[mschuster91]

> I think if folks could financially benefit from renewable projects in their neighborhoods, suddenly citizens opposition would fall apart.

That's actually happening already in some places - in Thüringen, nearby residents of a windmill get a share of the income [1], and the local municipality also gets a sizable amount... in small Mühlenfließ (Brandenburg) with less than 1000 souls living there, the 16 windmills provide 200.000€ a year in taxes, 10% of the municipal budget [2].

Unfortunately, you need politicians with a backbone to present such plans to their voters, and in rural areas many simply are afraid of far-right terrorism up to and including death threats [3], on top of "alternative" media and even supposedly democratic politicians riling people up against renewable power sources.

[1] https://www.gruene-thl.de/klima-energie/buergerinnen-und-kom...

[2] https://www.tagesschau.de/wirtschaft/technologie/windkraft-g...

[3] https://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/region-muenchen-windrae...

[martin_a]

More and more "Energiegenossenschaften" are also founded, I think. At least here in the South-West near Freiburg it feels like every second larger village or community has its own Energiegenossenschaft. They are working on getting solar on every roof, pushing water and wind turbine projects forward and are really working on making the switch to renewables happen. I'm looking to get into some of them to fund the cause. :-)