Sun, wind or water? Public support for large-scale renewable energy development in Canada

Donald, James; Axsen, Jonn; Shaw, Karena; Robertson, Bryson

doi:10.1080/1523908x.2021.2000375

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…While the costs of solar and wind have been declining much faster than the costs of nuclear did [4,72] we find that renewables still grow slower than nuclear in the 1980s. This finding not only supports the argument in the literature [23,26,27,[73][74][75][76][77] that costs are not the single factor driving the growth of policy-driven and socially-embedded technologies, but it goes further by quantitatively demonstrating that more expensive technologies can in fact grow faster. One possible Figure 6.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Historical diffusion of nuclear, wind and solar power in different national contexts: implications for climate mitigation pathways

Vinichenko,

Jewell,

Jacobsson

et al. 2023

Environ. Res. Lett.

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Climate change mitigation requires rapid expansion of low-carbon electricity but there is a disagreement on whether available technologies such as renewables and nuclear power can be scaled up sufficiently fast. Here we analyze the diffusion of nuclear (from the 1960s), as well as wind and solar (from the 1980–90s) power. We show that all these technologies have been adopted in most large economies except major energy exporters, but solar and wind have diffused across countries faster and wider than nuclear. After the initial adoption, the maximum annual growth for nuclear power has been 2.6% of national electricity supply (IQR 1.3%–6%), for wind − 1.1% (0.6%–1.7%), and for solar − 0.8% (0.5%–1.3%). The fastest growth of nuclear power occurred in Western Europe in the 1980s, a response by industrialized democracies to the energy supply crises of the 1970s. The European Union (EU), currently experiencing a similar energy supply shock, is planning to expand wind and solar at similarly fast rates. This illustrates that national contexts can impact the speed of technology diffusion at least as much as technology characteristics like cost, granularity, and complexity. In the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change mitigation pathways, renewables grow much faster than nuclear due to their lower projected costs, though empirical evidence does not show that the cost is the sole factor determining the speed of diffusion. We demonstrate that expanding low-carbon electricity in Asia in line with the 1.5 °C target requires growth of nuclear power even if renewables increase as fast as in the most ambitious EU’s plans. 2 °C-consistent pathways in Asia are compatible with replicating China’s nuclear power plans in the whole region, while simultaneously expanding renewables as fast as in the near-term projections for the EU. Our analysis demonstrates the usefulness of empirically-benchmarked feasibility spaces for future technology projections.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 81%

Historical diffusion of nuclear, wind and solar power in different national contexts: implications for climate mitigation pathways

Vinichenko,

Jewell,

Jacobsson

et al. 2023

Environ. Res. Lett.

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“…This literature has examined climate change perceptions across ideological [ 17 ], partisan [ 18 ], and geographic [ 19 ] dimensions, demonstrating substantial heterogeneity in Canadian public opinion. Other studies are more focused on mitigation policy preferences [ 20 ], attitudes toward energy technologies [ 21 ] and communication strategies around proposed energy infrastructure [ 22 ]. Yet little is known as to whether and how communication strategies ought to be adapted to speak to the different audiences and interpretative communities within this geographically large and culturally diverse top 5 fossil-fuel producing country.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Five Canadas of Climate Change: Using audience segmentation to inform communication on climate policy

Martel-Morin

Lachapelle

2022

PLoS ONE

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This study examines how unique audience segments within the Canadian population think and act toward climate change, and explores whether and how the level of audience engagement moderates the effect of various messages on support for climate policy. Drawing on a random probability sample of Canadian residents (N = 1207) conducted in October 2017, we first identify and describe five distinct audiences that vary in their attitudes, perceptions and behaviours with respect to climate change: the Alarmed (25%), Concerned (45%), Disengaged (5%), Doubtful (17%) and Dismissive (8%). We then explore how each segment responds to different messages about carbon pricing in Canada. We find that messages alluding to earmarking (i.e., “Invest in solutions”) or leveling the playing field for alternative energy sources (i.e., “Relative price”) increase support for a higher carbon price among the population as a whole. However, these messages decreased support for carbon pricing among more engaged audiences (e.g., Alarmed) when a low carbon price was specified to the respondent. Meanwhile, the “Relative price” is the only message that increased policy support among less engaged audiences–the Concerned and the Doubtful. In addition to highlighting the importance of tailoring and targeting messages for differently engaged segments, these results suggest that communicating around the specific consequences of carbon taxes for the prices of some goods may be a fruitful way to enhance support for carbon taxes among relatively less engaged audiences.

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“…One of the first studies introduced the importance of local community engagement and public acceptance for renewable energy projects was by Wolsink ( 1987 ). It was determined that socio-economic factors as age, gender, education, disposable income and socio-psychological factors such as information and experience regarding particular renewables, political affiliation and environmental and climate concern (Büscher and Sumpf, 2015 ; Koirala et al, 2018 ; Donald et al, 2021 ) have impact on people’s perception and the social acceptance of different technologies (Cousse, 2021 ). The public acceptance and expectations among different renewable energy technologies vary across countries (Segreto et al, 2020), but it should be noted that this question is still a problem in many of them (Bout et al, 2021 ; Haque et al, 2021 ; Kost et al, 2021 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Energy-space concept for the transition to a low-carbon energy society

Siksnelyte-Butkiene

Štreimikienė

Agnusdei

et al. 2022

Environ Dev Sustain

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Urban and regional development is indispensable from energy systems that function in a sustainable and resilient manner. The generation of renewable energy has seen significant upturn in the last decade. Renewables can be exploited to meet the global energy needs and climate change mitigation goals. Therefore, development of urban and regional energy systems must take into account the possibilities and challenges posed by the increasing penetration of the renewable. The achievement of goals of the energy system in the context of transition to low-carbon energy society rises numerous complex decisions over development of infrastructure and technologies. Although renewable energy devices generate clean energy, they also change landscape. The term of energy-scape encourages discussion about interactions between the energy system and the environment, and other ecosystem services at local level. The paper reviews previous studies analysing energy-scape elements and provides the insights towards the transition to low-carbon energy and low-carbon society in general. The systematic literature review allows clearly outlining the problem and gives reliable background for further studies. The main contribution of the article to the existing literature is the creation of framework for the analysis and assessment of new renewable energy technologies installation and infrastructure. The presented framework can be applied for all renewable energy technologies and infrastructure in both urban and rural areas and allows to attain a decision acceptable to the local community.

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Sun, wind or water? Public support for large-scale renewable energy development in Canada

Cited by 8 publications

References 57 publications

Historical diffusion of nuclear, wind and solar power in different national contexts: implications for climate mitigation pathways

Historical diffusion of nuclear, wind and solar power in different national contexts: implications for climate mitigation pathways

The Five Canadas of Climate Change: Using audience segmentation to inform communication on climate policy

Energy-space concept for the transition to a low-carbon energy society

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