Bioenergy knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes among young citizens – from cross-national surveys to conceptual model

Abstract

Bioenergy is expected to play a significant role in the global energy mix of the next decades, transforming the current fossil fuel-based economy into a low-carbon energy economy. There is a significant research gap in our understanding of the societal aspects of bioenergy and it becomes even limited in the context of evaluating young citizens’ awareness of bioenergy from an international perspective. This dissertation has investigated young students’ knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes related to bioenergy with the help of cross-national data (Paper I, II, and III) and used statistical models to explain their intentions to use bioenergy (Paper IV). A self-constructed survey instrument was used in the study to collect data from 15-year-old 1903 school students in Finland, Taiwan, Turkey, and Slovakia. The study found that the majority of the students appeared to have basic level of bioenergy knowledge, whereas only a minority among them demonstrated a higher level of such knowledge (Paper III). The study did not reveal any statistically significant gender and living area differences related to the students’ knowledge of bioenergy (Paper I & III). The students appeared to be very critical in their perceptions of forest-based bioenergy production; however, they demonstrated their positive attitudes to bioenergy including their intentions to use it in the future (Paper III). It became apparent that the students with a higher level of bioenergy-knowledge were more critical in terms of their both perceptions of and attitudes to bioenergy than those with a shallow knowledge of it. The study has found that school, home, and media discussions of bioenergy, as perceived by the Finnish students, have significant effects on their knowledge, perceptions and attitudes related to bioenergy (Paper II). One of the most significant findings to emerge from this study is the key dimensions of the students’ perceptions of and attitudes to bioenergy. The study found three key dimensions from the cross-national data depicting different facets of the students’ perceptions of and attitudes to bioenergy (Paper III). The results from the study further suggested that the internal consistency of these key components differed across the countries. This implies that young students’ perceptions and attitudes are multidimensional on bioenergy issues and they could vary from one country to another country. The conceptual models based on regression analysis revealed that the students’ intentions to use bioenergy in general could be explained by considering their perceptions of the societal aspects related to bioenergy (Paper IV). Fostering the awareness of bioenergy among young students, we need to share the educational methods among home, school, and media. It is recommended that the bioenergy policy makers and professionals must raise the awareness of bioenergy among young students in our society and regard them as an important target group while formulating bioenergy policies. The results of this research support the idea of increasing collaboration between bioenergy policies and bioenergy education strategies for school students. However, it is suggested that further research should be undertaken in these issues to have a deeper understanding of young citizens’ knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes related to bioenergy with more country specific contexts.