Use of Augmented Reality Methods to Support Legal Conflicts in the Planning Process for Wind Turbines Using the Example of the Landscape Conservation Area “Eulenkopf and Surroundings”

Abstract

The world’s growing energy demand poses a serious problem. At the same time fossil fuels are finite, which we must work against. Therefore, the Federal Government of Germany has set itself the goal to push forward the use of renewable energy in order to completely do without the generation of nuclear energy by 2023. There are, however, no specific guidelines from the European Directive on the promotion of electricity from renewable energy sources for the internal electricity market regarding how high each share of the different production method should be and, above all, which specific aim should be achieved by the share of wind energy. Nevertheless, it presents a crucial step toward a nuclear phaseout and a concomitant change of course of the Federal Government of Germany in the spring of 2011 regarding the expansion of renewable energy, taking the nuclear catastrophe in Fukushima into account. Using new legal planning approaches, also including the area of Rhineland-Palatinate, opportunities should be provided to make previously protected land available for setting up facilities for the generation of renewable energy. However, it is important to examine the legal situation regarding the installation of these kinds of constructions more detailed, as no general statements can be made. This will be illustrated using the example of the landscape conservation area “Eulenkopf and surrounding area” in the district of Kaiserslautern. The stated goal of the Social Democrat/Green coalition of the federal state government of Rhineland-Palatinate is to considerably expand the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources so that by 2030 at least the entire electricity demand can be covered by those. Due to the enormous potential of wind power, it is therefore necessary to quintuple its share of electricity generation by 2020, compared to 2011 numbers. In order to achieve the desired political objectives, by 2030 the number of turbines has to be increased to around 2650, representing a capacity of 7500 MW. This increase gives reason for boundary conditions to manage the generation of wind energy to be adjusted. This is intended to facilitate management and simultaneously minimise negative effects, such as the “sprawling” of wind turbines.