The paper investigates the preferences and economic valuations of individuals about renewable energy sources for electricity
production in the island of Crete. To estimate the monetary value of the social costs and benefits associated with renewable
energy programs, we use stated preference data collected via a choice experiment. Focus is placed on the following key likely
impacts of renewable energy production methods as alternatives to traditional ones based on fossil fuels: (a) environmental
impact on landscape, wildlife, noise levels and quality of air, and (b) economic impact on employment and electricity prices. We
apply choice models to analyze the preference structure of residents for alternative impact scenarios that correspond to a mixture
of wind, solar, hydro and biomass power installations. The main target of the modeling approach is inference about welfare
valuations and their relationship with the characteristics of the participants to the choice experiment. We derive welfare estimates
and detect a number of significant effects that may inform energy and regional development policies.
© 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of HAICTA
Keywords: Renewable energy sources; valuation; choice experiment
1. Introduction
An important target of energy policy in Greece and in EU is the increase of the share of renewable energy sources
(RES) in energy production. The national plan for Greece, as stated in [1], is RES to reach a 20% share of the total
energy production by 2020, while for the electricity consumption the target share of RES is set to 40%. The island of
Crete, due to its size, ample sun, wind and geo-morphological characteristics is one of the locations for which
* Corresponding author. Tel.: +30-2310-996443; fax: +30-2310-996426.
E-mail address: cemman@econ.auth.gr
Available online at www.sciencedirect.com
© 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Open access under CC BY-NC-ND license.
Selection and peer-review under responsibility of The Hellenic Association for Informat