Perceptions of CO2 Report - Global CCS Institute

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1 IntroductionClimate change has often been described as a “wicked”, diabolical problem (Stern, 2006;Lorenzoni, Jones, & Turnpenny, 2007), with most governments working to find solutions to reduceoverall global carbon emissions (United Nations Framework on the Convention on ClimateChange, 1998). For some countries, particularly that rely heavily on fossil fuels, CO 2 capture andstorage (CCS) presents a potential technological solution for mitigating CO 2 sources (GCCSI,2011; IEA, 2009). However, as demonstrated on several occasions, the successful adoption ofCCS technology will depend partly on its societal acceptance, which in turn depends on how it isultimately understood by citizens and communities.Recent research has shown that public knowledge and understanding of CO 2 affects publicengagement with CCS technologies (Wallquist, Visschers, & Siegrist, 2009). Previous focusgroups by Itaoka and colleagues (2007) found that some laypeople have only a vague knowledgeof CO 2 ’s properties. Itaoka and colleagues also found that providing information on possible humanhealth effects, along with information on the low possibility of accidents—or on a few natural cases,such as the Lake Nyos incident—surprises the public and typically leads them to classify CCS asvery dangerous (2009). Overall, research has found that erroneous beliefs about CO 2 may hinderefforts to provide factual information on CO 2 mitigation technologies (Wallquist, Visschers, &Siegrist, 2009).A lot of communication about global warming and energy transition seems to lack explanation ofCO2 itself though. For instance a media analysis of Dutch newspaper articles relating to CCS fromearly 2009 to end of 2011 showed that only a minute percentage of articles explained what CO 2 isor how it relates to global warming (Paukovic, Brunsting, & De Best-Waldhober, 2011). Yet forcommunication to be effective, it is essential that communicated information fits the knowledgelevel of the communicators. If most lay people do not know about CO 2 , but the level ofcommunication does assume such knowledge, this gap is bound to generate a lot ofmisunderstanding.This international research project conducted across Australia, the Netherlands, and Japan aims toaddress that gap. It explores the public’s knowledge and understanding of CO 2 ’s properties, andalso examines the influence of that knowledge on the public’s perception of CO 2 and CCS. As asecondary objective, it investigates how information provision about the underlying properties andcharacteristics of CO 2 influence individual attitudes towards CCS.2 | Understanding how individuals perceive carbon dioxide
2 Literature review2.1 Perceptions and understandings of climate changeGiven the increasing international interest in climate change, multiple studies have been conductedto explore how climate change is perceived and understood (Berk & Schulman, 1995; Bord, Fisher,& O'Connor, 1998; Bostrom, Morgan, Fischhoff, & Read, 1994; Lorenzoni & Pidgeon, 2006;Patchen, 2010; Weber, 2010; Weber & Stern, 2011). Researchers focused on understandingperceptions of the range of low carbon energy solutions have also tended to investigate attitudestowards climate change. This is because early research has found that when reducing carbonemissions is seen as unnecessary, support for investment in low carbon energy options rapidlywanes (Ashworth, Carr-Cornish, Boughen, & Thambimuthu, 2009; Bradbury, et al., 2009;Shackley, Gough, & McLachlan, 2005).Results of research on public perceptions and understanding of climate change vary and areusually highly dependent on context. For example, timing of the investigation, particularly withrespect to a country’s current weather patterns and current political approach to climate change,typically influences how individuals respond to certain questions on their beliefs and experiences ofa changing climate (Ashworth, Jeanneret, Gardner, & Shaw, 2011; Reser, et al., 2011). Even theframing of questions will influence how participants choose to respond (Reser, et al., 2011).Although general awareness of climate change has increased over the past two decades,individuals’ understandings of the topic remain incomplete (Read, Bostrom, Morgan, Fischhoff, &Smuts, 1994; Reynolds, Bostrom, Read, & Morgan, 2010). Despite increased popular mediaattention and some government policy focus on climate change and global warming, members ofthe general public still tend to conflate ozone layer depletion and global warming issues, anddisplay uncertainty about the relationship between anthropogenic global warming and risingatmospheric CO 2 levels (Reynolds, et al., 2010; Stamm, Clark, & Eblacas, 2000; Whitmarsh,Seyfang, & O'Neill, 2011). Some would argue that belief in climate change has actually declined.This is particularly evident in polls that were conducted around the time of ‘Climategate’ in 2009,when internal communications between climate scientists