Perceptions of CO2 Report - Global CCS Institute

9 Conclusion and Recommendations9.1 ConclusionGovernment agencies, funders, and international energy organisations have paid a good deal ofattention to CCS as part of a technology portfolio for mitigating climate change. As citizens from allbackgrounds become involved in the larger social conversation around CCS, they are currentlyassessing, judging, and forming opinions of this technology. These opinions emerge at theintersection of many societal variables, including each person’s values and beliefs regardingcarbon and climate, as well as the person’s knowledge of CCS technology itself. Beyond theseobvious dependencies lies a less obvious influence on opinions of CCS: public knowledge andperceptions of the gas itself, CO 2 .Our research in three countries identified variations in values, beliefs, knowledge, and perceptionsof CO 2 . Beyond gathering this data, we attempted to relate individuals’ values and beliefs,knowledge, and perceptions around CO 2 , and knowledge of CCS to whether individuals formedmore or less favourable opinions of this technology.Overall, participants demonstrated moderate to low levels of knowledge of CO 2 ’s properties, uses,and effects. Japanese respondents demonstrated the highest levels of correct knowledge, andconfidence about that knowledge, regarding CO₂’s properties and sources, while respondents fromthe Netherlands displayed the lowest levels. While CO 2 ’s uses were generally not well known, theAustralian respondents (comprising a slightly more educated sample than the general public) hadthe greatest familiarity with its potential uses. A general level of confusion surrounds CO 2 ’s effects.In particular, it was frequently misperceived as an ozone-depleting gas with the same effect as airpollutants such as soot.This lack of knowledge of CO 2 has important implications for climate change and CCScommunicators. A low level of knowledge about CO 2 and its relationship with climate change iscorrelated with climate change scepticism. This is particularly relevant for climate changescepticism in the Netherlands (de Best-Waldhober, et al., 2011; Upham & Roberts, 2011), whoserespondents recorded the lowest level of knowledge about CO 2 and the highest level of uncertaintyabout the reality of climate change during this study.Research results included many other intriguing patterns, as described in the previous chapter,which lead to several recommendations for members of the CCS industry and community.Essentially, knowledge and perceptions of CO 2 were found to be an important factor correlatingwith attitudes towards CO 2 . This outcome argues for paying increased attention to communicatingthe nature, properties, sources, uses, and effects of CO 2 while engaging public stakeholders ineducation and outreach regarding CCS.Understanding how individuals perceive carbon dioxide | 49