Generating energy is at the heart of human society. The relationship between humans and energy has shaped our landscapes for centuries, if not millennia.

We are in the midst of a massive shift in our energy system driven by technological innovation and the imperative to tackle climate change. Just a few years ago electricity was generated by 50 large power stations. Today we are approaching 1 million distributed electricity generators in the UK. 

We need to better understand what impact this changing energy system will have on the landscape and how energy infrastructure can be built in the right way and in the right locations to gain support from communities across the UK.

The study considers how varying 2030 future energy scenarios, consistent with the UK’s commitments under the Paris Climate Change Agreement, might affect both the physical features that combine to create a landscape and understanding of how humans perceive and assign a cultural value to the landscape; and, therefore, how they respond to change.