Public Acceptance of Hydrogen in the Netherlands: Two Surveys That Demystify Public Views on a Hydrogen Economy

Abstract

Interest in a hydrogen economy has grown significantly in the past decade. However, the success of old technologies that are being re-engineered to work on hydrogen, as well as the creation of new hydrogenbased technologies, hinges upon public interest in and demand for such technologies. With increasing investments in the research and development of hydrogen technologies, there exists a need to monitor public attitudes toward hydrogen to ensure its success as an alternative energy carrier. To address this need, two surveys were conducted. The results of the first survey give insights about how colored information influences the public acceptance of hydrogen, and the results of the second survey elucidate what trade-offs the public is willing to accept during the transition to a hydrogen economy. Furthermore, the research highlights how hydrogen knowledge and acceptance differ among age, education, and gender groups.

La aceptación pública de las aplicaciones de las Pilas de Combustible de Hidrógeno en Europa

“…Second, the study shows that after processing relevant information, most people in the seven countries consider themselves likely to accept and support the adoption of residential fuel cells and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles all other things being equal. This is consistent with results from previous studies showing a positive attitude towards hydrogen applications as well as a high level of acceptance and support for the application of hydrogen technologies in the transportation and the residential sectors (Schulte et al 2004;Zachariah-Wolff and Hemmes 2006;Zimmer and Welke 2012).…”

“…This is also consistent with previous studies finding that hydrogen is generally connected to positive associations (e.g. environmentally friendly technology) (Schulte, Hart, and Van der Vorst 2004;Zachariah-Wolff and Hemmes 2006). Second, the study shows that after processing relevant information, most people in the seven countries consider themselves likely to accept and support the adoption of residential fuel cells and hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles all other things being equal.…”

“…Such survey studies at the country level with representative samples of members of the general public have been carried out by Zimmer & Welke (2012) in Germany;Zachariah-Wolff and Hemmes (2006) or Achterberg (2014) in the Netherlands; in the USA.…”

“…For example, Zachariah-Wolff & Hemmes (2006), based on a sample of the Belgian population, found a low level of public knowledge about hydrogen. Yet they also found that hydrogen, as a fuel for home heating and cars and buses, was perceived as environmentally friendly and the willingness to use hydrogen was rather high.…”

Willingness to Pay and Public Acceptance for Hydrogen Buses: A Case Study of Perugia

“…Zacharian-Wolff and Hemmes [7] analyzed acceptance of both H2 technology and its different applications in the Netherlands, and O'Garra et al [8] investigated the awareness determinants of H2. However, to the best of our knowledge, only a few studies [8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] have attempted to analyze preferences for and acceptability of H2B irrespective of WTP assessment.…”