For a successful CCS deployment there is a growing need to better understand the communities in which CCS projects are sited and develop strategies tailored to those communities to increase knowledge about CCS, build trust, address issues and concerns, and operate transparently throughout the project lifecycle.
Within ENSURE we conducted an international survey on public perceptions of carbon capture and storage (CCS) in Europe and Norh-America. The goal of this research was to better assess public opinion on CCS within different social and geographical contexts.
Figure: Number of study participants in phase 1 by country.
Some key findings are:
The level of public awareness of CCS technology is low.
- The majority of respondents agree that human activities are the primary cause of climate change.
- Individuals who claim more knowledge about CCS are more likely to support it.
- All European countries favor oversight and monitoring of CCS by independent institutions, whereas Canadians prefer government and industry involvement.
- Experimental results reveal an important interplay of societal, technical, and regulatory factors for acceptance of (hypothetical) CCS proposals.
- Cross-border CO2 transport and imports significantly and negatively influence the acceptability of CCS deployment.
Figure: Survey respondents’ CCS awareness by country
Learn more about our findings! Read the full report here.
The report is a WP3 delivareble and lead by Prof. Sven Anders from the University of Alberta.