Towards a cross-paradigmatic framework of the social acceptance of energy systems

As the significance of public opinion and practice for energy system change has become more widely understood, an expanding body of work is investigating drivers of social and public acceptance of a wide diversity of energy technologies, both infrastructure and end-user applications. The literature is large and spans multiple contexts, methods, theoretical and disciplinary perspectives and paradigms. While this diversity is in many ways healthy, experience suggests that it can be confusing for those without close knowledge of its constituent parts. Here we set out a framework for thinking about energy technology ‘acceptance’ that is relatively neutral in normative and theoretical terms, while acknowledging that a full integration of perspectives and complete theoretical neutrality are not possible. We do not claim a comprehensive review base, but draw on our experience to illustrate the diversity of what we regard as the more influential perspectives in the literature.