Influence of the Large Earthquake and Nuclear Plant Accident on Perception of CCS

Abstract

Explanations of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) are primarily applied to power generation or natural gas mining and as such CCS is regarded as a technology that is part of large energy infrastructures. Such infrastructures can be severely impacted by natural disasters, especially large-scale earthquakes, and have been a potential concern for the public when considering CCS. We designed a survey to assess attitudes to CCS and piloted this with 438 Japanese participants in February 2011. Due to timing the second on-line survey, completed by 813 participants in April 2011 after the Great East Japan earthquake, tsunami and subsequent accident of nuclear power station in Fukushima. We hypothesized that some psychological influence of the earthquake might be seen in the results. We found the earthquake and nuclear power plant accident did not provide any impact on various perceptions of CCS but the event did have a negative impact on opinions about implementation of on-shore and off-shore CCS. The size of impact was significant but not as large as the impact on opinions on the use of nuclear energy because the majority of respondents still took a neutral position toward CCS implementation. In addition, the change in attitude towards nuclear power also influenced public attitudes toward CCS indirectly by increasing support for renewables most likely resulting in the reduced the positive attitude for CCS.