Public evaluation of electricity technologies and future low-carbon portfolios in Germany and the USA

Abstract

Background: This paper aims to create insights into people's technology preferences in striving to achieve a low-carbon electricity generation system. The investigation seeks to analyze informed rather than mere opinion-based public preferences towards electricity technologies and portfolios against the background of climate mitigation options. In order to compare Germany with its strong renewable energy focus with a more fossil fuel- and nuclear-oriented country, the study presented replicates a research carried out in the USA in order to deliver data enabling such comparison. A special focus is on assessing attitudes and opinions towards carbon capture and storage as a low-carbon technology option. Methods: A mixed-method focus group approach has been elaborated and applied for 15 focus groups including a total of 130 participants nationwide. The approach first starts off with a traditional focus group design, i.e., discussion rounds with 8 to 10 participants led by a facilitator in order to collect qualitative data. This traditional focus group approach is extended by a quantitative survey design where participants had to fill out several closed-question questionnaires before and during the discussion rounds. Results: Main quantitative results presented in this article consist of an electricity technology ranking and an electricity portfolio ranking. The results show considerable differences between US and German participants. While nuclear energy and the carbon capture and storage technology option are high ranking in the USA, German participants clearly favor renewable energies. Conclusions: The comparison made clear that the stated preferences show a country bias, revealing a unique profile of technology and portfolio preferences in the USA and Germany. The policies that lie ahead of society need to find approval by stakeholders and the public at large, and therefore need to integrate acceptance profiles into communication and information activities. © 2013 Scheer et al.