Public Acceptance and Perception of Carbon Capture and Storage Technologies: Measuring Consumer Preferences and Willingness to Pay for CCS in Denmark

The pressing challenge of global warming demands substantial and far-reaching reductions in greenhouse gas emissions across all sectors. Reaching national and international climate goals requires the adoption and large-scale deployment of innovative low-carbon energy technologies (LCETs). In this context, Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) is identified as a key technology for realizing net-zero and negative emission targets. Transitioning toward a low-carbon energy future requires extensive energy infrastructure development, often conflicting with existing land uses and societal interests. As a result, public acceptance and preferences are critical factors determining the successful implementation of LCET strategies. Thus, better understanding and integrating well-informed societal perspectives into energy planning and decision-making is essential to ensure sustainable and socially just low-carbon energy transitions.

The primary objective of the PhD project is to explore public responses to novel LCETs, focusing on CCS. The research aims to provide new insights into the underlying mechanisms of acceptance and preference formation. The research concentrates on three core themes: (1) exploring public responses to CCS as climate mitigation measure in comparison to other LCETs, (2) investigating the role of information provision in shaping responses to CCS, and (3) examining how spatial features of peoples’ immediate surroundings influence responses to CCS initiatives.

The research questions are addressed through five interrelated papers investigating public responses in both the acceptance and preference domains. The PhD thesis employs a layered and cumulative research approach, including literature reviews, conceptual framework development, survey design and analyses, randomized information experiments, and spatial analyses. Using Denmark as a case study, the empirical work is based on nationally representative survey data on
both public LCET acceptance and stated preferences for CCS. The survey data is combined with detailed geospatial data on respondents’ exposure/proximity to environmental features and existing energy infrastructure within their direct vicinity at the individual level.

The thesis contributes new insights into our understanding of how individuals evaluate and respond to emerging LCETs. The findings highlight that public responses to CCS are shaped by a complex interplay of cognitive, informational, contextual, and spatial factors. Public acceptance is highly context-sensitive, not only influenced by the technology itself but also by specific deployment characteristics. This leads to variations in public support within and across different
emission reduction solutions. External information provision and contextual framing of CCS significantly impacts general and relative acceptance levels. The influential role of information critically depends on CCS-specific features, including its locational setting and CO2 reduction potential. The analyses reveal that spatial dimensions of peoples’ surroundings and CCS projects shape public responses. The thesis offers new empirical evidence for cross-technology spatial spillover effects on public demand for CCS and provides cutting-edge insights into the interplay between spatial factors and technology-specific scope effects on preferences for LCETs.

The layered research approach of the PhD project underscores the value of exploring public responses across acceptance and preference dimensions. The thesis’ research design and empirical findings advance existing literature and inform future acceptance and preference research on novel emission reduction measures and climate-mitigating strategies. The results offer policyrelevant insights for promoting a people-centered green energy transition.