ONSHORE wind, the cheapest form of renewable energy, attracts many enthusiasts. Those who live close to planned wind farms are rarely among them. In April fully 82% of the public told pollsters for the Department of Energy and Climate Change that they supported renewable energy. Support dropped to about half when they were asked if they wanted onshore wind turbines near their homes. And in practice many schemes encounter fierce opposition.

This is awkward for the government, which has promised to provide 15% of the nation’s energy consumption from renewable sources by 2020. In 2011 only 3.8% came from wind, sun and the like. Nearly nine months after soliciting opinions on how to persuade local people to love wind farms, Michael Fallon, the energy minister, is expected to publish his plans shortly.

At present there is no standard way of compensating people when a wind turbine goes up nearby. Energy companies might pay for the maintenance of roads or to spruce up schools and village halls, either through an annual payment per megawatt of energy generated or in a lump sum. Local politicians usually decide where the money goes. In Scotland, where a register of community benefits invites comparisons between projects, annual payments of around £20,000 ($30,000) or for each megawatt capacity installed are now widespread. Some companies try to source work locally to create new jobs, and a few—such as Good Energy and RES—attempt to cut the bills of those who live near turbines.

Experience elsewhere in Europe suggests the best way of persuading local people to accept wind farms is to ensure they have some share of the potential benefits. In Denmark four-fifths of onshore wind turbines are owned by local communities; in Germany the figure is over half. In Britain just a tenth are locally owned. A rare example, the Westmill wind farm in Swindon, is owned by a local co-operative of 2,374 residents, who put in at least £250 each. Adam Twine, the landowner behind the project, sold it to the co-operative after a few years.

A study of attitudes to wind farms in two German towns showed that support for expansion was much higher (45% compared with 16%) where the wind farm was locally owned. Because residents in Swindon knew that profits were going back to those who lived nearby, rather than to a company, public resistance to the scheme was softer, Mr Twine says.

Denmark and Germany have been pushing alternative energy for longer, and their residents are perhaps greener. But government policies help, too. Under the EU Renewable Energy Directive, both countries give renewables priority access to the electricity grid. Quicker planning, tax incentives and generous feed-in tariffs (subsidies for the amount of energy generated) encourage residents to become shareholders or market providers.

Britain could yet match the record of its greener European counterparts. A local government finance bill means that, from April, business rates from renewable projects have been kept by local authorities, rather than going to central government. And this month a Rural Community Renewable Energy Fund worth £15m is due to be launched, which will offer loans of up to £150,000 to local organisations for “community-scale renewable energy projects”. Scotland’s register of community benefits could be copied elsewhere in Britain. Inhabitants of a country buffeted by winds, Britons may yet be persuaded to see the value as well as the beauty to be found in their backyards.