Open research questions in Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy
142 unresolved questions extracted from the limitations and future-work sections of 1,146 Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy papers in our library. Each links back to the study that raised it.
What the literature leaves open
A lack of integration with broader implications of photosynthesis in secondary school settings. Contemporary science education overlooks the significance of photosynthesis for life on Earth and human society.
The Photosynthesis Literacy Framework – Updating Educational Perspectives on Photosynthesis Education · 2026 · DOIOur municipality-level analysis uses election vote shares as proxies for regional ideological trends, - Each empirical approach has distinct inferential limitations, - The linear panel models estimate within-municipality changes in clean technology adoption following changes in political support, but remain observational and cannot fully rule out unobserved time-varying confounders
Examining individual-level beliefs, climate attitudes or alignment with far-right platforms, - Investigating the effects of other factors on clean technology adoption, - Analyzing the relationship between far-right voting and clean technology adoption in other contexts
There is no universally agreed-upon method or set of metrics for measuring or estimating the impact of plans to address uncertainties accompanied by a variable supply of renewables. The existing metrics have limitations and do not address the challenges associated with energy source selection, built environment efficiency, and the energy trade. There is a need for a comprehensive approach to studying the impact of sustainable land use on the transition to a reliable, efficient, and accessible energy system.
limited by resource and time, - the performance of the existing model could be inadequate for land-cover types that are beyond the geographical scope, - the current workflow involves manual delineation work in both training set preparation and post processing
improving the deep learning model by adding new annotated images, - developing region-specified training sets, - applying the workflow to other regions and other types of energy projects
However, there has been very limited research on the impact of this local regulatory tool.
Understanding the Link Between Policy Design and Distributional Impacts of Local Wind Energy Ordinances · 2026 · DOIThis gap in knowledge contributes to unfavorable perceptions, with some residents viewing renewables as unreliable or economically unfeasible options compared to traditional energy sources like coal or natural gas.
Unlocking renewable energy potential: Overcoming knowledge sharing hurdles in rural EU regions on example of poland, sweden and france · 2025 · DOIKey findings reveal that while environmental awareness is high, significant barriers persist in the form of limited knowledge, underdeveloped infrastructure, and perceptions of high costs associated with RES.
Unlocking renewable energy potential: Overcoming knowledge sharing hurdles in rural EU regions on example of poland, sweden and france · 2025 · DOIBoth phenomena can potentially affect the efficiency of energy production, but the extent of their impact is not yet known.
Wake effects and temperature plumes: Coping with non-knowledge in the expansion of wind and geothermal energy · 2024 · DOIWhile the framework can serve as a starting point for evaluating energy transition plans, further work is needed to address the limitations of existing metrics and identify additional evaluations for mixed-energy land use that are critical to managing energy sprawl in terms of ecosystem services and other land uses.
The study does not provide a comprehensive review of prior work in the field. The research may be limited by the sampling strategy and participant demographics.
Exploring Trade Offs and Conflicts between Energy, Biodiversity and Human Livelihoods for Sustainable Development · 2026 · DOIThe study identifies a gap in the understanding of the complex interactions and trade-offs among energy development, biodiversity conservation, and human livelihoods. The research highlights the need for a comprehensive understanding of the multifaceted challenges and consequences associated with decision-making in these interconnected domains.
Exploring Trade Offs and Conflicts between Energy, Biodiversity and Human Livelihoods for Sustainable Development · 2026 · DOIBiomass resources are limited. Different biomass utilization pathways have different net private and social benefits. Policy support is necessary for viable biomass utilization in Germany.
The study identifies a research gap in the joint evaluation of the private investment perspective and the broader societal perspective of biomass utilization pathways. The study addresses the gap by assessing biomass utilization pathways in Germany using an integrated assessment framework.
Undergraduate curricula often emphasize theoretical instruction while neglecting opportunities for hands-on application. Integrating machine learning into undergraduate education presents several challenges.
Introducing Engineering Students to Machine Learning via Hands-on Wind Turbine Experiments · 2026 · DOIThe study identifies a gap in the understanding of heating transitions through the lens of energy democracy, energy citizenship, and energy justice. Prior research has neglected the social implications of heating transitions.
Home heating transition in Finland, Romania, Sweden and the United Kingdom through the combined lens of energy democracy, energy citizenship and energy justice · 2026 · DOIThe lack of a coherent framework for operationalizing structured, context-sensitive multi-stakeholder engagement in renewable energy planning. The need for a comprehensive review of existing literature on community engagement in rural energy projects.
A multi-stakeholder driven energy solutions framework for rural and remote areas in developing countries. A scoping review · 2026 · DOIThe dominance of positivist philosophies in household energy transition research. The limitations of quantitative methods and designs. The need for more comprehensive, context-sensitive, and policy-relevant insights into household energy transitions.
The study is limited to peer-reviewed studies, with articles behind paywalls excluded. The review is based on a systematic methodological review approach, which may not capture all relevant studies.
The study has a small sample size, with only three respondents. The study is limited to the Kuyavian-Pomeranian Voivodeship region. The study does not provide a comprehensive analysis of the technical performance of small hydropower plants.
Barriers and management practices for small hydropower: The case of the Kujawsko-Pomorskie Region in Poland’s green energy transition · 2026 · DOIThe lack of a robust legislative framework to facilitate the energy transition. The need for project managers to possess a range of skills, focus on relevant tasks, and fit within a certain budget.
The Role of Project Managers in an Efficient Energy Transition Process: An Exploratory Study · 2026 · DOIhttps://www.iea.org/reports/global-critical-minerals-outlook-2024 Kazemzadeh, E., Fuinhas, J. A., Shirazi, M., Koengkan, M., & Silva, N. (2023). Does economic complexity increase energy intensity?. Energy Efficiency, 16(4), Article 29. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12053-023-10104-w Khan Baloch, S., Ali, S., Bin Umar, H., Waqar, M., & Abbas, T. (2025). Integration of renewable energy sources into urban power grids: Challenges and control strategies.
The Role of Project Managers in an Efficient Energy Transition Process: An Exploratory Study · 2026 · DOIThere is a lack of understanding of consumer reaction to clean energy initiatives. Prior work has not examined the impact of demographic factors on resistance to clean energy.
Consumer reaction to clean energy initiatives: communication strategies for power management providers · 2026 · DOIThis was a non-funded study and the resource limitations created a regional approach to sampling context specific respondents that were relevant to our research objectives. Our findings are exploratory but are transferable to a larger population. We suggest future research on the topic to reach a broader validation. Author contributions The author created study conception and design, material preparation, contributed to data collection, data analysis, re- porting, interpretation and discussion. Funding Open access funding provided by the Carolinas Consortium. This research received no specific funding from any agency in the pub- lic, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors. Data availability The data that support the findings of this study are available from the author upon reasonable request.
Consumer reaction to clean energy initiatives: communication strategies for power management providers · 2026 · DOI
Most-cited papers in Social Acceptance of Renewable Energy
- Alternative energy technologies · Nature · 2001 · 4,720 citations
- Social norms and energy conservation · Journal of Public Economics · 2011 · 2,070 citations
- The political economy of the ‘just transition’ · Geographical Journal · 2013 · 1,020 citations
- Factors influencing the acceptability of energy policies: A test of VBN theory · Journal of Environmental Psychology · 2005 · 975 citations
- What Is Energy For? Social Practice and Energy Demand · Theory Culture & Society · 2014 · 594 citations
- ENERGY CONSERVATION “NUDGES” AND ENVIRONMENTALIST IDEOLOGY: EVIDENCE FROM A RANDOMIZED RESIDENTIAL ELECTRICITY FIELD EXPERIMENT · Journal of the European Economic Association · 2013 · 513 citations
- Personal and contextual influences on househould energy adaptations. · Journal of Applied Psychology · 1985 · 502 citations
- What is the ‘Just Transition’? · Geoforum · 2017 · 409 citations
- Place attachment and public acceptance of renewable energy: A tidal energy case study · Journal of Environmental Psychology · 2011 · 360 citations
- Understanding change and continuity in residential energy consumption · Journal of Consumer Culture · 2011 · 330 citations
Most recent work
- Technology assessment through a hybrid scenario-based decision Making: Case of wind energy · Technology in Society · 2026
- The Photosynthesis Literacy Framework – Updating Educational Perspectives on Photosynthesis Education · Research in Science Education · 2026
- Urban wind energy futures in the making: Energy plazas, hotspots, and enclaves · Futures · 2026
- Operationalizing energy justice: mapping Norwegian youth preferences for renewable energy transitions · Environmental Research Energy · 2026
- Ethics in practice: navigating moral complexity in energy transitions · Environmental Sociology · 2026
- The Energy Commons and Commoning: Collective Action in Energy Transitions · International Journal of the Commons · 2026
- From collaboration to high-quality evidence for the energy transition: A total experimental field trial error framework · Energy Research & Social Science · 2026
- Maps in the service of sociotechnical imaginaries of energy transition · Geoforum · 2026
- Contesting the Future: Utopian politics and the defence of fossil fuel hegemony · Organization Studies · 2026
- Community‐Based Projects for Energy Transition: Citizen Profiling Through Psychological and Social Drivers · Journal of Community Psychology · 2026
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