Carbon Dioxide Capture and Storage (CCS) is assumed to be one of the key technologies in the mitigation of climate change. Public acceptance may have a strong impact on the progress of this technology. Benefit perception and risk perception are known to be important determinants of public acceptance of CCS. In this study, the prevalence and effect of cognitive concepts underlying laypeople's risk perception and benefit perception of CCS were examined in a representative survey (N=654) in Switzerland. Results confirm findings from previous qualitative studies and show a quantification of a variety of widespread intuitive concepts that laypeople hold about storage mechanisms as well as about leakage and socioeconomic issues, which all appeared to influence risk perception and benefit perception. The perception of an overpressurized reservoir and concerns about diffuse impacts furthermore amplified risk perception. Appropriate images about storage mechanisms and climate change awareness were increasing the perception of benefits. Knowledge about CO2 seemed to lower both perceived benefits and perceived risks. Implications for risk communication and management are discussed.

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For the public to accept new technologies, trust and convictions play an important role. In the present research, we used structural equation modeling to examine an extensive causal model of the role of convictions and trust for the public's protest potential against carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) among a large sample of the general population (N = 769). Trust, convictions, perceived benefits, and risks were included in the model. Our model fitted the data well. Convictions regarding emission reduction, decentralization of energy production, and tampering with natural structures in the deep subsurface influenced the perception of benefits and risks. Trust, in contrast, was barely influential. Perceived benefits were more prominent for public protest potential than perceived risks. However, perceived benefits did not dominate perceived risks as much as earlier studies found for acceptance. We argue that trust can become fully effective as a determinant of perceived risks and benefits only when the public perceives the distinct positioning of the stakeholders involved. Until then, laypeople are likely to draw on their own convictions and intuitive mental concepts for making decisions about accepting a new technology or protesting it.

Public perceptions of the benefits and risks associated with carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) are important determinants of public acceptance and have a strong impact on the political feasibility of this technology. Communication material aimed at informing the general public about CCS should be tested to find out how it influences perceived risks and benefits. Existing literature shows that laypeople's intuitive concepts about technical functioning and value‐based socio‐economic concerns influence perceived risks and benefits. We conducted two experimental studies that built on previous research about lay concepts of CCS. The first experiment examined the impact of extensive information versus basic information; the second experiment examined the effect of specific information on perceived risks and benefits. The results show that the provision of comprehensive information aimed at resolving prevalent misconceptions about CCS can decrease perceived risk and increase perceived benefits. But the findings also show that some specific types of information can result in the perception of higher risks and lower benefits. We conclude that CCS communication for the general public needs to be adapted to laypeople's intuitive knowledge in associated fields. The present research provides some first indications of how specific information about CCS can affect the public. © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd