ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Environmental and Socio-Economic Aspects
of Public Acceptance of Wind Farms in Tamil
Nadu, India – Key Observations
and a Conceptual Framework
for Social Inclusion
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1
Smart and Healthy Infrastructure Laboratory, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute
of Technology, Sathyamanagalam - 638401, Tamil Nadu, India
2
Department of Civil Engineering, Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology, Pollachi – 642003,
Tamil Nadu, India
3
Center for Engineering Research, The Research Institute, King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals,
Dhahran - 31261, Saudi Arabia
4
Applied Research Centre for Metrology, Standards & Testing, The Research Institute, King Fahd University
of Petroleum and Minerals, Dhahran - 31261, Saudi Arabia
5
Harbin Institute of Technology (Shenzhen), University Town, Shenzhen, China
Submission date: 2023-01-07
Final revision date: 2023-03-04
Acceptance date: 2023-04-11
Online publication date: 2023-05-10
Publication date: 2023-06-23
Corresponding author
Mangottiri Vasudevan
Smart and Healthy Infrastructure Laboratory, Department of Agricultural Engineering, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology Sathyamangalam, Erode, India
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2023;32(4):3339-3353
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ABSTRACT
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.