Looking beneath the landscape of carbon-neutrality : contested agroenergy landscape in the dispersed city

In recent years European and national policies have given strong support to renewable energies. The Common Agricultural Policy in particular, has been pushing farmers to produce renewable energy, both as a contribution to sustainable development and as a way to achieve better economic results. Energy production from biomass, biogas and biofuel cultivated by farmers – agroenergy – is beginning to produce landscape changes. Despite their apparent contribution to sustainability, these new landscapes can be – and often are – contested. The Veneto region, due to the extreme proximity between agricultural and urban land, is a very interesting area for observing new agroenergy landscapes, opposed by nearby residents. Far from being considered simply as an expression of a selfish Nimby attitude, local conflicts question both local transformation decisions and the very principle of agroenergy. Their arguments must be taken into account if we intend to design a fairer, more democratic “landscape of carbon neutrality”.