Fireplace Talk: Acceptance of Renewable Energy

The acceptance of renewable energy was the issue of the latest Fireplace Talk, which took place on the 5th of December and was jointly organized by adelphi and the German Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Japan. 

In her welcoming remarks, Ms. Susanne Welter (Minister Counsellor for Economic and Scientific Affairs, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany) talked about the relevance of renewable energies to achieve climate goals. She continued by outlining the challenges and possible conflicts that result from the buildup of the renewables, especially in rural areas, and the need to address socio-economic aspects in this regard.

This was followed by two presentations on the acceptance of reneweable energies in Germany and Japan by Ms. Dr. Dörte Ohlhorst (Researcher and Lecturer, Munich School of Politics and Public Policy, Chair of Environmental and Climate Policy, Technical University of Munich) and Mr. Akihiro Sando (Senior Researcher, Renewable Energy Institute). Ms. Ohlhorst presented different factors that can support or deteriorate the acceptance for the development of renewable energies. Moreover, she provided German best-practice expamles for the participation of citizens in development processes and outlined guidelines that could possibly be transferred to Japan. In his presentation, Mr. Sando explained why local acceptance is very important in Japan. He identified a bottleneck regarding renewable energy and claimed that without consensus building with the local communities the deployment of renewables in Japan would fail.

In the following discussion, participants had the opportunity to report on their experiences with scaling up renewable energies as well as discuss challenges and possible solutions. A key emphasis was put on the importance on stakeholder involvement from the very beginning of planning and development processes. Further, information and knowledge about the relevance of the energy transition and possible economic benefits, e.g. through investment possibilities or lower energy costs, for local communities can result in higher acceptance.