A qualitative analysis to understand the acceptance of wind energy in Bavaria

Acceptance plays an important role in the successful adoption of wind energy technology. This article identifies factors influencing the acceptance of wind energy and selects those factors which have the highest relevance for wind energy acceptance in Bavaria. We decided to analyze the Federal State of Bavaria in Germany as its current policy governance decelerates the building-up of wind turbines in this federal state. Using a qualitative approach, the results indicate that the perception of political processes, such as the recent enacting of the 10-H regulation in Bavaria, influences the acceptance towards wind energy, as trust and transparency in political processes are essential. In addition, the paper reveals the importance of the distributive justice, focusing in particular on the subitem envy, which can be considered on a neighboring or regional level. Additionally it reveals additional factors which are relevant for wind energy acceptance in the specific case of the analyzed federal state. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.