Preserving Agriculture through Wind Energy Development: A Study of the Social, Economic, and Land Use Effects of Windfarms on Rural Landowners and Their Communities.

farmland preservation;rural land use;wind energy;Urban Planning;Social Sciences;Urban and Regional Planning

Mills, Sarah BanasMarans, Robert W. ;

University of Michigan

关键词: farmland preservation;    rural land use;    wind energy;    Urban Planning;    Social Sciences;    Urban and Regional Planning;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/111508/sbmills_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

This research tests the claim made by some rural officials that windfarms help to preserve farmland.Using a mixed-methods case study approach, I draw on evidence from four windfarm communities located in nine townships in two regions inMichigan to test three different mechanisms by which wind turbines might be altering the farmland conversion process, as derived from both the rural planning and wind energy literatures.Data from five nearby townships where there are no wind turbines were also examined.First, a large-scale (n=1730) mail survey of farmland owners is used to determine that landowners with turbines on their property invest significantly more in their farms than both their neighbors and farmland owners in a similarly situated non-windfarm community.Landowners with turbines are also more likely to have a succession plan in place for their farm and less likely than other landowners to believe their land will go idle in the future.However, the more indirect financial benefits of wind development—local jobs and increased property tax revenues—do not appear to have positive impacts on landowners who live in the windfarm community but who do not have a turbine sited on their property.Second, interviews with realtors and public officials in the four windfarm communities indicate that, rather than reduce demand for new homes in the vicinity of the windfarm, windfarm income may be inducing some landowners to build new homes within sight of the turbines.Finally, , I find that though farmland preservation is rarely considered when officials establish setback distances for wind turbines, the amount of land rendered undevelopable by the presence of the turbines is often substantial.These findings can inform officials and rural planners who might consider whether and how to welcome wind development within their jurisdictions by providing information about the social and economic impacts of wind development to local communities.Research findings can inform wind developers and planners about the key benefits and drawbacks of wind energy as seen by landowners in communities with wind turbines.