Public views of the value, potential, and sustainability of energy sources over the last 30 years in the Pacific Northwest, USA

Abstract

Public Views of the Value, Potential, and sustainability of energy sources oVer the last 30 years in the Pacific northwest, usa robert l. Mahler department of soil and water systems, university of idaho, usa. abstract the use of renewable energy has been an important topic in the four Pacific northwestern states for the last 30 years. large, statistically designed public surveys were conducted in the region in 1990, 2000, 2010, and 2020 to determine the perceived sustainability, future viability, and acceptance of the following ten energy sources: biomass, coal, geothermal, hydropower, natural gas, nuclear, oil, solar, tidal, and wind power. the survey questions were identical in all 4 years of the survey. these surveys were delivered by the us Postal service to over 3500 randomly chosen residents in each survey year. the public response rate exceeded 50% in each survey year. demographic data about age, gender, education level, community size, and state of residence of survey respondents were also collected. the survey data were statistically analyzed. in general, the public was literate identifying the renewable and nonrenewable energy sources as the majority of survey respondents correctly identified biomass, geothermal, hydropower, solar, and wind as renewable energy sources. based on survey results, over 75% of Pacific northwest residents considered it important or very important that their energy resources were renewable in 2020. the findings of this study were important because it shows that the public is in line with the scientific community with the goal of greatly reducing energy reliance on c containing nonrenewable energy sources including oil, coal, and natural gas. in summary, (1) the public strongly supports the transformation to a sustainable energy system using primarily renewable energy sources, (2) the use of traditional nonrenewable energy sources like natural gas should not be discouraged in the present; however, they should be phased out over the short and medium terms, (3) solar and wind energy should be significant sources to meet future energy needs in the region, and (4) the renewables including biomass and geothermal have a place in the future energy mix within the Pacific northwest.

Public Views on the Importance and Expansion of Renewable Electricity Production over the Last 35 Years in Idaho, USA

“…The energy produced by wind increased from 487,000 MWh in 2016 to 824,000 MWh in 2021, while solar energy production experienced even more substantial growth, from 78,000 MWh in 2016 to 850,000 MWh in 2021. This transition to renewable energy resources continues to garner public support [6,7].…”

“…The aim of this paper is to track the evolution of public opinion over the past 35 years regarding the importance of renewable energy for electricity production in Idaho. This study seeks to (1) identify the electricity sources that Idahoans consider renewable, (2) determine the most important electricity source in the state, (3) document the percentage of energy considered renewable by Idahoans, (4) ascertain the desired future proportion of renewable electricity in Idaho, (5) gauge the importance of electricity generation in Idaho being renewable, (6) identify the renewable energy source that should be most expanded for electricity production in Idaho over the next 20 years, and (7) predict the future hydropower-solar-wind energy nexus in Idaho based on public surveys. The mail-based survey designed in 1987 was administered to the public every five years from 1987 to 2022.…”