A study published in Renewable & Sustainable Energy analyzes how the industrial expansion of wind farms in Alta Irpinia has turned rural landscapes into “resource extraction sites”, generating tensions between climate mitigation goals and social justice. The research calls for a fairer, participatory, and place-based energy transition that respects local heritage and democratic governance.
While the expansion of renewable energy is crucial to address the climate crisis, it can exacerbate inequalities if implemented without proper regulation and local participation. This dynamic is documented in the study “Green vs Green: wind farms and farming communities in Alta Irpinia (Campania Region, Italy)” , published on 15 September 2025 in Renewable & Sustainable Energy , Special Issue: Renewable Energy Transition and Sustainable Development (doi: 10.55092/rse20250006).
The paper is authored by Dr. Antonio Sibilia , Researcher in Environmental and Territorial Sociology at the Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Milano-Bicocca (Milan, Italy), currently PhD Candidate in Social Sciences at the Pontifical Gregorian University (Vatican State), and Professor Marina Calloni , Full Professor of Political and Social Philosophy at the Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Milano-Bicocca (Milan, Italy).
Based on 13 semi-structured interviews with residents, farmers, civic associations, and local officials , the research examines the socio-economic and environmental consequences of installing 403 wind turbines – already exceeding 600 MW of capacity , with an additional 113 units authorized – in a historically agricultural and earthquake-affected region that has experienced decades of depopulation.
“The unregulated proliferation of wind infrastructure has frequently diminished local agency, intensified spatial inequalities, and reframed rural territories as sites of resource extraction”.
The findings reveal that royalties paid to large landowners have disrupted local agricultural markets, creating what some respondents described as “economic doping” , favoring a few while undermining small-scale farmers. The conversion of cropland and pastures into industrial energy sites has, according to the study, “eroded rural identities and economies”.
“An energy model brings with it a social model: the way we produce energy shapes how we live and participate as citizens”.
The authors argue that local opposition is not merely parochial resistance:
“Local opposition goes beyond NIMBYism, expressing deeper concerns about environmental justice, democratic participation, and territorial autonomy”.
The study underscores the cultural dimension of landscape transformation:
“The landscape is not just a postcard – it is the road, the tree, the people”.
To reconcile climate mitigation with territorial justice, the research recommends moving away from centralized and technocratic frameworks toward “place-based models that integrate local knowledge systems, cultural memory, and social attachments”, along with benefit-sharing mechanisms and equitable governance. An authentic transition cannot be measured solely in technological terms but requires new principles of redistribution, sustainable lifestyles, and territorial justice.
The Alta Irpinia case, the paper concludes, reflects broader global tensions between decarbonization imperatives and the preservation of rural livelihoods and cultural heritage:
“Alta Irpinia has already given enough to national energy goals: it is time to rebalance the transition with tangible recognition for local communities”.
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Green vs. Green: wind farms and farming communities in Alta Irpinia (Campania Region, Italy)
15-Sep-2025