A recent opinion poll carried out by a renowned Dutch polling agency shows that Dutch people remain extremely positive about an increase of renewable energy generation by means of wind turbines. This poll also shows that the public opinion on wind energy has long been fairly constant in the Netherlands.
The research again makes clear that roughly eight out of ten of Dutch people wants a larger share of wind energy in the Netherlands. It also shows that two-thirds of the Dutch are positive, or even very positive, about encouraging the development of more wind energy.
Even Dutch people who live relatively close to wind turbines, and who say that they experience some inconvenience from wind energy, are about as positive about the promotion of wind energy in the Netherlands as people who live further away from wind turbines.
This is quite a remarkable outcome, especially for those who regularly read news articles about wind energy in the Netherlands. The Dutch media is very keen to report on the local resistance to the construction of new wind turbines. Opponents enjoy easy access to the media, journalists are prone to anti wind energy statements.
At the same time proponents are hardly reflected in the media. Some politicians pick up on this. One Dutch Member of Parliament recently described windmills as landscape genocide. Still opinion polls show a lot of support for more wind energy in the Netherlands. The recent study for instance also shows that only 17 percent of the Dutch population is unwilling to participate in a collective wind energy projects.
