Suchergebnisse

Despite a widespread public support for wind energy in general, wind turbine proposals attract a considerable amount of public opposition. At a time of political commitments to building more wind turbines for climate risk mitigation, we study the potential causes of this opposition and its electoral effects. Our analysis draws on a survey experiment in Switzerland, where the number of wind turbines will grow from a couple of dozens to many hundreds in the next three decades. We find that exposure to wind turbines increases public acceptance, but this affect does not translate into electoral turnout or vote choice. Moreover, locality or politicisation does not seem to have an effect at all—neither on acceptance nor on electoral outcomes. Our results suggest that voters do not reward or punish political parties for their positions on wind energy, even when turbines might soon be rising in their local area.

The main objective of the present study is to evaluate individuals' views on the usefulness of driverless shuttles and to examine if the provision of better access to public transit (thanks to the connection provided by shuttles) would make them consider public transit in the future. The survey was carried out amongst members of the Norwegian Automobile Federation (n = 1419). The results indicated that a large share of the sample (71.8%) did not evaluate driverless shuttles as useful. Cluster members who stated that it was unlikely that the implementation of driverless shuttles would make them use the public transit more were more worried concerning the safety and security issues, the greatest concern being traffic safety (accidents). Cluster members who stated that it was likely that they would use the public transit more had more trust in the ability of the authorities to reduce the risk of accidents, and they accepted having more automation in future buses. Developers of shuttles, city governments, transport operators, and other authorities should consider the findings of this study in order to develop specific measures to increase the acceptance of automation in the transport sector. We recommend better informing the general public about the procedures for implementing driverless shuttles in mixed traffic and the safety and security requirements for the vehicle automation system. It is crucial to explain the measures (e.g. comprehensive risk analysis, site inspection, laws and regulations) that will be set out to ensure that no incidents or accidents will occur. In the meantime, the actors should do their utmost to reassure passengers and other road users by demonstrating the effectiveness of the safety and security systems. ; publishedVersion

The Finnish transportation sector is the second biggest greenhouse gas emitting sector in Finland. Despite large-scale investment and government commitments to promote biofuels for transport sectors in Finland, little is known about the public acceptance of this alternative transport fuels. Public's opinion, awareness and knowledge can contribute to social acceptance of new renewable energy and to the overall improvement of consumers' energy behaviour. This study examines public acceptance in terms of public's opinion and knowledge about biofuels and their consumer patterns of transportation fuels by designing a multiple-choice questionnaire with four groups of questions: background information, community perspective, social perspective, and market perspective. The analysis of 90 respondents' survey shows that 50% of the respondents think that there is a direct effect of biofuel production on food prices and would not buy biofuels derived from food crops. Only 60% of them are willing to switch towards purchasing biofuels; however, the lack of information about biofuels prevents them to use biofuels for their transports. Finally, 63 respondents of the car owners, their ideal fuel would be hydrogen (20%), electricity (60%), and other (20%), which meant hybrid. Study findings have important policy implications related to the public acceptance of biofuels in the transport sector. ; Peer reviewed

AbstractDespite a widespread public support for wind energy in general, wind turbine proposals attract a considerable amount of public opposition. At a time of political commitments to building more wind turbines for climate risk mitigation, we study the potential causes of this opposition and its electoral effects. Our analysis draws on a survey experiment in Switzerland, where the number of wind turbines will grow from a couple of dozens to many hundreds in the next three decades. We find that exposure to wind turbines increases public acceptance, but this affect does not translate into electoral turnout or vote choice. Moreover, locality or politicisation does not seem to have an effect at all—neither on acceptance nor on electoral outcomes. Our results suggest that voters do not reward or punish political parties for their positions on wind energy, even when turbines might soon be rising in their local area.

The Finnish transportation sector is the second biggest greenhouse gas emitting sector in Finland. Despite large-scale investment and government commitments to promote biofuels for transport sectors in Finland, little is known about the public acceptance of this alternative transport fuels. Public's opinion, awareness and knowledge can contribute to social acceptance of new renewable energy and to the overall improvement of consumers' energy behaviour. This study examines public acceptance in terms of public's opinion and knowledge about biofuels and their consumer patterns of transportation fuels by designing a multiple-choice questionnaire with four groups of questions: background information, community perspective, social perspective, and market perspective. The analysis of 90 respondents' survey shows that 50% of the respondents think that there is a direct effect of biofuel production on food prices and would not buy biofuels derived from food crops. Only 60% of them are willing to switch towards purchasing biofuels; however, the lack of information about biofuels prevents them to use biofuels for their transports. Finally, 63 respondents of the car owners, their ideal fuel would be hydrogen (20%), electricity (60%), and other (20%), which meant hybrid. Study findings have important policy implications related to the public acceptance of biofuels in the transport sector. ; Peer reviewed

