Capture those opinions! A synthesis analysis of the types of public attitudes measured in waste-to-energy and carbon capture and storage acceptance research

Abstract: Waste-to-Energy incineration (WtE), coupled with Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), especially Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS), suggest a way to simultaneously retrieve energy from the otherwise disposed waste and reduce CO2 emissions. Independent of one another, WtE, CCS, and BECCS are implemented in a few regions of the world, but their joint diffusion is uncommon in comparison. Regardless of how the future of their combined implementation unfolds, social acceptance is almost certainly expected to play a role in their diffusion. This thesis categorically identified overlaps and contrasts between factors that have been subjects of investigation in public acceptance research on WtE and CCS/BECCS’s social acceptance using Huijts et al’s (2012) energy technology acceptance framework. To allocate peer-reviewed international literature from the two fields for analysis, a systematic literature review was conducted. The results revealed that WtE and CCS/BECCS studies most commonly measured the public’s wide array of emotional experiences regarding the respective technologies and addressed their knowledge and experience with the technologies to the smallest degree. Energy technology projects are bound to attract emotionally charged responses, thus the commonality to address affect makes probing for emotional responses possible. Whereas knowledge can be difficult to measure due to its subjectivity. Factors that were commonly measured in one field but not in the other included public perceptions of fairness, trust, and climate change. The findings provided a comprehensive overview of factors to take into consideration when collecting public opinions on a WtE incineration facility that is coupled with CCS technology.