Presentations

Abstract

The European energy challenges have sparked intense public debate. Significant efforts have been made to convince the public of the positive impact of renewable energy, particularly energy from wind turbines. Providing neutral, accessible, and clear information to the public is essential to prevent the spread of misinformation about the energy transition. The better informed people are, the less likely they are to be misled by disinformation. To seize the opportunities in wind energy and wind turbine decommissioning, POM West-Vlaanderen has launched a social support campaign to inform citizens about the process and its impact. Alongside this information campaign, a comprehensive strategy for the decommissioning and repowering of onshore and offshore wind turbines is being developed, ensuring alignment among all stakeholders in the sector. This strategy addresses ecological, logistical, and legal aspects, bringing together all key players to create a unified vision for the sustainable and efficient decommissioning, repowering, or life extension of wind turbines. The strategy serves as the foundation for the social support campaign. We aim to build societal support for the decommissioning of wind farms, both onshore and offshore. Although the decommissioning process won't begin in the short term, we recognize that even small pieces of disinformation can snowball, potentially escalating into significant issues. Starting a campaign to shift public opinion after such misinformation has spread would be too late. Therefore, we are acting now by launching a campaign that provides objective and unbiased information about the environmental aspects, logistical process, material flows, societal impact, and the necessary political framework.