Consumer Attitudes towards Industrial CO2 Capture and Storage Products and Technologies

Abstract

This paper discusses and elicits consumer attitudes towards industrial carbon dioxide (CO2) capture and storage (ICCS) products and technologies. It presents a comprehensive review of the relevant research literature on consumer attitudes towards ICCS represented by the willingness-to-pay (WTP) and willingness-to-accept (WTA) negative externalities and outcomes of the carbon capture and storage (the so-called “not-in-my-backyard” (NIMBY) approach). In addition, it employs a concise empirical model that uses the data from the online questionnaire survey conducted in 7 European Union (EU) countries with and without ICSS sites. Our results demonstrate that having at least one ICCS site significantly reduces the WTA for the ICCS products and technologies. It is shown that further increase of ICCS sites, including those in the neighboring regions and countries, leads to the increase of negative consumer attitudes to the ICCS technologies and renewable energy policies. It becomes apparent that the majority of consumers are willing to support industrial CO2 capture and storage only if it happens far away from their dwellings. The outcomes of this paper might be informative for the EU local industries and policy-makers who are planning the location of ICCS sites and optimizing the public support for their endeavors. Moreover, they might be relevant for the stakeholders dealing with the threat of climate change and the necessity for the decarbonization of the economy.

Do Consumers Want to Pay for Green Electricity? A Case Study from Poland

“…A large proportion of WTP studies use either the contingent valuation method (CVM) [8,9,12,15,16,19,[25][26][27][28] or the choice experiment (CE) [1,11,17,21,[29][30][31] to determine the influence of various factors on WTP. These factors can be related to the consumer's characteristics, such as: age, income or education and to the product such as: share of renewables, source of renewables or local provider.…”

Energy research and social sciences: thinking outside the box

“…Moreover, economists and sociologists can study such issues as willingness-to-pay for various energy-related projects, for example the industrial CO2 capture and storage products and technologies [21]. Other good examples might be the public acceptance of renewable energy sources [22], behavioural changes thanks to the deployment of smart meters that help to save energy in households [23], the new approaches to the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) with regard to the development of energy projects [24,25], or the perceived threats to urban energy networks [26].…”

Willingness to pay for the renewable energy sources of the residents of Kraków and their perception of the actions aimed at reducing the level of environmental pollution

“…The research in this field conducted in South Korea showed that even if people give RES-related investments preferential treatment, they may protest the locating of renewable energy power plants in their neighborhood (Woo et al 2019). In order to estimate the support for actions in the field of limiting climate change, apart from the WTP for green energy, the willingness-to-pay and willingness-to-accept negative externalities and outcomes of the carbon capture and storage indicators are also being used (Kashintseva et al 2018).…”