LOCAL PEOPLE OPINION ABOUT WIND FARMS IN TURKEY

Abstract

In contrast to fossil fuel energy, wind energy has been embraced by people. Because it is a new issue, people might have a limited knowledge about advantages and disadvantages. The aim of this study was to examine how perceived and evaluated the environmental impacts of wind farms by local people. For this purpose, a survey was conducted with 126 resident who lives in the area of wind farms, in Osmaniye, a province in Mediterranean region of Turkey. Respondents were expected to be informed about wind farms before construction. They stated that they were not disturbed by the wind noise (62%) and saw the whole wind system from their house (61,40). Some of them have indicated that the wind farms are not primarily concerned about the environmental impacts, while others have pointed out that they adversely affected the productivity in agricultural production. Local people think that wind farms can make economic contributions to their villages.