Local development in the post-mining countryside? Impacts of an agricultural ad plant on rural community

Abstract

The paper focuses in its first part on theoretical aspects and preconditions of the acceptance of the facilities for generating renewable energy with an emphasis on rural areas. Benefits and barriers of the relation between the rural development and renewable energies in conditions of the Czech Republic are discussed. By means of two questionnaire surveys (2013, 2015) the acceptance of the local anaerobic digestion (AD) plant by its local population was researched in the second part of the paper. It was found out that the level of the acceptance of projects for generation of renewable energy by local population varies in time, and a strong attention has to be devoted not only to planning and construction of the AD plant, but also to the operation of this facility so that undesirable impacts on quality of life of local population are minimized.