies on the social acceptance of these technologies have been substantially excluded from energy innovation programs. Renewable energy facilities (e.g. wind, solar, biomass, and geothermal) affect local and regional communities in several ways by influencing matters like land management, distributional and procedural justice, public governance, and economic opportunities. It is increasingly recognized that the social acceptance of energy innovation programs may be a constraining factor to increase the share of renewables. This paper presents the results of a cultural and social acceptability assessment of geothermal energy exploitation in southern Italy (Palermo, Sicily), carried out in the frame of the project VIGOR, a three-year program dedicated to a comprehensive assessment of geothermal energy potentials and applications in four regions of southern Italy. VIGOR aims at studying a wide array of geothermal applications, from low to high enthalpy, depending on the natural resources and the economic and social aspects of the reference territories. To explore the social attitude towards geothermal energy technologies, we performed a case study using a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Our case study has two basic components: (1) Focus Group studies were conducted on four different groups of citizens and stakeholders from the selected area. (2) A survey was conducted on a sample of 400 citizens calibrated by gender, age, education, job condition, and residence. All fieldwork was conducted in October 2012. This study has two primary objectives: (1) to explore the views and opinions of local communities regarding the potential and real exploitation of geothermal energy; (2) to contribute to the growing scientific and social-scientific literature on the social acceptance of geothermal energy.