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Geothermal energy provides an opportunity for sustainable energy supply. Nevertheless, some local geothermal energy projects face public opposition. To understand public acceptance or rejection of technologies, appropriate methods need to be applied depending on the project phase. This is exemplified for geothermal energy, for which an exploratory, qualitative study was conducted which uncovered laypeoples' mental models by assessing picture, word and colour associations on geothermal energy. Participants (N = 79) were asked for their associations on geothermal energy, as well as its general acceptance. The results revealed insights into cognitive conceptions as well as possible misconceptions. It could also be shown that participants' evaluation of associations in terms of positive emotions correlated positively with geothermal energy acceptance. The study verifies that assessing mental models can be valuable in early phases of understanding public acceptance, as acceptance-relevant criteria and topics to be addressed can be identified in order to adequately respond to people's concerns.

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Possible explanations for the acceptance or rejection of technological innovations have become a crucial topic in research. Depending on the type of technology, a variety of factors affect acceptance motives. This paper looks into the influence of technical-self efficacy (TSE) on acceptance of technology infrastructure. An empirical study (n=137 participants) was conducted to study effects of TSE on approval, discomfort, and resistance towards technology infrastructure, using electricity pylons, mobile phone masts, and wind power plants as examples. Overall, it was corroborated that TSE is a key variable for explaining users' acceptance of technology infrastructure. The individual technical self-confidence contributed to the explanation of approval and discomfort, whereas resistance was largely based on place of residence. Acceptance differences between technologies were based on different influential user factors. Our research provides valuable insights for stakeholders and contributes to the research on acceptance of energy infrastructures by providing a cross-sectional view.

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