Abstract
One approach to mitigate the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) is the development of CO2-based products, such as fuels for road traffic and aviation. Since the acceptance of sustainable product innovations such as CO2-based fuels depends on an individual’s acceptance decision based on perceived risks and benefits, this study focuses on subjective risk perceptions of fuel toxicity. An online survey was conducted to assess risk evaluations of CO2-based fuels regarding various risk targets, exposure characteristics, negative outcomes for health and environment, and frequency of health impairments. CO2-based fuels were significantly more positively perceived than conventional fuels and were found to be perceived to pose less risks regarding types of exposure and properties leading to toxic effects. For both aviation and road traffic the acceptance of CO2-based fuels increased with decreasing fear of health and environmental consequences and the less frequently health effects were assessed. The findings allow to derive implications for risk assessment and communication strategies in the development and roll-out of CO2-based fuels.
Highlights
The continuous emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, caused by the combustion of coal, oil, and gas, continues to drive climate change [Global Carbon Project (GCP), 2018]
This study focuses on the perceived toxicity as one aspect of risk perceptions, as well as on possible relationships between perceived toxicity and the acceptance of CO2-derived fuels as a carbon-reducing technology
Regarding the risk perceptions of conventional fuels two major aspects have been identified: On the one hand, risks were assessed for the fuel itself, on the other hand, emissions resulting from the combustion of fuels and their possible impacts were discussed
Summary
The continuous emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere, caused by the combustion of coal, oil, and gas, continues to drive climate change [Global Carbon Project (GCP), 2018]. Efforts to reduce emissions and resulting environmental effects are being made by working on technological solutions for areas which still rely heavily on fossil fuels, such as the transport and aviation sectors. In one of these approaches carbon is captured and used by reintroducing it into the consumption cycle [Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU)] (Von der Assen and Bardow, 2014). This way, the CO2 can be used for manufacturing goods such as plastic products (Iqbal et al, 2018) or CO2-based fuels for transport and aviation (Deutz et al, 2018). The current study surveys socio-political acceptance, as we assess public perceptions and the willingness to use CO2-based fuels
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