Abstract
According to EU goals and the Paris Agreement, an urgent need exists for reducing CO2 emissions while still securing energy supply. Thus, the timely deployment of carbon capture and storage (CCS) is seemingly unavoidable, especially for the cement and steel industries. However, diverse perceptions of CCS among stakeholders such as experts, politicians, and laypeople exist that could hinder the deployment of the technology. Hence, it is worthwhile to recognise these diverse perceptions and their roots. In the studies on risk perceptions, the emphasis has been mostly on the public, as well as factors that influence the public, such as knowledge dissemination and trust. Although these are crucial elements, they are not enough to explain the complexity of risk perceptions. In contrast to the mainstream research, this paper hypothesises that both laypeople and experts are affected by common cultural denominators, therefore, might have similar patterns of risk perceptions. This research suggests a framework that explains the role of societal culture in risk governance, arguing that thrifty, uncertainty avoidant, hierarchical societies tend to have a higher risk perception of CCS. This study is based on a synthesis of the earlier research, an extensive literature review, and an analysis of interviews data.
Highlights
According to EU goals [1] and the Paris Agreement [2], an urgent need exists for reducing CO2 emissions in EU states while still securing energy supply in order to mitigate climate change
Research on the risk perceptions of new energy technologies and people’s reactions to them in various countries needs to account for the different technical and natural settings as well as how differences in where people live build their values and worldviews, and shape their opinions. When it comes to carbon capture and storage (CCS), the identified factors in the existing literature that influence risk perceptions could be broadly categorised into trust, communication and community characteristics
These factors are all important in affecting risk perception, this paper argued that common cultural denominators are as important; these are macro-level societal factors such as commonly shared values affecting risk perception of all stakeholders
Summary
According to EU goals [1] and the Paris Agreement [2], an urgent need exists for reducing CO2 emissions in EU states while still securing energy supply in order to mitigate climate change. CCS is needed because the supply of energy from fossil fuels will continue in many countries [3], and because CCS is one of the main solutions to decarbonise cement and steel production. Countries that are critically dependant on fossil fuels for energy security and economic development, as well as those which possess significant cement or steel industries, have been keen on the technology. The Netherlands, Sweden (The recent climate policy of Sweden highlighted CCS (accessed on 1 September 2021): https://www.regeringen.se/rattsliga-dokument/statens-offentligautredningar/2020/01/sou-20204/) and the UK are prominent examples of countries in Europe where governments have considered the role of CCS and CCUS in their climate policy, e.g., [5]. There are uncertainties and concerns regarding policy issues, liability and public acceptance of CCS [6,8,9]
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