Does Perceived Urban Bias in Solar Farms Drive Rural Opposition to Solar Energy? A Field Survey Experiment in South Korea

Abstract

Rural areas bear a growing burden of domestic renewable energy transition by hosting most of the renewable energy facilities as opposed to urban areas. This geographical disparity of renewable energy production between rural and urban areas may motivate rural residents to perceive urban bias in renewable energy facilities, a notion that those facilities in rural areas are predominantly beneficial for urban areas. This study employs a field survey experiment with randomized vignette treatments to explore whether such perceived urban bias reduces support for solar energy among rural residents in South Korea. The results suggest that groups of rural residents exposed to framed messages highlighting that solar farms benefit urban residents are less likely to support government investment in solar energy development than those in a reference group. However, such a framing effect was not found among suburban residents. To make renewable energy transition more acceptable for rural areas, governments must strengthen policies that channel the benefits of rural renewable energy projects into rural communities and enhance urban energy efficiency to reduce their reliance on low-carbon energy from rural areas.

Keywords: Renewable Energy, Social acceptance, Urban bias, Distributive justice, Experimental design