Landscape aesthetics should be given higher priority when deploying renewable energies – project

As Germany moves forward with renewable energy deployment, the country should both preserve nature and allow for the development of landscapes, according to a new project published by the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation. At present, landscape aesthetics are not being sufficiently taken into account during the planning and approval of renewable energy projects, Carina Schmidt, head of the project’s research team, said, according to an article in pv magazine. Therefore, citizens should be more involved in the decision-making processes, she added. “One of the major challenges of the energy transition is the development of new design qualities of landscapes,” Schmidt said.

Read the project’s results and recommendations in German here and the pv magazine article in German here. 

For background, read the factsheets Fighting windmills: When growth hits resistance and Bioenergy’s public acceptance problem.