A social assessment of the usage of Renewable Energy Sources and its contribution to life quality: The case of an Attica Urban area in Greece

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to analyze and evaluate the use of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) and their contribution to citizens' life quality. For this purpose, a survey was conducted using a sample of 400 residents in an urban area of the Attica region in Greece. The methods of Principal Components Analysis and Logit Regression were used on a dataset containing the respondents' views on various aspects of RES. Two statistical models were constructed for the identification of the main variables that are associated with the RES' usage and respondents' opinion on their contribution to life quality. The conclusions that can be drawn show that the respondents are adequately informed about some of the RES' types while most of them use at least one of the examined types of RES. The benefits that RES offer, were the most crucial variable in determining both respondents' perceptions on their usage and on their contribution to life quality.