Éste es un estudio de los discursos de campaña de dos políticos japoneses durante las elecciones del House of Councilors (Cámara Baja) en el verano de 2010. Aunque el lenguaje "de la información" ("report-talk") utilizado en asuntos de estado aún lo utilizan políticos experimentados, un nuevo estilo de "rapport-talk" (lenguaje "de la afinidad") ha surgido en la escena política japonesa. Este estilo que tiene como finalidad enfatizar las emociones y la empatía ha sido aceptado con entusiasmo por el ciudadano japonés. Esto sugiere que el discurso político japonés está en un periodo de transición. ; This is a study of campaign speeches between two Japanese politicians during the House of Councilors (i.e., Lower House) election in the summer of 2010. Although the traditional "report-talk" on policies and issues is still embraced by experienced politicians, a new style of "rapport-talk" has emerged in the Japanese political scene. This style of emphasizing emotion and empathy has been accepted with enthusiasm by Japanese people. This suggests that the Japanese political discourse system is in a transitional period.

This is a study of campaign speeches between two Japanese politicians during the House of Councilors (i.e., Lower House) election in the summer of 2010. Although the traditional "report-talk" on policies and issues is still em- braced by experienced politicians, a new style of "rapport-talk" has emerged in the Japanese political scene. This style of emphasizing emotion and empathy has been accepted with enthusiasm by Japanese people. This suggests that the Japanese political discourse system is in a transitional period. ; Éste es un estudio de los discursos de campaña de dos políticos japoneses durante las elecciones del House of Councilors (Cámara Baja) en el verano de 2010. Aunque el lenguaje "de la información" ("report-talk") utilizado en asuntos de estado aún lo utilizan políticos experimentados, un nuevo estilo de "rapport-talk" (lenguaje "de la afinidad") ha surgido en la escena política japonesa. Este estilo que tiene como finalidad enfatizar las emociones y la empatía ha sido aceptado con entusiasmo por el ciudadano japonés. Esto sugiere que el discurso político japonés está en un periodo de transición.

The worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) and greenhouse gases (GHGs) are driving anthropogenic climate change and are leading to global warming. The increase in emissions seen in recent decades represents a significant obstacle to the goal of limiting the global temperature increase to 1.5°C. In fact, estimates suggest that, over the next 31 years, only twice to three times as much CO2 can be emitted as that emitted between 2000 and 2006. This emphasizes the need to decarbonize all sectors in order to rapidly decrease CO2 emissions. However, simply reducing CO2 emissions is no longer considered sufficient to tackle climate change. Climate engineering – the intentional alteration of the climate on a large scale – will likely prove necessary to tackle climate change. Yet, even if technological responses are available for tackling climate change, public acceptance is necessary for their successful deployment. The aim of this thesis was, therefore, to investigate the public's acceptance of both those energy technologies that can contribute to the decarbonization of the electricity system and the most commonly discussed climate engineering technologies. To ensure the effective deployment of technologies, it is crucial to understand the factors that drive their acceptance. Hence, this thesis also considered and compared several predictors of technology acceptance in the context of three different studies. The first study investigated the public's preferences as to what they consider to be the best combination of different energy technologies for the future electricity supply. The results showed that the participants tended to construct energy technology portfolios that included technologies they spontaneously liked. Thus, people's affective reactions (i.e., their experiences of feelings) toward the available energy technologies drove the type of electricity portfolio that they preferred. The identified portfolio preferences were largely in line with the aims of the Swiss energy transition, which focuses on the promotion of domestic renewable energy technologies, such as solar, wind, and biomass power, so as to maintain a low-carbon electricity supply. The second study sought to determine whether the provision of information regarding the impacts of energy technologies through an interactive website (decision support system [DSS]) affects the public's portfolio preferences. The results showed that the level of attention people paid to the information provided was not directly related to their portfolio choices. Rather, people's portfolio choices and the way in which they searched for information were driven by their affective reactions toward the different energy technologies, as well as by their political orientation. This shows that people selectively searched for information and, additionally, it suggest that in doing so they tried to confirm their previously held beliefs regarding energy technologies. This has the potential to further polarize people's views. For this reason, policymakers should carefully consider the use of interactive tools as communication instruments. The third study examined how people's support for climate engineering differs depending on the technology to be deployed. The results indicated the public's support to be the highest for afforestation, while their support was found to be somewhat lower for other measures that remove CO2 from the air. Moreover, the public's support was found to be the lowest for solar radiation management measures that increase the reflectivity of the Earth. People's benefit perception was identified as the main driver of their support for any technology. Thus, attempts to foster public support should focus on communicating the benefits of the different climate engineering technologies. This thesis found evidence that different types of technologies to tackle climate change are accepted by the public. Both the use of renewable energy technologies to maintain a low-carbon electricity system is supported by a majority, as well as the use of certain climate engineering technologies. From the perspective of public acceptance, therefore, it should be possible to simultaneously deploy both types of technologies. To tackle climate change effectively, policymakers should consider the level of public acceptance, for the deployment of technologies. However, further research is needed to determine the extent to which the public prefers to combine the mitigation of CO2 emissions with the use of technologies designed to engineer the climate.