Is it sustainable to produce green energy ? A case of wind energy in the “Green Heart” of Italy. First Findings

Umbria is a region located in the middle of Italy. It is known for its cultural, heritage, the cleanness of its environment, the beauty of its landscape and for high quality of life of its resident. The typical regional landscape includes hilly areas with traditional crops like Olive tree, for olive oil, and grape vines for wine production. The importance that the Regional government gives to the environmental components of the Region is highlighted by the fact that 12% of its surface area is composed of National and Regional Park. In a similar contest it is very difficult to find an agreement among the Region's different social component regarding the production onshore wind energy, by energy generator wind farms, due their landscape impact. Historically a strong trade-off has arisen in this region between the conservation of the landscape and the aim to produce wind energy. In this paper we investigate the degree of agreement of the resident in the communities situated in the Regional parks regarding the introduction of the energy generator wind farms in their area. A survey was curried out by a particular version of the contingent valuation method (CVM) “Conditional fair one and one half bound (CFOOHB)”. With this method the respondent chooses the initial level of bid (min versus max value) and each choice is conditioned by the technological level and potential impact of the intervention.