Toward a framework of social welfare assessment of wind energy systems. (September 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Hayajneh, Hassan; Zhang, Xuewei
• Is Part Of: Journal of physics. Volume 1311(2019)
• Publication Date: 2019-09
• Subjects: Physics -- Congresses; 530.5
• DOI: 10.1088/1742-6596/1311/1/012029
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1742-6588

Abstract

Abstract: Wind energy systems have seen substantial growth over the past decades. It is important to assess the impacts of wind energy systems on the wellbeing of all aspects of life and society. Previous works have been conducting life cycle assessments to evaluate the environmental impacts of wind energy systems; in social research, studies have also been conducted to clarify people's attitude and perception of wind energy systems. However, to assess social welfare, it is needed to integrate these two approaches and generate indicators on a comparable and objective basis. In this work, we propose such a framework in which community survey designs and data analysis methods are specified. To correct the subjectivity in the answers of individuals, an inverse map of that used in prospect theory is used. Based on the indicators of the five aspects of social welfare evaluated by an individual, the individual utility function can be constructed, which, in turn, can be averaged over the individual's cluster or group. The cluster averaged individual utility functions will lead to definitions of social welfare function. This work then discusses the effects of cluster weight parameters, social welfare function definitions, as well as the inclusion of the prospect theory concept. The proposed social welfare assessment framework could be valuable for future wind energy system planning and operation.