Efficiency versus Equity in Spatial Siting of Electricity Generation: Citizen Preferences in a Serious Board Game in Switzerland

Energy transitions around the world will change the spatial fingerprint of the electricity sector, but there is a lack of studies on citizen preferences for siting the future mix of electricity technologies. Using the case of Switzerland in 2035, we present a serious board game to form and elicit ci...

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Main Authors: Franziska Steinberger, Tobias Minder, Evelina Trutnevyte
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2020-09-01
Series:Energies
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/18/4961
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spelling doaj-d452f54dbef444a8851bc80bf54648b52020-11-25T02:51:49ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732020-09-01134961496110.3390/en13184961Efficiency versus Equity in Spatial Siting of Electricity Generation: Citizen Preferences in a Serious Board Game in SwitzerlandFranziska Steinberger0Tobias Minder1Evelina Trutnevyte2Department of Environmental Systems Science, Institute for Environmental Decisions (IED), ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Environmental Systems Science, Institute for Environmental Decisions (IED), ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandDepartment of Environmental Systems Science, Institute for Environmental Decisions (IED), ETH Zurich, 8092 Zurich, SwitzerlandEnergy transitions around the world will change the spatial fingerprint of the electricity sector, but there is a lack of studies on citizen preferences for siting the future mix of electricity technologies. Using the case of Switzerland in 2035, we present a serious board game to form and elicit citizen preferences for spatial siting of a full mix of electricity technologies and we test this game with 44 participants in the city of Zurich. The game proves to help elicit valid preferences of the participants and lead to measurable learning effects about this complex, multi-dimensional topic. The results show that these 44 participants prefer a diverse mix of renewable technologies for Switzerland in 2035. In terms of siting, these participants consistently choose the efficiency strategy, where new plants are concentrated in the areas where they produce most electricity at least cost, in contrast to the strategy of regional equity, where all Swiss regions would equally build new generation and share the benefits and burdens of the energy transition.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/18/4961electricity mixrenewable energyequityspatial planningparticipatory planningpublic preferences
collection DOAJ
language English
format Article
sources DOAJ
author Franziska Steinberger
Tobias Minder
Evelina Trutnevyte
spellingShingle Franziska Steinberger
Tobias Minder
Evelina Trutnevyte
Efficiency versus Equity in Spatial Siting of Electricity Generation: Citizen Preferences in a Serious Board Game in Switzerland
Energies
electricity mix
renewable energy
equity
spatial planning
participatory planning
public preferences
author_facet Franziska Steinberger
Tobias Minder
Evelina Trutnevyte
author_sort Franziska Steinberger
title Efficiency versus Equity in Spatial Siting of Electricity Generation: Citizen Preferences in a Serious Board Game in Switzerland
title_short Efficiency versus Equity in Spatial Siting of Electricity Generation: Citizen Preferences in a Serious Board Game in Switzerland
title_full Efficiency versus Equity in Spatial Siting of Electricity Generation: Citizen Preferences in a Serious Board Game in Switzerland
title_fullStr Efficiency versus Equity in Spatial Siting of Electricity Generation: Citizen Preferences in a Serious Board Game in Switzerland
title_full_unstemmed Efficiency versus Equity in Spatial Siting of Electricity Generation: Citizen Preferences in a Serious Board Game in Switzerland
title_sort efficiency versus equity in spatial siting of electricity generation: citizen preferences in a serious board game in switzerland
publisher MDPI AG
series Energies
issn 1996-1073
publishDate 2020-09-01
description Energy transitions around the world will change the spatial fingerprint of the electricity sector, but there is a lack of studies on citizen preferences for siting the future mix of electricity technologies. Using the case of Switzerland in 2035, we present a serious board game to form and elicit citizen preferences for spatial siting of a full mix of electricity technologies and we test this game with 44 participants in the city of Zurich. The game proves to help elicit valid preferences of the participants and lead to measurable learning effects about this complex, multi-dimensional topic. The results show that these 44 participants prefer a diverse mix of renewable technologies for Switzerland in 2035. In terms of siting, these participants consistently choose the efficiency strategy, where new plants are concentrated in the areas where they produce most electricity at least cost, in contrast to the strategy of regional equity, where all Swiss regions would equally build new generation and share the benefits and burdens of the energy transition.
topic electricity mix
renewable energy
equity
spatial planning
participatory planning
public preferences
url https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/18/4961
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AT evelinatrutnevyte efficiencyversusequityinspatialsitingofelectricitygenerationcitizenpreferencesinaseriousboardgameinswitzerland
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