8. PUBLIC PERCEPTION AND ACCEPTANCE

This section has been included in this report because of the importance of non-technical aspects for the selection of CO2 storage sites. The aim is to provide a comprehensive and up to date reference list on public perception and acceptance which are provided as a separate Appendix.

Social issues have been raised in relation to the siting of storage facilities, particularly onshore and are becoming increasingly recognised as an essential factor for the success of a siting process. In relation to these issues a number of social research studies have been carried on over the years to investigate public perception of the technology, how to inform local communities and to understand public reactions to planned and/or on-going projects. An important outcome of these studies concerns the need to complement geological site characterisation with social site characterisation. Of course, just like geological features, social features are unique to each site, which makes for the need of a case-by-case approach. At the same time, the worldwide dimension of social research studies is essential to account for the varied cultural patterns in different regions/countries, providing consistent support to project developers thanks to information resources coming from a range of different experiences.

Open access sources of information were used to compile the reference list of relevant studies provided by

  • institutions (such as Global CCS Institute GCCSI, World Resources Institute WRI, Scottish Carbon and Storage SCCS, Centre for Low Emission Technology cLET, US Department of Energy - National Energy Technology Laboratory DOE-NETL),

    • national and international agencies (International Energy Agency IEA, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation CSIRO, Italian national agency for new technologies, energy and sustainable economic development ENEA),

    • scientific, governmental and stakeholders initiatives and networks (European Technology Platform for Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Powerplants ZEP, Carbon Sequestration Leadership Forum CSLF, Fossil Energy Coalition Network FENCO-ERA),

    • non-governmental organisation (Bellona),

    • R&D projects (ACCSEPT, Create Acceptance, NearCO2, SiteChar, ECO2),

  • as well as sources published by various publishers

    • international journals ( Energy Procedia - Elsevier, Environmental and Resource Economy - Springer, International Journal of Greenhouse Gas Control - Elsevier, Technological Forecasting and Social Change - Elsevier, Climate Policy - Elsevier, Energy Policy - Elsevier, InTech - open access publisher)

The list of public perception and acceptance references is organised in alphabetical order of the source in the Appendix.