became public and appeared todemonstrate that the scientists were conspiring to present a stronger case for climate change thanwas actually substantiated (Paukovic et al., 2011). During this time, the integrity ofIntergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) research findings in the 4 th AssessmentReport was questioned (Leiserowitz, Maibach, Roser-Renouf, Smith, & Dawson, in press).Our research team has previously found that while most Australians believe that the climate ischanging, a small proportion of the general public are either unsure (15%) or remain sceptical (7%)about climate change and its causes (Ashworth, et al., 2011b). Similarly, the majority of the generalpublic in Japan are convinced that climate change is happening, while about 10 percent remains tosome extent sceptical (Mizuho Information & Research Institute 2010). In the Netherlands, themajority of the general public still believed in 2010 that temperatures will increase in the future, butthis number has decreased significantly in the last years, which coincides with the timing ofClimategate (Paukovic et al., 2011). The data in this study was not suitable to prove a causalrelationship though. Only a very slight majority of people believe that anthropogenic emissions leadto global warming.Understanding how individuals perceive carbon dioxide | 3
Page 2 and 3: Enquiries should be addressed to:Dr
Page 4 and 5: Part V Conclusion and Recommendatio
Page 6 and 7: TablesTable 1: Combination of infor
Page 8 and 9: Executive summaryCarbon dioxide cap
Page 10 and 11: Recommendations derived from this w
Page 14 and 15: 2.2 Perceptions of CO 2Very little
Page 16 and 17: • perceptions about the nature an
Page 18 and 19: 3 OverviewThis research project’s
Page 20 and 21: 5 Internet surveyFindings from the
Page 22 and 23: Respondents were provided with eith
Page 24 and 25: 6 Administration of the survey6.1 T
Page 26 and 27: Part III Results16 | Understanding
Page 28 and 29: 7.1.2 KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTIONS OF
Page 30 and 31: 7.2 Quantitative resultsThe followi
Page 32 and 33: PropertiesKnowledge about CO 2 ’s
Page 34 and 35: UsesRespondents were asked about th
Page 36 and 37: 7.2.3 PERCEPTIONS OF CO 2First asse
Page 38 and 39: 7.2.4 AWARENESS AND PERCEPTIONS OF
Page 40 and 41: First assessmentError! Reference so
Page 42 and 43: Second assessmentPerceptions were a
Page 44 and 45: formed their opinion using the CCS
Page 46 and 47: Table 18, Appendix F. Furthermore,
Page 48 and 49: DF DF DFInfoACO 2characteristicsInf
Page 50 and 51: Table 20 in Appendix F shows the re
Page 52 and 53: 8 DiscussionThis international rese
Page 54 and 55: eflect how close the potential CCS
Page 56 and 57: eceived information about natural p
Page 58 and 59: Part V Conclusion andRecommendation
Page 60 and 61: 9.2 Recommendations9.2.1 NEED FOR E
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Part VI Appendices andReferences52
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Q: How did your images and understa
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Q: What kind of information about C
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Q5Q6Q7Q8Q9AQuestion statementsHere
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BCQuestion statementsPlease read th
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Q13Q14Q15Question statementsNext yo
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Appendix D Participant Demographics
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Appendix E Selected Qualitative Res
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• “Water is such a precious thi
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Univ_dmy - - - - -Female_dmy - - -
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The table above shows the compariso
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Set B: CCS impressionTable 12: Regr
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•Extra CO 2 is put in the air in
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a50s_dmyO60s_dmyCsea_dmyAdjusted R-
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ionCCSawarenessCO 2Clean1CO 2Useful
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Table 14: ANOVA (three factors) for
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Table 16: Regression analysis on in
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CO 2relatedactivityInformationgathe
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CO 2 relatedactivityInformationgath
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Table 18: ANOVA (four factors) for
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Table 20: Regression analysis on in
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gathering topics Environment - - -0
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Creswell, J. W. (2002). Research de
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Shackley, S., Gough, C., & McLachla
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