Tell me how you feel about geothermal energy: Affect as a revealing factor of the role of seismic risk on public acceptance

Julia Cousse,Evelina Trutnevyte,Ulf J.J Hahnel

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112547

Julia Cousse, Evelina Trutnevyte + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2021.112547

Copy DOI

Journal: Energy policy	Publication Date: Sep 3, 2021
Citations: 24	License type: cc-by

Affiliation: University of St. Gallen, University of Geneva

Abstract

Social acceptance of renewables, such as geothermal energy, is a key factor in successfully meeting national energy targets. Siting geothermal energy projects can be challenging because of induced seismicity related to deep geothermal energy, which may reduce public acceptance. This research investigates how informing the public about seismic risk associated with deep geothermal projects influences affect, emotions, attitudes, and the perceived risks and benefits related to both, deep and shallow geothermal projects. Two between-subjects experimental studies were conducted with representative samples of the Swiss population (N1 = 1′018; N2 = 1′007). Results show that information about seismic risk of deep geothermal energy projects significantly influences perceptions of associated projects. Specifically, a spillover effect of seismic risk information on shallow geothermal projects is observed for affect and emotions, as well as for perceived risks and benefits, but not for attitudes. Spillover effects were stronger when information about seismic risk was presented in a negative, emotionally laden manner. For policymakers, the results suggest that the population is open to the use of geothermal energy, but early communication will be key to avoiding a decline in acceptance. This research also highlights the importance of measuring affective factors, in addition to cognitive ones, in acceptance research.

Highlights

Many countries are defining long-term goals to transform their en ergy systems to limit greenhouse gas emissions
The analysis showed that the impact of seismic risk information was subject to whether participants evaluated a deep or shallow geothermal energy project (interaction of seismic risk information and type of project: F(1, 1014) = 4.79, p = .03, ηp2 = 0.01)
The results suggest that the presentation of emotionally laden information (Study 2) compared to neutral informa tion (Study 1) increases the likelihood of spillover effects in that seismic risk information about deep geothermal projects negatively influences affect towards shallow geothermal projects

Summary

Introduction

Many countries are defining long-term goals to transform their en ergy systems to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Gallen in the last decade caused earthquakes, leading to minor damage to buildings (Edwards et al, 2015; Trutnevyte and Wiemer, 2017) Since these events, geothermal energy has been mainly discussed in terms of risk by the Swiss media (Stauffacher et al, 2015; Ejderyan et al, 2019). Acceptance-related issues concerning geothermal energy are not limited to Switzerland, but exist in Germany (Benighaus and Bleicher, 2019), Australia (Dowd et al, 2011), France (Chavot et al, 2016) and Italy (Pellizone et al, 2015) These challenges have sparked research aimed at understanding public perceptions about geothermal energy exploitation (Leucht, 2012; Stauffacher et al, 2015)

Objectives

Methods

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion