Knowledge, risk, and policy support: Public perceptions of nuclear power

Stoutenborough, James W.; Sturgess, Shelbi G.; Vedlitz, Arnold

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2013.06.098

Cited by 165 publications

(94 citation statements)

References 30 publications

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“…This can be achieved by equipping the aforementioned stakeholders with updated and easy-to-understand relevant information, capacities, and skills in a dynamic, transparent, interactive, and communicative learning environment (Dias et al 2004;Jennings 2009;Kandpal and Broman 2014). Education should be aimed at fostering public knowledge of new or complex issues in order to fully understand the issues, identify realistic solutions, reach reasonable conclusions, and thus influence policy making at local or national levels (Stoutenborough et al 2013). A well informed and environmentally aware public may support policies that prioritize the national interests over the individual interests (also referred to as social orientation) (Kollmuss and Agyeman 2000).…”

Section: Renewable Energy Education (Ree)mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Overall, issues such as the physical appearance (visual impact) of energy installations, procedural aspects of the energy project implementation, degree of trust in governmental institutions, the perceived benefits and risks, suspicions towards foreign investors, and the degree of public involvement in planning and decision making are some social barriers (Cohen et al 2014;Stigka et al 2014;Wustenhagen et al 2007). The realization of the importance of public acceptance and support has led to a plethora of investigations aimed at improving our understanding of public perceptions and attitudes towards various modern technologies, such as smart grids (Ngar-yin Mah et al 2012), nuclear power (Stoutenborough et al 2013;Siegrist et al 2014), solar technologies (Yuan et al 2014), carbon capture and storage (aka. CCS) (Ha-Duong at el.…”

Section: Renewable Energy Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prospects for renewable energy education (REE) in elevating youth energy and environmental awareness in Jordan

Zyadin¹

2015

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Renewable Energy Education (REE) is an evolving public education approach that ultimately aims to elevate public awareness and cultivate their support toward renewable energy (RE) development. Young citizens are the pacesetters of RE development if equipped with the necessary knowledge and skills. There is, however, a lack of research studies aimed at exploring and understanding young citizens' perceptions and attitudes toward RE, particularly in developing countries. Jordan is an example of a fossil fuel-addicted country, yet it is endowed with enormous RE potential. This dissertation provides a synthesis drawn from exploring school students' knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes toward RE and their perceptions toward protection of the environment (Paper 1, IV). This study also investigated knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes towards RE among secondary school teachers (Paper II). The nature of interactions between students, home, school, and the role of mass media were also explored (Paper III).The results showed that females, residents of urban areas, and students of private-mixed schools were more knowledgeable of the uses and the nature of renewable energy technologies (Paper I). The study found that males seem to support nuclear power, while females favored renewables (Paper 1). Females attributed the responsibility for environmental protection to society as a whole, while males attributed it specifically to the government. However, females appeared very skeptical about the role of science/technology, and interventions from developed countries on environmental protection (Paper IV). The students' knowledge of bioenergy appeared very weak (Paper I). Although teachers supported RE they appeared skeptical about its future development in Jordan (Paper II). The teachers thus supported nuclear power and oil shale resource utilization as a means for economic development. The students denoted their parents as a prime source of information while they indicated that the internet was an important tool to acquire information.The study suggests that educated and well-informed young citizens may convey their knowledge to their illiterate parents. TV and school activities appeared of great importance for females whilst males preferred to receive information from parents and school teachers (Paper III). The study highlighted the need to revisit the current public education policies in Jordan in order to craft new policies aimed at fostering a better knowledge of RE, its uses and benefits with special focus on females' preferences and needs. The study also suggests developing the RE knowledge capacities of teachers to ensure successful implementation of newly crafted educational policies. The study further suggests developing public outreach campaigns through mass media with the aim of eliminating uncertainty among the public regarding future energy choices.

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Section: Renewable Energy Education (Ree)mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Renewable Energy Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Prospects for renewable energy education (REE) in elevating youth energy and environmental awareness in Jordan

Zyadin¹

2015

Diss. For.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Moreover, risk perception requires knowledge as basis for the development of a better understanding of the issue in question (Stoutenborough et al 2013). Therefore, we argue that it is important to know how climate change is perceived in a sector or region before developing adaptation strategies for that sector or region.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Land-use experts’ perception of regional climate change: an empirical analysis from the North German Plain

2017

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The impact of climate change on a variety of scales and on land-use policies across sectors is well-established. There will be climate-related changes to which land use must adapt, although Europe and Germany may not be as affected as other regions. Therefore, we must evaluate how climate change is perceived on a regional scale and across land-use sectors. The aim of this study is to gather information from regional land-use experts regarding their perceptions of climate change to highlight the impact of climate change on land use and to identify the risks and opportunities associated with climate change that these experts observe. With these objectives in mind, we conducted 60 semi-structured interviews and a questionnaire survey with regional land-use experts in agriculture, forestry, and water management in four case study regions in the North German Plain. Climate change is clearly acknowledged by the experts throughout the regions and across the sectors. Drought (particularly in the spring) and increased occurrences of extreme weather events are the most severe regional issues identified. Furthermore, with very few exceptions, climate change is mostly understood as a risk. The results of this study confirm the results from other models and prognoses but with more detail and precision at the regional level. Differences among the sectors and regions were also noted. Unlike most studies, the regional experts in our sample have already noted the impacts and risks of climate change cross-sectorally, which might be a good basis from which to begin regional adaptation.

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“…It should be noted here that there are various evidences that indicate the change of citizens' attitudes toward the mixture of electric sources including nuclear and the other alternative powers. In the previous papers, they tried to explain the factors which effect on citizen's attitude toward nuclear power plants by the perception of benefit and economic incentives with reference to the local industrial structure (Kato et al 2013), by the safety perception which is recognized by the knowledge and information offered by the public sector (Stoutenborough et al 2013), and by the risk perception and emotional fear (Siegrist et al 2014, Hartmann et al 2013). …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inner conflict between nuclear power generation and electricity rates: A Japanese case study

2015

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Since the March 11 earthquake, Japanese households have been facing a trade-off problem between decreasing dependency on nuclear power generation and avoiding an increase in electricity rates. We analyze this inner conflict quantitatively, adopting two economic-psychological approaches: First, we note that the trade-off causes cognitive dissonance after making a choice that results in a wider desirability gap between the chosen alternative and the rejected alternative. Second, the consumer surplus improves by 11.2% with a no-choice option for suspending judgment in the presence of cognitive dissonance. Third, individual characteristics such as gender and annual household income are significantly correlated with both cognitive dissonance and a preference for the no-choice option. JEL classification codes: D3, D12, L94, Q41

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Knowledge, risk, and policy support: Public perceptions of nuclear power

Cited by 165 publications

References 30 publications

Prospects for renewable energy education (REE) in elevating youth energy and environmental awareness in Jordan

Prospects for renewable energy education (REE) in elevating youth energy and environmental awareness in Jordan

Land-use experts’ perception of regional climate change: an empirical analysis from the North German Plain

Inner conflict between nuclear power generation and electricity rates: A Japanese case study

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