Geothermal energy is a resource that has the potential for development in many countries around the world. Despite its versatility and economic viability, this resource faces numerous obstacles that hinder its deployment and capacity for achieving a similar market share as other renewable and clean energy sources. Both technical and non-technical barriers can be highly detrimental to the implementation of geothermal projects. A social license to operate (SLO) is a tool that can help the deployment of geothermal energy. As a new concept, SLO is little developed in the business literature but is still being adopted in many industries. Its main challenges reside in its context-dependence and the lack of clear frameworks to utilize it. This paper introduces, in a first known attempt, through a qualitative approach, a conceptual model of the social license to operate in the geothermal energy sector. For its development, three case studies, working group discussion and surveying were conducted in the framework of the H2020 funded CROWDTHERMAL project, which aims to empower EU citizens for direct participation in geothermal projects through crowdfunding. Findings of this paper also drew on existing general conceptual models of the SLO, and experiences from other sectors that have developed their own SLO models. The paper contributes to a more contextualized understanding of the social license within the geothermal sector and sheds the light on practices and challenges that influence the acquisition and maintenance of SLO in geothermal energy projects and initiatives.

Herein, risk perception as one relevant factor for public acceptance and examines the different levels of risk that play a role in the evaluation of new technologies and links them to the current societal discourses on the development of a hydrogen economy is addressed. The conceptual framework is based on a holistic understanding of risk that goes beyond mere technology assessment and also includes systemic risks along the value chain; different stakeholder perspectives are also addressed. Thus, the results of a media analysis are combined with the results of a representative survey in Germany. Results show a rather low risk perception of hydrogen in the public combined with a high degree of uncertainty in the respective risk estimation. Systemic risks like security of supply or increasing energy costs are perceived more strongly compared to accidental risks from hydrogen infrastructure, whereas for the public acceptance potential health risks show the strongest correlation. Overall, the study shows the relevance of risk considerations in the introduction of new technologies and accompanying communication measures.

Die gesellschaftliche Akzeptanz von Energieinfrastrukturen und klimapolitischen Maßnahmen stellt einen wesentlichen Erfolgsfaktor für die Transformation des Energiesystems dar. Das folgende Kapitel beschreibt konzeptionelle Grundlagen bezüglich der Definition und Dimensionierung des Akzeptanzbegriffs sowie deren psychologische Grundlagen und beleuchtet relevante Einflussfaktoren auf die Akzeptanz von Energieinfrastrukturen wie Erneuerbaren Energien und dem Ausbau des Stromnetzes. Es werden Praxisbeispiele aus unterschiedlichen Anwendungsfeldern berichtet und konkrete Möglichkeiten diskutiert, auf lokaler Ebene akzeptable Lösungen zu erreichen, wobei die besondere Rolle einer konstruktiven Partizipationskultur für die Akzeptanz und die gesellschaftliche Transformation aufgezeigt wird.

One of the major challenges regarding energy transition is to create active support towards renewable energy installations on a local level. The CROWDTHERMAL project presents practical approaches for involving local stakeholders in different measures in order to develop acceptable solutions. Based on technical evidence and data from concrete case studies, the project shows ways how community funding can increase social acceptance towards geothermal energy installations. The presented solutions are based on alternative financial schemes studies and risk mitigation analysis in geothermal projects.

This paper presents a decision support tool for promoters/investors of geothermal energy projects, based on a decision tree (DT) structure. The DT aims to assist stakeholders to select public engagement strategies, alternative financing solutions and risk mitigation measures (or options) for geothermal energy projects. Public engagement is necessary for the successful development and operation of geothermal projects. Available studies (including toolkits and protocols) commonly list a set of practices for social engagement without providing information on the factors which render certain options more suitable than others. The presented tool offers a transparent framework to how relevant decisions could be managed by providing a sequence of questions that focus on social, environmental, resource risk, and financial influencing factors and to realise community engagement into geothermal projects. This work is part of the Horizon 2020 CROWDTHERMAL project, which aims at empowering the public to directly participate in the development of geothermal projects through social engagement tools and alternative financing schemes, like crowdfunding.

The research on people–place relations makes an important contribution to the understanding of the public responses to renewable energy technologies (RETs). Social media not only provides easy access to the sentiments and attitudes of online users towards RETs, but social media content can also shape the discourse, both on- and offline, about RETs. Hence, social media content analysis provides valuable insights into the public responses to RETs. However, as of now, only a small number of studies have investigated people–place relations in the context of the energy transition via online content. To address this lack of knowledge, this study aims to increase the understanding of people–place relations by investigating the relationship between the place scales mentioined in Instagram posts (categorized from local to planet) and the sentiments that are expressed in said posts, depending on different energy infrastructures (solar, wind, biomass, geothermal, powerlines, and renewable energy in general). Our analysis of 1500 Instagram posts shows that the place scales that are mentioned in the Instagram posts are related to some differences in the post emotionality, and that these effects differ across the different hashtags that are related to RETs. By using a sociocognitive approach, this study is the first to investigate Instagram posts in the context of the energy transition and people–place relationships.