Author: dougbessette
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Battery Electric Tractors: Small-Scale Organic Growers’ Preferences, Perceptions, and Concerns
Energies2022, 15(22), 8648; https://doi.org/10.3390/en15228648 Abstract Battery electric tractors (BETs) demonstrate considerable advantages over diesel-fueled tractors, including higher conversion efficiency, higher torque, less maintenance, and no tailpipe emissions. Converting to BETs also requires tradeoffs in the form of the batteries’ high cost, increased weight, limited energy capacity, finite charging cycles, and lengthy charging time. The extent…
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Misalignment of perceptions with records and resources for responding to climate change risk
Climate change risks like extreme temperatures and high variability in rainfall adversely affect livelihoods, particularly for farmers in Burkina Faso where the primary sector is agriculture. Decisions on whether to adapt to these risks depend on how farmers perceive each risk and the resources they have available. In this study, we examine how long-term changes…
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All’s fair in love and WAR: The conduct of Wind Acceptance Research (WAR) in the United States and Canada
Energy Research & Social Science, Vol. 88, June 2022 Co-authored with Jessie Crawford MSc., MSU CSUS The number of studies examining social acceptance of wind energy in the United States and Canada has increased considerably since the 1980s. Here we conduct a methodological review of wind acceptance research (WAR) literature in response to four articles…
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PhD Student/Research Assistant in Community-Centered Large-Scale Solar Energy: Fully Funded!
The Energy Values Lab in the Department of Community Sustainability (CSUS) at Michigan State University seeks one highly motivated PhD student to begin study in Spring or Fall 2022 and assist with a new research project focusing on community-centered large-scale solar development in the US. This project will involve conducting case studies and interviews in…
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Thoughts featured in Gizmodo: “Joe Biden’s Offshore Wind Plan Is Radically Ambitious and Wholly Achievable” by Brian Kahn
Had some things to say about offshore wind! https://earther.gizmodo.com/joe-bidens-offshore-wind-plan-is-radically-ambitious-an-1846585125
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Understanding Socio-Technological Systems Change through an Indigenous Community-Based Participatory Framework
Moving toward a sustainable global society requires substantial change in both social and technological systems. This sustainability is dependent not only on addressing the environmental impacts of current social and technological systems, but also on addressing the social, economic and political harms that continue to be perpetuated through systematic forms of oppression and the exclusion…
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Tracking Renewable Energy Values, Benefits, and Concerns in Michigan: In the Media and at Public Meetings
Prepared for the Michigan Energy Office Department of Environment, Great Lakes & Energy This report identifies the most commonly mentioned values, benefits, and concerns associated with utility-scale wind and solar development projects, as identified over the course of a 3-month pilot project in the State of Michigan (MI). Bessette and DePew attended 11 public meetings…
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“Farmers vs. Lakers” featured in Grist.
“We need to build a lot of wind turbines. Will Americans agree to live near them?” Emilie Pontecorvo reviews Dr. Mills’ and my research on Grist and its implications for a clean energy transition.
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The perceived risk of the Line 5 Pipeline and spills under ice
Using the psychometric paradigm of risk in conjunction with surveys of the Michigan public (n = 638) and a regional planning organization (n = 65), we examine the perceived risk and concerns associated with underwater oil pipelines, the Enbridge Line 5 pipeline in particular, and oil spills under ice. The fate of Line 5 is…
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Farmers vs. Lakers: Agriculture, amenity, and community in predicting opposition to United States wind energy development
Utility-scale wind energy is now the largest source of renewable electricity in the US. Wind energy’s continued growth remains contingent upon finding adequate resource potential and transmission capacity, along with communities willing to host turbines. While previous research on the social acceptance of wind has relied predominantly on case studies, resident surveys, and reviews of…
Energy Values Lab 