Environmental and Socio-Economic Aspects of Public Acceptance of Wind Farms in Tamil Nadu, India – Key Observations and a Conceptual Framework for Social Inclusion

The planning and implementation of large-scale projects such as wind farms can have significant impacts on the perceptions and attitudes of people. Many times, it is necessary to consider the scope of social inclusion in a democratic decision making system. In this study, a questionnaire survey was conducted to assess the public opinion on health impacts, energy costs, environmental impacts and social developments associated with a wind farm located in the neighborhood of Gudimangalam, Tamil Nadu in India. The overall weightage of concerns obtained were mainly about health and environment in terms of higher noise levels (87%), visual obstructions (45%), obstructions to the movement of birds (43%) and dust accumulation (35%). A comprehensive response score was formulated for the responses pertaining to various demographic attributes. The critical impacts of environmental and social aspects were obtained based on the observed variations in weightage. Further, the study highlights the key aspects of changing socio-economic structure influencing the formation and representation of common opinion regarding futuristic wind energy adoption plans. Based on this, a conceptual framework is proposed for social inclusion as a critical measure for decision making.