Harmful or Beneficial to Humans and the Environment? An Empirical Study on the Social Acceptance and Risk Perception of CO2-Based Fuels

Linzenich, Anika; Engelmann, Linda; Arning, Katrin; Du, Miaomiao; Heger, Stefan; Roß-Nickoll, Martina; Ziefle, Martina

doi:10.3389/fenvs.2022.737070

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 88 publications

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“…This has led to a polarized debate characterized by enthusiasm on one side and rejection on the other side [61,62]. Similarly, the benefits associated with DAC-based hydrocarbons, such as their potential to replace fossil fuels and chemicals and greatly reduce their climate impact [66,68,125,126] and to provide energy storage and flexibility [127], are balanced by some of their risks [128][129][130]. Indeed, the social acceptability…”

Section: Social and Behavioral Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilizing CO₂ as a strategy to scale up direct air capture may face fewer short-term barriers than directly storing CO₂

Brazzola,

Moretti,

Sievert

et al. 2024

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Direct Air Capture (DAC) is increasingly recognized as a necessary puzzle piece to achieve the Paris climate targets. However, the current high cost and energy intensity of DAC act as a barrier. Short-term strategies for initial deployment, technology improvement, and cost reduction are needed to enable large-scale deployment. We assess and compare two near-term pathways leading to the same installed DAC capacity and thus yielding the same cost reductions: its combination with CO2 storage as DACCS, or its deployment for CO2 utilization as DACCU e.g., for synthetic fuels, chemicals, and materials; we characterize these as Direct and Spillover pathways. Drawing on the Multi-level Perspective on Technological Transition as a heuristic, we examine both technical and immaterial factors needed to scale up DAC under the two pathways, in order to assess the pathways’ relative advantages and to identify possible short-term bottlenecks. We find neither pathway to be clearly better: the Direct pathway offers technical advantages but faces regulatory barriers that need to be resolved before deployment, while the Spillover pathway offers market and governance advantages but faces challenges related to hydrogen production and increasing resource needs as it scales up. There may be reasons for policymakers to therefore pursue both approaches in a dynamic manner. This could involve prioritizing the Spillover pathway in the short term due to possibly fewer short-term regulatory barriers and its ability to produce net-zero emission products for existing and accessible markets. Once short-term governance obstacles have been addressed, however, the Direct pathway may allow for more efficient scaling of DAC capacity and cost reductions, especially if by then the needed infrastructure and institutions are in place.

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Section: Social and Behavioral Factorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Utilizing CO₂ as a strategy to scale up direct air capture may face fewer short-term barriers than directly storing CO₂

Brazzola,

Moretti,

Sievert

et al. 2024

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Diversity in the acceptance of sustainable aviation fuels: Uncovering varying motivational patterns

Schomakers,

Engelmann,

Ziefle

2024

Fuel Communications

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Ready to fly? Comparing acceptance and behavioral usage intentions of CO2-based aviation fuels in four European countries

2023

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Significantly increased global greenhouse gas emissions from aviation make the decarbonization of the aviation sector an urgent demand to combat climate change. One technical approach is the usage of Carbon Capture and Utilization technologies (CCU) to re-use CO2 as raw material and to produce CO2-based aviation fuels. As the social readiness is an essential component for a successful roll-out, this study investigates acceptance and behavioral usage intentions regarding CO2-based aviation fuels. We applied an empirical quantitative online questionnaire in four European countries (Spain, Norway, Netherlands, and Germany, N = 2,187). To get a comprehensive overview of the factors that predict social readiness, data on relevant impact factors were collected, including sociodemographic factors, awareness, attitudinal factors (innovation cautiousness, environmental awareness, flight shame), flight behavior as well as evaluations in terms of benefit and risk perceptions of CO2-based fuels. Employing hierarchical regression analyses we identified the impact of individual factors and fuel-related perceptions on the acceptance of and the willingness to use CO2-based aviation fuels. For the prediction of CO2-based fuel acceptance, benefit perceptions were the strongest predictor, followed by environmental awareness, risk perceptions, interest, and flight shame. For the behavioral intention to fly with CO2-based fuels, benefit perceptions showed the strongest impact, followed by environmental awareness, interest, and risk perceptions about technical quality and -maturity as well as health- and environmental risks. This was valid for all four European countries under study, even though there were also national differences: Norwegian respondents showed the lowest interest in and knowledge of CO2-based aviation fuels and the lowest acceptance. Spanish respondents reported the highest acceptance, while acceptance scores of German and Dutch residents ranged in between. Overall, the findings provide a pan-European insight into the social readiness for CO2-based aviation fuels and its determinants, providing targeted information on public adoption conditions and requirements for Carbon Capture and Utilization technology developers and the aviation industry.

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Harmful or Beneficial to Humans and the Environment? An Empirical Study on the Social Acceptance and Risk Perception of CO2-Based Fuels

Cited by 4 publications

References 88 publications

Utilizing CO₂ as a strategy to scale up direct air capture may face fewer short-term barriers than directly storing CO₂

Utilizing CO₂ as a strategy to scale up direct air capture may face fewer short-term barriers than directly storing CO₂

Diversity in the acceptance of sustainable aviation fuels: Uncovering varying motivational patterns

Ready to fly? Comparing acceptance and behavioral usage intentions of CO2-based aviation fuels in four European countries

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Harmful or Beneficial to Humans and the Environment? An Empirical Study on the Social Acceptance and Risk Perception of CO2-Based Fuels

Cited by 4 publications

References 88 publications

Utilizing CO2 as a strategy to scale up direct air capture may face fewer short-term barriers than directly storing CO2

Utilizing CO2 as a strategy to scale up direct air capture may face fewer short-term barriers than directly storing CO2

Diversity in the acceptance of sustainable aviation fuels: Uncovering varying motivational patterns

Ready to fly? Comparing acceptance and behavioral usage intentions of CO2-based aviation fuels in four European countries

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About

Utilizing CO₂ as a strategy to scale up direct air capture may face fewer short-term barriers than directly storing CO₂

Utilizing CO₂ as a strategy to scale up direct air capture may face fewer short-term barriers than directly storing CO₂