Geothermal energy presents a promising renewable heating source for the built environment, yet its deployment often faces societal opposition. This study investigates the role of public participation in shaping social acceptance of local geothermal energy projects in the Netherlands, where past controversies around fossil fuel extraction heighten sensitivity to new energy technologies. Drawing on literature and contextual factors, the research explores how different forms of participation, especially their alignment with the perceived importance of decisions and trust in the operator, affect acceptance. We expect to find to find significant differences in the social acceptance of geothermal energy between the participation treatment groups. We expect that the role of participation on social acceptance is dependent on the importance of the decision and on the level of trust in the operator.
Huisman et al. (Wed,) studied this question.