EU-Funded Projects with Actual Implementation of Renewable Energies in Cities. Analysis of Their Concern for Aesthetic Impact

Abstract

Social acceptance and aesthetic impact of renewable energy (RE) in cities are topics scarcely considered in the literature even though they have attracted growing interest. Innovative European-funded projects, therefore, should start to consider these concepts. This paper provides an innovative review of European projects with the aim of identifying those with actual implementation of RE and energy storage systems in urban environments and their concern for aesthetic impact. The search considered the five most relevant programs related to RE and climate change mitigation, including almost 14,000 projects. Furthermore, a survey and some interviews allowed to collect data about the selected projects. 0.1% of reviewed projects aimed at the actual installation of RE on an urban scale. However, there is a recent growing trend. The most used RE was solar, especially photovoltaic, while the most common system for energy storage was lithium batteries. We can affirm that these European projects do not currently show any particular concern for the aesthetic impact they cause in cities, nor for the social perception assessment. It would be advisable to consider technologies as products and basic components of work and daily life, and not only as a means of intervention to promote RE.