Abstract
Offshore renewable, or Blue Energy, Installations are a crucial component of many countries’ energy policies and pathways towards a sustainable low-carbon future. Yet Blue Energy installations face many challenges; chief amongst them is community (un)acceptance which largely derives from place-technology-fit perceptions—the concept that technologies do, or do not, fit in a particular place. Little research has been undertaken in this area. This chapter outlines suitable methodologies and future research directions in five areas in Blue Energy place-technology-fit perception studies. These are as follows: (1) residential comparative fit perceptions; (2) narrative analyses of perceptions; (3) politicised and industrialised variances of fit; (4) mapping fit preferences, energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and planning approval sites for development; and (5) reconceptualising coastscapes as increasingly placeful. This chapter calls for increasing attention to be paid to coastscapes and Blue Energy dynamics, to ensure that such knowledge can be applied to enhancing low-carbon electricity for a sustainable future.