Public Perceptions of Carbon Capture and Storage: Survey Evidence from Indiana

David C. WarrenSanya CarleyJohn D. GrahamJohn A. RuppRachel M. Krause (UTEP)

30th USAEE/IAEE North American ConferenceWashington, DC

October 10, 2011

Contact: dcwarren@indiana.edu

2

Vattenfall CCS Plant, Germany

3

Flier from CCS opponents, Linden, New Jersey

4

Why Indiana?

5

Why study public perception of CCS?

6

What might affect public perception of CCS?

Connection to the land

Risk profile

Trust in institutions

Attitudes about climate change

General demographics

Perceptions about energy technologies

Public Perceptio

ns

7

To explore these questions, we conducted a two-wave telephone survey

First wave: Collected demographic data and attitudes on risk, climate change, trust, etc.

Respondents then were sent a CCS fact sheet

Second wave: Collected data on perceptions of CCS

8

The survey was administered to 1,001 residents across the state

Stratified sample to ensure representation by residents in coal mining, agricultural, and urban regions

Bloomington

9

10

Initial impressions: Respondents believe climate change is real and problematic

11

Initial impressions: Respondents are supportive of CCS

Storing carbon dioxide underground is a good approach to protecting the environment

12

Initial impressions: Respondents are supportive of CCS

Would you support the operation of a CCS facility somewhere in the U.S.?

13

Initial impressions: Support for a CCS facility decreases with increased proximity

Support for a CCS facility in U.S., Indiana, and near home

14

Twenty percent of respondents had heard of CCS prior to the surveySupport for CCS appears lower for those who had heard of CCS, but differences are not statistically significant

15

CCS supporters are different from those who oppose CCS in several ways

Climate change is caused

by human activities

Reducing greenhouse gasses is important

Believe technical information provided

by environmental orgs

Risk score (higher number = perception

of riskier world)

Agree that storing carbon is good approach

Disagree that storing carbon is good approach

16

Those who strongly oppose CCS are also quite different from others in several waysClimate change

is caused by human activities

Reducing greenhouse gasses is important

Politically conservative

Risk score (higher number = perception

of riskier world)

Strongly disagree that storing carbon is good approach

All other respondents

17

Logistic regression analysis suggests potential factors impacting CCS support

Negative correlation•High income•Politically conservative•Fear of CCS in

community•Prior awareness of CCS

Dependent variable: “Storing carbon dioxide underground is a good approach to protecting the environment”

Positive correlation•Agree that energy and environmental problems require lifestyle change•Perceive a higher degree of risk in the world

18

Next stepsShorter term: Further multivariate analysis exploring both support of and opposition to CCS

Longer term:Follow-up surveys to explore how impressions change over time

19

Questions / Comments?

For more questions, comments, and drafts of our paper, please contact Dave Warren at

dcwarren@indiana.edu